How can I shoot long exposures without a tripod?

Question

I want to take long-exposure photos such as night scenes, traffic trails, and possibly star trails with my Sony DSC-H200, but I don’t have a tripod. Resting the camera on a wall or other surface sometimes works, but not always. Are there practical low-cost alternatives for keeping the camera stable enough for long exposures?

user46861 · Accepted Answer

I just try to see if there's any stable surface available nearby and try to use it

That's the basic idea.

Be careful to watch for slight slippage. Also note that vibrations can also affects the stability, including when you trigger the shot - make sure you use a timer so that the vibrations of your touching the camera can subside. I'd use the 10 seconds timer to give it as much time as possible.

but it doesn't always help.

There may be other issues here. Are you controlling ISO and exposure time ? I have found that some cameras apply a lot of processing to shots ( and Sony often do ) that reduces detail. Typically they'd sharpen and do noise reduction far too aggressively. It's useful to shoot RAW ( if you can ) or at least reduce sharpening and noise reduction as much as possible.

I wanted to know if there's any alternative solution other than finding a stable wall or thing ?

Bean bags. Some people use Gorillapods.

How can I shoot long exposures without a tripod?

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