Capturing Motion on the Rollercoaster: A New Experiment with Long Exposure

The Motion of Roller Coasters

Following up on my Pinhole Theme Park series, I wanted to revisit an idea I explored in a previous post. In that attempt, the exposure times were so long that any movement resulted in complete blur, making it impossible to capture the action. This time, however, I had a new plan.

I brought along my GoPro, paired with a 10-stop ND filter, hoping to achieve exposure times in the range of one to ten seconds—long enough to capture motion, but short enough to avoid excessive blurring from movement.

Our visit to Chessington World of Adventures was on an overcast day, which provided the ideal lighting conditions, but definitely would not of been good with a Pinhole camera. With exposure times around a couple of seconds, I was able to capture the motion of the rides effectively. This trip was very much a trial, as I didn’t have much time to focus solely on photography. Between running from ride to ride with the kids and dealing with the usual theme park queues, I had limited opportunities to experiment. However, those brief moments when the kids were occupied or stuck in line gave me the chance to play with this GoPro and 10-stop filter setup.

It was a fun, hands-on experience, and while I had limited time, I was excited to see how this combination worked in capturing the dynamic energy of the rides.

The first was this Spinney around up and down ride - Ostrich Stampede

Exposure time 2 seconds

The results were definitely an improvement over the pinhole camera, though the pinhole still has its unique charm and works well for certain shots. However, for capturing motion like this, the GoPro was clearly the better tool.

The next few shots actually came about by accident. With an exposure time of just one second, I managed to capture the twists and turns of Mandrill Mayhem. I aimed the camera in that direction without much expectation, but the outcome was surprisingly intriguing. The images are a bit blurry—perhaps even messy—but there’s something about the motion captured in them that I really like. It feels artistic and unique, and I find the unexpected results quite compelling.

For my final shot of the day, I used a 30-second long exposure on the Gruffalo ride. This allowed me to capture the motion of the lights as they slowly passed by, creating an effect that almost looks like we're traveling through a time tunnel. The result is an intriguing mix of light and motion, with a touch of surrealism that perfectly wraps up the day's experiments.

It was a rewarding day of experimentation, and the results were a fun mix of the unexpected and the intentional. I'm excited to explore more long-exposure techniques at theme parks throughout the year, capturing the motion and energy of the rides in new and creative ways. 

Stay tuned for more as I continue to push the limits of what can be captured with a GoPro and a 10-stop filter. There’s much more to come!

Support

If you like to support my work please check out these link.

Pinhole life - but my pinhole prints - https://pinholelife.com/

Digital and film - prints and downloads - https://www.willgudgeonphotography.co.uk/

Buy me a coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/willgudgeon