Solitude: Notes on a Long Exposure of a Quiet Coastline. An open-edition print from the continued Slow Water series.
There is a particular kind of morning at the coast where nothing wants to be photographed. The light is even, the sky is a flat sheet of grey, and the sea does what the sea always does — it moves, constantly, distractingly. Most photographers pack up and drive home. I set up a tripod.
Georgetown II was made on a morning like that.
“GEORGETOWN II” ©David Butler 2026.
The making of the image
The frame you're looking at is a single exposure of roughly 3 minutes. A ten-stop neutral density filter cut the light to a trickle; the shutter stayed open long enough that every wave that entered the frame became an average of itself. What the camera recorded isn't what I saw with my eyes. It's a longer, calmer truth that only exists in aggregate.
Long exposures of water are usually described as smoothing the sea, but that undersells what's actually happening. The sea didn't smooth out. It accumulated. 3 minutes of tide and breath and foam layered on top of each other until what was left was a silver mist — the memory of movement rather than the movement itself.
The rocks, of course, didn't move. They were there before the shutter opened and they were there after it closed, and the white surf around them is all that remains of everything that happened in between. I like that asymmetry. The permanent things stay sharp. The restless things become atmosphere.
The print itself
PAPER: Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm — 100% cotton, matte, archival. Printed with pigment inks rated 100+ years.
EDITION: Open edition.
SHIPPING: Rolled in an archival tube within 10 business days. Complimentary shipping in the continental US.
Designers working on projects — get in touch for trade pricing and custom sizes.
Georgetown, Maine- Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.
The long exposure in the camera captures the time passing with the tide, while transforming the violent crashing of the waves into a tranquil and calm scene.
*Listed price is for print only, frame is not included.
Custom sized prints and framing are available upon request.
A closing note
I don't think photographs need to do a lot. I think the best ones give you somewhere to stand for a minute, and then let you walk away.
Quietude was made to do that. If your home or a client's home could use a wall to rest on, I'd be glad to send one your way.
like the wave.
Are we not like the wave?
Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet.
Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
Sometimes big, sometimes small.
Are we not like the wave?
Sometimes angry, sometimes calm.
Sometimes chromatic, sometimes gray.
Sometimes in rhythm, sometimes out.
Are we not like the wave?
Sometimes pulled, sometimes pushed.
Sometimes leaving, sometimes returning.
Sometimes lingering, sometimes fleeting.
Are we not like the wave?
Sometimes together, sometimes alone.
Sometimes destructive, sometimes restoring.
Sometimes taking, sometimes giving.
Are we not like the wave?
Sometimes converging, sometimes dispersing.
Sometimes translucent, sometimes opaque
Sometimes distant, sometimes close.
Are we not like the wave?
-David Butler. August 12, 2025
Time's Blur
Time passes, streaking color across my frame, leaving behind evidence of the fleeting dusk light.
Waves crash as the wind gusts. Fog rolls in to reclaim the horizon, proving to be more dangerous than the expected and tangible.
The expansive granite sea line, so stoic and un-moving, absorbing the incoming seas, only to return it as foam.
The time goes one way, but the tide goes two. Rhythmically making it seem likes a perpetual loop.
The Northern Atlantic, cold and made of salt, preserves its memories in the grains.
Time passes, streaking tones across my frame, leaving behind evidence of the fleeting dusk light.
-David Butler
All images ©DavidButler 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Battery Keyes
With time, nature seems to reclaim itself. What was once a line of defense, a show of strength, and a barrier from enemy fire is now decayed and crumbling back down to dust. A visual reminder that nothing lasts forever.
Georgetown, Maine
image @DavidButler 2024.
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time”
When I showed these images to my father, and told him that these are waves smoothed over by the length of the exposure time during the capture process. I explained to him that my goal was to transform the chaotic forces of the waves clashing with the rocks into something serene.
His observation had really taken me back. He said, “it’s like chaos subsides with time.”
These images quickly became a visual representation of how we can find ourselves in stressful situations, and sometimes, the best solution is give it time.
image @DavidButler 2024.
Custom prints available.
Bring a little serenity into your space, and transform the busy in your world into something a little more calm.