Reshade Long Exposure

There are two distinct ways to achieve a long exposure look. Knowing which one to use separates a novice from a pro.

Diagnosis: The Exposure or Intensity slider is too high, OR you are blending 32 frames with Additive blending. Fix: Find the Tonemap or Exposure slider inside your Long Exposure shader. Reduce it until the highlights (sky, lights) return to white, not nuclear white.

Overview The "Long Exposure" effect in ReShade simulates the photographic technique where the camera shutter is left open for an extended period. In a game, this creates artistic visual feedback where moving objects (like your character, cars, or foliage) leave a trailing "ghost" image behind them, while static objects remain sharp. It is excellent for creating surreal screenshots or emphasizing speed. reshade long exposure

Prerequisites

If you want actual light trails / smooth water: There are two distinct ways to achieve a long exposure look

Best for: Waterfalls, star trails, rain streaks, and city traffic.

This method actually layers time. You will use the LongExposure.fx shader. If you want actual light trails / smooth

How to configure it:

Pro Tip: You must stand perfectly still. If your character moves or the camera rotates, the whole world blurs. Use a free-cam mod (like Otis_Inf's camera tools) to lock your position.

“ReShade long exposure” refers to using ReShade’s shaders to simulate the visual effect of a long-exposure photograph (e.g., silky water, light trails, motion-blurred clouds) in a video game or 3D application. Since games render frames sequentially, ReShade cannot truly accumulate light over seconds—instead, it creates the illusion of long exposure using temporal blending.