I noticed that ejn mentioned,

that my camera doesnt like working out long exposures with a cable release
attached.  To overcome that I have used the mirror lock up facility, not quite
that but it does the same thing,then depress the shutter carefully.

One old technique is to us an 'external' shutter -- that is to say, a black card
held in front of the lens to block the light before releasing the shutter. 

Sequence of events would be ... compose; cover the lens without touching it;
release the shutter; move the card; ... time ... move the card back; close the
shutter. 

Bad news is if I see someone with a 44 inch bust topless on the beach, by
the time I have reset the camera she will be gone.  But that saves having
to explain that shot to the wife.:-)

Yes ... that shot would need a different kind of noise reduction in post-processing. 

--
Martin