Yeah, having the shutter open for 30 seconds would most likely be used for pitch dark pictures. Maybe of the stars or something. However having a longer shutter speed can give you some interesting effects in daylight too. There's a whole genre of photography called motion photography. Of course it takes a little more than just leaving your shutter open longer to do some of those pics but it's how you start.
JT you'll find that the less light you have to work with, you'll most likely have to keep your shutter open longer.
One of these nights when it's really clear and starry, take your tripod and go out where there aren't any street lights, point your camera at the sky, and set your shutter speed to 30 seconds and see what happens. If the pic is too bright, bring the speed down to 25 seconds until it looks right.
I'm pretty sure good aurora pics are taken with long exposures.
MMMMMMMMM I have dreams about taking pictures like these.