Exposure for night photography (from a noob)

Soeren said:

Martin
I must disagree on the filmspeed issue. I find ISO 50 - 100 very usefull for urban shots at night, especially ISO 100 slidefilm. there is plenty of light to make everybody happy
A friend of mine uses Pan F at night, He don't like Efke 25 because it's to fast (Reciprocity failure issue)
Astrophotographers like very slow film to catch startrails (the very long exposures you mention).
Cheers Søren

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FP4+ (ASA 125) is my preferred night photo film. Estimating (or sometimes completely guessing) exposure time is, to me, much easier when starting off pretty far into reciprocity failure. The longer time also allows me to correct problems during exposure rather than in the darkroom. I can burn/dodge in front of the lens, block the lens if an airplane or car goes by, and run around in the scene to light objects by hand.

The grainy look of faster films doesn't appeal to me for most subjects. If I want faster exposure times, I'll expose at a wider aperture. Normally, I stay between f/8 and f/16.

Good Morning,

I disagree that faster film is necessarily better for night shots. Basically, you're going to be using a tripod and time exposures, so it makes little difference if the exposure is fifteen seconds or three minutes. In addition, films such as T-Max 100 or Fuji Acros have such terrific reciprocity characteristics that exposure times with them may be no longer than exposure times with "fast" films. The slightly finer grain of the slower films is an additional benefit, especially in 35mm or 120. My own favorite films for night shots are T-Max 100 in B & W and Ektachrome 6121 duplicating film (E. I. 8/12???) in color.

Konical

Soeren said:

Martin
I must disagree on the filmspeed issue. I find ISO 50 - 100 very usefull for urban shots at night, especially ISO 100 slidefilm. there is plenty of light to make everybody happy
A friend of mine uses Pan F at night, He don't like Efke 25 because it's to fast (Reciprocity failure issue)
Astrophotographers like very slow film to catch startrails (the very long exposures you mention).
Cheers Søren

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Hi Soeren, I see where you're coming from. Actually those are just my personal preference and opinion based on my experiences.

In fact, I've yet to try Kodak Ektachrome E100VS color slide film for my next personal night photography project. Well it's nothing new as many other photographers have done it. It's Nocturne Photography. Doing light painting during that long exposure timing. Some url references here:
http://www.thenocturnes.com/gallery.html

I'm sure at ISO100, one can get good star trails but it's best to expose during clear dark sky & many stars. Yes you'll need to bring along a radio or a book during exposing. Best to bring along a friend to chat over coffee.

erickson said:

FP4+ (ASA 125) is my preferred night photo film. Estimating (or sometimes completely guessing) exposure time is, to me, much easier when starting off pretty far into reciprocity failure. The longer time also allows me to correct problems during exposure rather than in the darkroom. I can burn/dodge in front of the lens, block the lens if an airplane or car goes by, and run around in the scene to light objects by hand.

The grainy look of faster films doesn't appeal to me for most subjects. If I want faster exposure times, I'll expose at a wider aperture. Normally, I stay between f/8 and f/16.

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Hi Erickson,

I've also heard of the method u mentioned. Doing burning/dodging during the long exposure timing by placing yr finger(s) or thumb right in front of the lens to block away any direct light source e.g. blocking a streetlight with a pair of disposable chopsticks. Only expose the light source on the last few seconds. The end result will show more shadow details with even highlight balance on the direct light source.

I agree with you on the point that we should correct problems during exposure rather than in the darkroom. That way we'll have a good negative to do straight printing with minor editing.

Well if it doesn't succeed, we can always go back to the place and do it again.

Thanks, I didn't imagine that I will get so much rich replys.

mhv: I still don get what is reciprocity failure?

Martin Liew: It is nice shot. I like the ray effect. But why there is not pure black regions? Is it because of fast film?

soeren: I take notes from the table, but this table is only for ambients with pretty much light. I did some night street photos with it and it works good, but it is not what I want to do.

noseoil: I think that copying of intellectual property makes more damage to the publishers than to authors themselves.

erickson: Blocking lens is real smart idea, must try it. But how you exactly dodge?

I did some experiment shoots and found that for my case i need to expose about one hour.
I did relative good light and dark balance with 2.8F, 50sec and ISO100 color.
But, here I heard that I should use smaller aperture, and so I found that with 11F I should expose about one hour.
Im afraid that I will not have time for this for much reasons.

So, what is difference between small and big aperture? What is the biggest aperture that I can use? And how I calculate faster film in? (If I expose 50sec with ISO100 i need to expose 25sec with ISO200?)

Danilo, artistic element is not compulsory for showing an image. It is just as valid if you are showing it for technical reasons.

Andy K: You are right, but am acting like any noob in any proffesion

Maybe it is good idea to change aperture during the exposure, does anybody know something about it?

I think if you changed aperture during the exposure you would probably get a blurred image. Because no matter how carefully you turn the aperture ring the camera will vibrate.

You can change aperture during a long exposure without visible camera shake if you cover the lens with a non-reflective black card (velvet or flocked paper would help) or a black plastic cup while you carefully adjust the aperture. You don't actually need to touch the lens with the card or cup, just block its field of view. Let the camera settle for a few seconds after you've touched it, then pull the card away. This does require a steady tripod mounting, but it works.

There are lots of places to learn about reciprocity failure. Here's just one:
http://home.earthlink.net/~kitathome/LunarLight/moonlight_gallery/technique/reciprocity.htm

Lee

Danilo said:

TBlocking lens is real smart idea, must try it. But how you exactly dodge?

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Let's say I want 5 minutes of ground plus 1 second of moon/sky. That should make for a pitch black sky plus a white moon without motion blur. I'd tape a small piece of black construction paper to the lens shade while looking through the viewfinder. Once all is set, I'd flip the mirror up and open the shutter with a cable release. At the end of the 5 minute exposure I'd block the whole lens with black construction paper in one hand, remove the paper from the lens cap with the other, then allow one more second of exposure before closing the shutter. I'll only make one exposure modification like this because I need the viewfinder to set up the paper.

I'd recommend using a camera with depth of field preview to see just how sharp/blurry the cardboard is going to be at any given aperture. If you close down more than a couple of stops, the viewfinder will probably be too dark to see much during preview. You should, however, be able to judge what will happen if you watch the edge while operating the DOF switch slowly. The visibility of the paper edge will depend of the dimensions of the shade, aperture setting, focal distance, focal length, and lens construction. Experiment and see if it will work for you!