Technique question w/ Raymond Depardon

Hello all- Im posting this under the MF section because i THINK it applies (gear wise).. or at least its appropriate.


Im fascinated by this photo: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/282460207850860991/ by Raymond Depardon and Im curious about the technique used. Its clearly taken at night, and more than likely handheld ..and frame wise, it looks like 6x7? Or is it 35mm? My question is how does someone get such a clear night shot, using film with such obvious low grain? If that is 100 speed isn film, I know that that kinda scene would be 2.8 and 15th of a second at best and I know I could never get a sharp photo handheld at that speed.

Is it just a question of a rangefinder, good handheld technique and a bit of luck? Or is just a matter of exposing for the light in the scene? I have a feeling this is a pretty basic question..and I apologize for that. Im just getting into night photography and I love the looks of photos like this.

THanks!

It is not 6x7 unless well cropped. On my screen it measures 13 by 20 cm which is the proportions of 35mm or 6x9. Why would he not be using a tripod or monopod? A monopod is certainly light enough to carry around.

If he was using 400 ISO film, you guestimated exposure would now be f2.8 and 1/60 seconds - fast enough for hand held.

On my super-duper sharp screen(ha!) it doesn't look like anything is tack sharp.
The digits and print on the pump are all soft.

Great photo. My guess is Tri-X or similar film, possibly rated at 800, 35mm lens at f/2 or 2.8, don't think there's any monopod as he is leaning over the bonnet of the car. Should have been able to get a good enough shutter speed, say 1/30 or 1/15.

Ask Mr. Depardon himself. The contact link is at the bottom right of his home page. http://www.palmeraieetdesert.fr/

The picture itself is unsharp which makes it easy to hide grain in printing. The picture is dark overall with the key elements formed by highlights, meaning the negative could have been quite thin. We do not know how bright the gas station lighting was, but for all we know it may have appeared quite bright. There is no way to know; cinematographers often shoot night scenes during the day. This might have been shot at f/5.6 and 1/125 on 100 film during evening light, then the shadows carefully burned in during printing to give the "glowing" character that you are probably attracted to. Never underestimate the plasticity of the medium.