Night Photography

[bret_williams]

Because I have been busy at work, I have had little time or ability

to dust off my camera during the daytime. Thought I would look into

night photography with my M7. Any suggestions on film, metering

techniques, etc. Subject matter is NYC at night.

[frdchang]

metering techniques:

just keep in mind that you need to add more time the longer the exposure. your film datasheets have charts.

 

tripod plus sandbag on top of camera is good.

 

i usually find a grey spot and meter that and let everything else fall wherever they fall. you cannot possibly capture the range of night, so if your familiar with the zone system, you can imagine how the values will lay....

 

bracket if your not sure.

[bret_williams]

I started my first roll two nights ago, but have not finished the roll. I used a zone-modified Pentax Spotmeter to meter the dark buildings and light sources. Because I was (am) using a leftover roll of Agfa 25, I ended up with EV readings between 0 and 3, with three being some of the building light sources. What Zone would you put nighttime light sources? I placed them on VI, trying to make sure that nightime building came out black enough but not too black so as to retain some detail. But of course, because I was doing exposure times of 2 minutes and more, none of it seemed like a precise science at the time.

[charles_gravely]

Bret, I was in NYC this time last year with my M7 taking pics at night and in the subway. I was shooting people rather than buildings so bracketing was not an option and either was a tripod.

 

I just used fast color negative film and set the M7 on auto and went to work. Used the obvious exposure corrections if there is a light source inside the metering area etc. This is where the M7 really works well. As discussed recently, the exposure lock is actually a sutter speed lock. So meter, lock shutter, then open lens as needed depending on the location of the light source.

 

I was happy with the pictures.

 

I am looking forward to some other answers to this question because I have some low light work / bright light sources etc. In this case the subject is static so I can work from a tripod. I have been looking up the reciprocity failure adjustments for various films. I was amazed to see that fuji Provia 100F can be shot for up to 128 seconds without any adjustments for reciprocity failure or color shift. Fuji negative film on the other hand needs adjustment when the expousre is only 4 seconds. Does anybody use slide film in a high contrast situation like this?

 

Charles

[stuart_richardson]

Supposedly Acros does not need any reciprocity correction up to 10 minutes of

exposure..., but that will not help you without a tripod! NYC at night is often still fairly

bright. I would buy some diafine from B&H along with some Tri-X. This combo will give

you very good results at ISO 1200-1600, which should be enough to handle most of your

situations. The M7's meter seems to work very well in low light, and the Leica lenses are so

good wide open that it seems to me that you have an ideal kit. For color, I would

recommend NPZ, ISO 800 color neg. It is often nice to have a neg film in these situations

because exposures are more difficult to nail and color balance from all the mixed lighting

can be detrimental to slide film. Also, I am not aware of a slide film that is usable at ISO

800. I know Provia 400F says you can push it to 800 or even 1600, but I have not tried it...

[joe_blow32]

Very simple. Load Camera with Delta 3200. Push it to 6400. Set camera at f4 at 15th sec. Point camera at what you want to take a picture of. Take the picture. Repeat as necessary.<div></div>

[Rob F.]

I've had good results with Ektachrome P1600 (an ISO 400 film pushed 2 stops) and with Tri-X and HP-5, also pushed 2 stops in T-Max developer. I shoot handheld with M7, 35/1.4, 50/1, and 75/1.4. I've had no focusing problems because my subjects are 20 to 75 feet away, making focusing less critical.

[skinny_mcgee]

triX at 12800 in rodinal

[clayh]

I have done a fair bit of tripod-less night photography with Luxes and Nocts. I use Tmax

3200 and FX-39 developer. Metering is more trouble than its worth generally. A black

shadow will just always be a black shadow. And it is generally hard to find anything that

will be a good middle gray other than an illuminated sidewalk if you are lucky. So, my rule

of thumb with the Tmax 3200 and FX-39 1:9 for 14m 72 deg:

 

Bright street f/1 at 1/125 (or equivalent)

 

A couple of street lights (2-3) f/1 at 1/60.

 

Really dark 1/15 at f/1.

 

You can see some of my night work on my website clayharmon.net

[johns1]

Joe,

 

Scary picture for sure. Berlin, after hours, eh?

 

The stuff of nightmares this.

[bret_williams]

Thanks for the posts and suggestions. Nice shots Clay. BUT I am not trying to do the "available darkness" thing. No looking for that fast film, wide-open, slow shutter speed shot. My trial shots with the Agfa 25 were shot with a tripod at F16. I am looking for suggestions, examples of night shots with the depth of field, correct exposure that people easily get with day shots.

 

I will try the Acros. Part of my choice of the Agfa BW was my thought that it would not raise reciprocity issues.

[clayh]

Bret,

If you are going to use a tripod, then definitely go for the neopan. Really good reciprocity

behavior. You might investigate using a staining/tanning developer like pyrocat as well to

help control the highlights. Another possible developer to look at would be 777 or a glycin

based developer for the same reasons.

[b2 -]

Long ago, the Kodak Professional Photo Guide (or anther publication) had several guides to late nigth photography (with respect to exposure).

 

I did some stuff with a 'blad and Tri-X, not pushed and a tripod years ago. I want to say, f5.6 at about 15 seconds sounds like what came out, but that was houses illumated by street lights.

 

I would try to meter the lit windows and walls, placing them in the zones that you think will give you your best contrast. I will try and look for a poop-sheet on the web. I think I have one book marked on my pc (using my work pc now) if I do, I will post it.

 

I remember when I lived in Brooklyn years back going out a few nights to shoot. I walked up to windows and walls and metered them. Then I walked back to where the shot was (didn't have much of a spot meter in those days), lined it up and shot.

 

Lets see what I can find. Sandbags are fun, just remember the cable release.

 

B2 (;->

[andrew robertson]

I'm going to have nightmares thanks to Joe's picture.

[frederick_muller]

Ha! I kinda like it ... looks like a frame out of "Fear.com"!

[frdchang]

here is an example in which i just found a 'middle grey' spot and let all the values rest wherever they rest.

 

film was tmax400, but i usually use tmax100.<div></div>

[kit_chong]

Metered belowed the dome on left corner. Ilford XP-2

<br><br><b>Singapore</b><br>

<img src="http://static.flickr.com/31/57105373_db0a696497.jpg">

<br>

[gaijin]

Leica M2 guessed exposure with camera hand held pressed against hotel window looking out.<div></div>

[sndr]

Hey Frederick: that's that bicycle bridge in Berkeley across I-80, isn't it?

[bret_williams]

Kit and D30, impressive shots. That is what I am trying to accomplish. I have to get my first roll developed to see where I am at. NYC has a lot of ambient light, so I need to get a sense of what exposure times look best, probably more by trial and error than with the spotmeter alone. The suggestions about film exposure charts for night is a good suggestion, Bill. I hadn't looked around for soemthing like that, either as part of the film's information or as a third-party produced guidebook etc.

 

Oh, and thanks for the instructions Frederick. The diagram looks like something John Madden would draw on Monday night football.

[bret_williams]

BTW Kit, do you recall any specifics regarding your pic, i.e. film, tripod or no tripod, exposure, etc.

[frdchang]

sndr:

 

yes, its the bridge in berkeley.

[kit_chong]

Bret,<br><br>The film was XP-2 Super 135-36 Black & White (Chromogenic C-41) Print Film (ISO-400). I like C-41 based films as I can use Digital ICE to remove dust and any decent mini lab can process it. That night I did not have a tripod, so I rested the camera on a ledge, angled it down and shot at f2 1/15 sec. Personally, I don?t like very high ISO. If you have lots of ambient lights, be careful not to blow or wash it out. I like to bring my tripod but at some places the security guards won?t allow that.