Exposure for Snow Landscapes in Moonlight

[louie]

I'm going snow camping this weekend and expect a full moon. I checked

my Kodak Professional Photoguide, and the exposure dial does have a

setting for moonlit snow landscapes, but I was wondering if anybody

had any other suggestions for getting proper exposure. I was just

going to use what the photoguide said as a beginning point and then

bracket from there.

 

Also, this isn't quite a nature question, but we'll also be building

Quinzees (sp?) - kind of an igloo, and I wanted to get some interior

shots lit with a candle. Again, I was going to use the photoguide's

suggestion for interiors lit with a candle lantern, but thought the

reflective nature of the snow walls might change how I should expose.

Any tips?

 

Oh, I should probably mention that I'm using a Canon Rebel 2000, 50mm

1.8, and 28-105, and tripod, of course. I usually use Velvia 50, but

am thinking of using Kodachrome 64 and/or Kodak Elite 100.

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Louie

[c_terry]

Get a Kodak gray card that is white on one side, and meter off of it in the light you are shooting in. The gray and white sides are 2 stops different (2 1/3 acctually), so you can use the white side in lower light (easier to meter from) and compensate the readings. The cards I have came in a pack of 3 (2 - 8"x10", 1 - 4"x5") and were about $10. Short of a hand held incident light meter, they are the easiest way to deal with tough situations like this.

[stephen_vaughan2]

Just as a base exposure I have used 18 minutes at f4 for K64 under full moonlight which seems to be work great. If shooting snow scenics you will want to cut back to maybe 8 minutes or less. Light meters will not give accurate reading in this light plus you need to compensate for reciprocity failure. Again these exposures are for Kodachrome 64. If you try Velvia the exposures are actually shorter than for Kadachrome due to less reciprocity problems. Remember to bracket.

[stephen_schoof]

I would be wary of a lightmeter reading under such low light, even if your built-in meter is reading. To be safe I would suggest using your photoguide recommendations and bracketing wildly. (Of course, record your exposures so you know what to do next time!)

 

As far as film, you might consider Provia F either at 100 or pushed to 200. I recently shot a moonlit lake with this @ 200 -- grain was fantastic and my best exposure was 20 short seconds @ f2.

[ross_geredien]

The last two comments are correct about meter readings. Meter readings in low light are not very accurate at all, and exposure compensation is also irrelevant and unnecessary in low light. As for how long to expose in moonlit snow, I don't have a good answer.

 

Ross

[lester_laforce]

With Fuji Astia, 4 minutes at f4 will turn a full moon night into DAY! Astia exhibits no or minimal resposity failure at 4 minutes.

[erol_a.]

Another thing to consider- if youplan to have the moon or moonlit clouds in a picture, you are going to want to cut your time as short as possible, or else the clouds and moon will blur from their natural motion. I did a series of night shots of an incredible moon and sky over a bay and many times a 40 second exposure was far too much to retain any detail in the motion-prone subjects. I used Astia, K25, and Velvia for shots, and found the Astia to be the best for its speed and neutral colour- Kodachrome was also wonderful in terms of stability, but way too slow. It may be worth your while to carry some negative film as well- faster speed and generally lower contrast may prove useful at times.