12 Hour exposure; moon setting behind Courthouse Towers

Working on a new collection of Moonlit exposures. This is 12 Hours

on Winter Solstice. I'm trying to incorporate a reflection into all

the images; ice makes it difficult but interesting (I hope...).

~chris

Really beautiful Chris. I wish there were more stars apparent, but I know with the long exposure and bright moonlight, reciprocity failure really becomes the enemy.

 

I'm curious to know more details, since I'm also wanting to try some large format night exposures. What film did you use, and did you shoot wide open, or stopped down? Any problem with film flatness over the duration of the exposure?

 

Looking forward to seeing more,

Mike

 

I admire your dedication to do this kind of work. Great picture

Film was Ilford FP4+ (125). I don't meter this type of scene; rather, I use an algorithm. This is Full Moon, so I have to stop down. My experience is that Reciprocity failure only affects shadows and mid-tones. Highlights never stop or slow in exposure. With a full moon, there is too much ambient light (over 12 hours) to show stars. Anyway, Reciprocity Failure works in my favor--I can expose the scene in the first couple hours when the moon is shining on it; then the moon can enter the scene and draw it's highlight on the pool and in the sky without affecting the shadows and mid-tones. Please see my "Ethereal Days" folder to see some Star Trail images. Thanks for looking! ~chris