Moon Light Photography

[Blumine]

The recent posting about Multi-day exposures and moving water got me thinking about a project I am starting think about.

Several years ago, I saw a series of photographys taken on I think a Hassleblad of waterfalls and running rivers taken in the middle of the night on/around the full moon. Most of the exposures were in the 60 to 90 minute range, IIRC. I have searched for sometime to find out the details but I have had no luck, I dont even remember the photographers name.

I have been wanting to start a similar project of my own using 4x5, but I have no idea what would be the correct film to use. For BW I have already chosen Fuji Acros, but for color I am stumped. I have no idea what would be the best choice for exposures of this length. I am open to using both Trannies or negative film.

Any thoughts would be great. Thanks.

Blumine

[Ron Marshall]

Acros is the best for b/w. Astia requires only an extra 2/3 stop exposure at 8 minutes, as listed on the Fuji site. After that you will have to test for longer times to see what the effective EI will be and see what color shift you get.

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/professional/films/pdfs/AF3-149E.pdf

[John Kasaian]

I've thought of this too and I keep running into the same basic problem---if the moon is in the shot I end up with a big white sausage floating in the sky :eek: I thought of mounting a light camera on a motorized equitorial mount like telescopes use, but then the landscape would naturally be blurred.

I solved this by purposely not having the moon in the shot (besides unless you've got a really really long lens the moon just isn't going to look as dramatic as in real life.)

One of my early efforts I shot TMY at the big walls in Yosemite Valley on a full moon night and pushed the exposed film---the print came out looking like daylight with lots of dust specs (stars) in the sky portions :(

It is a lot of fun though. Night photography rocks---especially with LF!

Check out www.thenocturnes.com for free tutorials (at least they used to have them---I haven't been there in awhile)

Good luck and have fun! :)

[Blumine]

Thanks for the helpful advice. I have some 120 Astia here, next full moon I will make some quick testes.

Actually, I am not trying to photograph the moon itself, but I want to use the illumination from the moon to make my shots. I will start with some 120 Acros and Astia before wasting 4x5 on it.

Thanks for help.

Blumine

[Eric James]

You may know about the forum's Sun Moon Calculator, but if not here's the link. It's a great way to plan your shot(s) ahead of time.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/sunmooncalc/

[anchored]

Another color film to try for night scenes: tungsten balanced, such as Fuji or Kodak's 64T. Provides a more realistic (?) blue-tinted color balance. My preference for color renditions on tungsten film leans towards Kodak (less blue, more black).

I've also found Fuji's Provia to perform better than Astia for ultra-long exposures.

[Steve_Renwick]

Including the moon in a moonlit scene will have the same effect as including the sun in a sunlit scene. ;)

I picked up a rule of thumb somewhere: for a scene brightly lit by the full moon in a clear sky, use f/4 at 4 mins for ASA 100. Worked great for T-Max. For Velvia, not so much. Anyway, that should give a starting point for bracketing.

[evan clarke]

Check out Tom Paiva's site. He does wonderful color night time photography. I have had a couple seminar sessions which he led and he was using Provia..EC

http://www.tompaiva.com/index.html

[Dave Jeffery]

Here's another great site.
http://home.earthlink.net/~kitathome/LunarLight/moonlight_gallery/technique/technique.htm

[Eric James]

Including the moon in a moonlit scene will have the same effect as including the sun in a sunlit scene. ;)

...

So true - most of the challenges, most of the pitfalls, some of the same remedies. At least the OP doesn't have to worry so much about these problems; moonlit landscapes are enough of a challenge.

Blumine, you might get some ideas from looking at aurora photographs. Many a great aurora shot has a scenic moonlit foreground or mid-ground, in addition to the light show in the sky.

eg:

http://www.alaskastock.com/ (use the search term "aurora")

http://www.alaska.net/~akshots/lite/index.html