Two questions...

**Emre Yildirim** · 12-May-2006, 21:03

(1) Has anyone shot wide-open with the 75 Super Angulon? I'm thinking of shooting some very long night exposures (star trails) using 100 speed color film, which is the only film I have at the moment. I was wondering if the sharpness/light fall-off is still acceptable at f/5.6.

(2) This question is mainly aimed at B&W shooters: how do you make your skies look more dramatic? In the past I've been using a polarizer, which not only gets rid of glare/reflections, but also darkens the sky quite a bit. The polarizer usually gives me a gradient in the sky but doesn't really darken it up all the way to black. I'm wondering if I should buy a red filter and give that a try. I'm wondering if the effect will be stronger (i.e. a completely black sky), but at the same time I'm worried that the red filter won't reduce any glare/reflections. What do you guys think? Polarizer or red filter?

Everyone's input is greatly appreciated.

**Eric Biggerstaff** · 12-May-2006, 21:10

Emre,

A dark red filter will greatly darken the sky, you can also combine your polarizer with a red, orange, yellow, etc to create even more drama. A polarizer with the red can create a sky that is almost black. Fun to play with.

Good luck.

**Emre Yildirim** · 12-May-2006, 22:25

I've never tried stacking filters, because I'm always worried about vignetting and degradation of image quality. But it also gets confusing when it comes to metering, so I usually just stick to one filter. I think I might give the red filter a try...at least in scenes where the sun isn't too harsh.

**Ben Crane** · 12-May-2006, 23:32

(1): I have a 75 mm Rodenstock that I used to expose a sheet of Tmax 100 for 6 or so hours on night on Death Valley's racetrack about 2 years ago with the lens wide open (f/4.5). I also used a flash light to highlight a rock and the trail behind it. Some headlights from cars can be seen in the distance. The star trail effect would have been better with faster film, but as you can see here you do get star trails with 100 speed film. I don't do any color work, but with long exposures in color you will have to worry about color shifts. The Tmax 100 I used also has a very favorable reciprocity failure which may be more of a problem with color film.

(2): How much of an effect the red filter has dependes on the sky. The red filter can be used in conjuction with a polarizer for a very dramatic effect in the right conditions. I believe this is what Ansel used for his famous photograph of Canyon de Chelly with the clouds.

www.benjamincrane.com

**Bill Kantor** · 13-May-2006, 07:36

Great shot Benjamin. How did you get the moon to stand still for 6 hours or did you just shine the flash light on that too? ;-)

I'm guessing that's not the moon since it would appear to be in the north. Is it the north star? All kidding aside, I am genuinely curious.

**Joe Forks** · 13-May-2006, 08:09

that's Polaris. Very nice shot Ben!

Best
Joe

**Ben Crane** · 13-May-2006, 09:39

You are correct that I had the camera pointed north, and that the moon is not visible in the shot. I'm not sure what that thing that looks sort of like the moon is but I'm willing to accept that it is Polaris as Joe said. While I was there I happened upon another large format photographer (Gary McVicker) who made a similar exposure. I believe his was in color, but I don't know how it turned out.