Night Exposures

[Steve Bell]

Being new to LF, how do you achieve a well composed and focused night exposure? The image on the GG is too dark to effectively focus or use movements. Is night photography ony effective with rangefinder LF cameras? The only logical technique I can see otherwise is to setup the camera while it's dark and wait for the light to fail, or mark the tripod leg locations, leave the camera setup and come back when it's dark. What technique do you use?

[Duane Polcou]

I've done considerable night photography in NYC. You should clarify whether you are shooting in a location where there is some artificial light (windows, streetlights, etc.), or whether you are setting up to shoot where there is no discernible light whatsoever other than the moon and/or stars.

If you are photographing where there is some available light, utilizing a focusing loupe on the groundglass to finely focus on the light sources which can be seen, albiet dimly, is your best bet. You may have to approximate focusing from this point forward if the light source's spot is not precisely where you want the focus to fall.

Contrary to what you have assumed, you will WANT TO utilize camera movements. A properly utilized tilt or swing can maximize depth of field at any given aperture, allowing you to use wider apertures, hence shorter exposure times, while still keeping everything pretty much in focus. If you try to photograph a given scene metered with an EV of 1 (or less) at F64, you're going to be watching your watch for a long time, even with a faster film.

I really recommend practicing in areas with visible artificial light first. Get the hang of the focusing nuances and reciprocity characteristics of your film. Two masters of this genre are Michael Kenna and Chip Forelli. Studying their work should give you an idea of what I mean.

Other than that, the whole night time photograhy thing, IMHO, is a crap shoot. If you can see some light, focus. If you anticipate not being able to see any ambiet light, set up the shot during daylight and wait, or do the tripod demarcation thing, lock the camera movements and focus securely, and return later. The whole fun of it is seeing what you've captured and being wildly and wonderfully surprised. Throw previsualization out the window.

Carry 2 maglight flashlights. Be acutely aware of condensation on lens elements as the temperature cools. Bring deet insect repellent if shooting in the country, and a CO2 pressurized pellet handgun if travelling in the city.

[Tadge Dryja]

I use my cell phone quite a bit. I'll walk over to the place I want in focus, turn the screen on, then go back to the camera and try to focus on it. It's bright and has a lot of detail so it's easy to focus on.

Obviously there are many situations where this isn't an option, but it's something to try out if you can.

[John Cook]

Three thoughts to share with you:

First, a lot of "night" photography is done with two exposures. The first is done at twilight to capture the skyline between the glowing sky and the black buildings (or trees). The second exposure, done after complete darkness falls, captures the building window lights and the street lights. You don't tend to shoot a lot of film with this technique.

Second, I once knew a policeman who photographed crime scenes with b&w in a Crown Graphic. When he got into a black, burned-out house with boarded-up windows, he would put down his flashlight and walk to the other side of the room. After pre-setting the focus on his camera to that flashlight distance, he would retrieve it before making the exposure.

That cop was a very practical photographer. For shooting stolen auto serial numbers at night, there was a piece of white cloth adhesive tape on the back of the Graphic which read, "f/5.6 with two flashlights".

My third idea is to check out Ed Deasy's website. He seems to have done a lot of night photography:

http://deasy.com/

[Mark Sampson]

When I've tried shooting star-trails with a view camera (with mixed success over the years), I've set the camera up before sunset, focussed, and waited until well after dark to begin exposing.

[Jim Rhoades]

As a retired ghetto police sergeant of many years I can tell you that as night falls out comes my Crown Graphic. It is the best for fast low light shooting. Along with Johns tips, at close range you use the projected split beam. It allows you to focus on a cave wall at midnight. The 135mm lens with just a touch of rise will get in most subjects.

As to this pellet gun thing. A VERY bad idea. I have personally carried out over 200 dead bodies and have seen bullets from a 32.APC bounce off of a persons skull. The man was really pi$$ed off about being shot. I was a FBI certified firearms instructor and rangemaster for 16 years, the mind-set needed to shoot someone is one problem. The skill to do it is another. To be effective you need a very big gun. I can only hope that Duane was joking.

[Mark_3899]

My MO is to choose my plane of focus then point my Jeep headlights on that plane. It works really well.

[ronald lamarsh]

To Jim: Very sound advice about the pellet gun thing! Showing a weapon of any kind instantly escalates a situation and I, for one, am neither trained(although I've been using firearms since the age of 6) nor have the desire to harm anyone. If its a risky neighborhood I just stay out. My father taught "hand to hand conbat " in the Marine Corp and he told me " if you want to stay out of trouble don't go where it is likely to be" period! He was trained, and in many instances had to use his skills, to kill with and without arms and he was of the opinion that he was just lucky that he never ran to the guy that was better than he was. The point being you don't know who that other person is or what they are capable of so I prefer to depend on my common sense and pre-emt dangerous situations by staying out of them.

[ronald moravec]

Listen to Mr. Rhoades. I have spoken to several Chicago policemen and they no longer carry 38`s because the shells can bounce off a skull. They use something bigger. you should too.

Bulletproof vests will stop the shell from most any handgun and more and more crooks are using them. You may as well spit at them as to try a pellet gun.

The first rule is not to pull a gun unless you are prepared to use it, and a worthless gun is keeping you from being prepared.

I advise using an old camera and sacraficing it if necessary or just buy some insurance and don`t carry non replaceable equipment. Same thing in my house. All the good photostuff is well burried. Lots of old junk is easily found.

[Alan Davenport]

All of the advice given looks good to me. For focusing, a small flashlight is all you need, just place it in the subject area. I would think most night cityscapes already have plenty of light sources you can focus on.

And the pellet gun thing is just stupid. Sorry to be so blunt but it is. If you're gonna carry a gun, carry one that will do the job, and don't carry it if you won't use it. It's probably the most serious decision you'll ever make, so don't take our word for it either; if you aren't properly trained in firearms use then get trained first.

[Mike Davis]

There are extremely legitimate reasons to be armed. Just "staying out of the bad areas" may or may not work for you. That said, carrying enough gun is an important point.

I have had muggers attempt to take my camera equipment on extremely fashionable streets with million dollar houses. I have had people try to kick in my door in the middle of the night. I have had a mugger try to make me a victim on an otherwise safe college campus. I have had a friend murdered because she screamed during a rape a block from my house and across the street from the ceo of a Fortune 100's house. Bottom line is that "staying out of the bad areas" is no more effective than carrying a pellet gun.

When you're out at night, be aware of your surroundings. Be prepared to flee or fight. Be able and willing to do either or both.

[Will Strain]

glad we could stay on topic lads...

Steve - I've both set up and waited...and used lights of one variety or another. Depending on the subject - composition can be trickier. If you have somebody with you... a battery powered (or cigarette lighter powered) wide spot light can be invaluable... Also, your car's headlights if you can angle it around...

And sometimes just prefocusing the camera (I have tape stops for infinity focus) and good luck is enough.

Have fun.

[Mike Davis]

Will,

Since many of us are not linear thinkers, the morphing of topics seems reasonable to me. I know that my interests which range from video art and photography to competitive shooting are different than other peoples. But, being safe and/or safety conscious is something that most people are interested in.

[Will Strain]

Fair enough, Mike. Cheers.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Steve, when I did a job in Houston I was supervising the night shift, this was in the middle of a swamp that had alligators......of course the funny story was that I was showing a new guy the set up and we were walking around the site as I was explaning to him the procedures, so he suddenly stops and shines his flash light under a pallet and tells me..."hey men, there is a big ass lizard under the pallet"....I said, no lizard, alligator ( a baby one, about 3 feet long)

Anyhow, while I was having dinner I asked a cop if he would let me see his flash light, he showed me a streamlight that is very, very bright. This is what I use to light up at night, you would be susprised how powerful these little flash lights are. They are expensive though.....What I do is light up on the near, then the far, focus on the middle and close down the lens.

Good luck....

[John Cook]

Jorge's reply just reminded me of an old friend who used to be an in-house industrial photographer during the 1960's. Litton Industries, I seem to recall.

He was issued a wooden 8x10 outfit (b&w film) and a cart, like those used by hotel maids when cleaning rooms, to carry his gear around the factory. He began each morning with a fist-full of photo requisitions from various departments which he worked on all day.

For light, he had only one Smith-Victor reflector, with which he used to "paint" all his subjects. One day, he demonstrated his light painting technique for me, which was absolutely fascinating. From simple table-top objects to big scenes. I had heard of photographers, dressed all in black, walking up and down supermarket aisles after dark, spraying the shelves with light. He actually did it.

My suggestion for you is to obtain one of those battery-operated million-candlepower light units from some hunting outfitter like cabelas.com. Try spray painting over the massive doors of an old cathedral, or perhaps an old stone bridge. Not only will you have light with which to focus, but you can create your own lighting scheme as well. Takes some practice but can be very dramatic.

[Robert C. McColloch]

Very good answers - but - How do you take a spotmeter reading when you can't see the one degree circle?

[Brian C. Miller]

My Pentax Spotmeter V has an illuminator button. I press that and then I see the circle.

The other thing you can do is grab a white card and get the reading off of that. Then once you know the value of white in the scene, you know the other values as well. I have photographed in light where the white card read "1" on the meter.

You might actually want to forgo movements when its dark, and just stop down the lens and expose for a really long time. Remember reciprocity for your film, or just guess like crazy. I had an instance where I used both my Pentax 6x7 and Graflex Super Graphic, and the Pentax had the better pictures because they had better focus. I didn't know about the trick of bringing a spot light to the scene.

Once I tried out Fuji 100/1000 chrome. It was a moonlit scene, and the resulting pictures looked like it was simply daylight, except for the houses in the distance.

[John_4185]

If you are not using movements, then framing is very nicely done with a wire-frame or auxillary optical finder. Wire-frame finders are underappreciated; when you use them properly, they can be very accurate. (Linhof made a wire frame to accomodate four focal focal lengths, and distance to the primary object. They aren't easy to come by. I can post a picture if you like.)

For focusing a nearby object, get one of the Mini-Maglights and unscrew the head. It is made for this purpose. Removing the head exposes the bulb in the On position. The rear of the flashlight fits into the narrow end of the head to hold it upright like a candle. Focus upon the spot. Be happy.