Night exposure example.

[chris_4622]

Here are two negative scans from a recent outing in Chicago. It was at night and somewhat foggy. The rink was full of people and I was trying to capture them in a state of motion. I metered the scene, with the ice reflecting the lights being the brightest and clothing being the low.

I focused at the far end of the rink and left the lens wide open, f9. The film was fp4+. The exposure called for 8 seconds, I gave it 11. Minus development. Obviously the long exposure erased most of the skaters. It looks like I could have given it less exposure, but certainly not enough to get it down to the 1/2 second or even 1 second that would produce the image I imagined.

I'm disappointed in the outcome and plan to try it again but the conditions were so ripe that night with the fog and all. I'm thinking of using my 305mm portrait lens wide open, I'll pick up a stop and a half or so.

Will plus development help with this scene? It doesn't seem to be so since I would be pushing the highlights out without helping the low and mids much. I don't know. Any constructive or humorous comments appreciated.

chris

[nelsonfotodotcom]

Both of these compositions held their strength in the people as subject matter. Since you could not get enough shutter-speed to freeze their movements, or at least limit their disappearing act, the frames feel empty.

I would suggest going for less detail in the people. Shoot wide open again, and bracket 2 to 3 shots. Begin at 2 seconds, +2 each following. Push 2 to 3 stops. You don't say which film you are using, so I'm not sure what other issues you are facing, re. reciprocity failure, etc.

You should end up with enough highs and details to make it work. People will be shadows, silhouettes, sweeping wisps of motion, but that's OK - they're skating. I think you'll end up with a better image, an emotive image.

Best of luck.

C.

[Randy H]

check it out
http://www.hughscottphotography.com/homepage.html

has some good night shots, particularly the OKC Memorial shots (mostly done at night) and the lightning shots. he is usually very open to communications and questions about particular shots.

[Anupam]

If I am right in assuming that you wanted to produce a sense of motion blur like the following photograph, then it's not a question of plus or minus development at all. The only way to do it is by getting the exposure time right. This shot was at 1/4 with a 35mm RF:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/1820919470_9ef7fadfe0.jpg

You can get away with maybe 1/2 but not much more. So how could you do that?

First, getting the exposure right. EI 125 film @ 8 secs @ f9 is almost LV 3. I would expect exposure for a brightly lit ice rink to be about LV 6 maybe LV 5 - you might try an ambient reading to cross-check your spot readings.

Now let's say, you are exposing for EV 6 and need an exposure of 1/2 sec. How could one get that? If your lens is f5.6 and you shoot wide open, using tilt to make up for the dof, then you could still shoot EI 125 film. EI 125 @ 1/2 @ f5.6 = LV 6. I would shoot something nearer EI 400 and stop down a couple of stops or reduce the shutter speed to 1/4. A little bit of playing around should make this entirely possible.

HTH,
Anupam

[chris_4622]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Anupam, the ice was reading around 7- 7 2/3 LV. I overexposed the scene now that I have gone back and looked at my notes. With a 5.6 lens I could get it down to a one second exposure. I agree that plus development will not help this situation and faster film would be a help here but I don't have any in 5x7. I have a 4.8 lens I think I'll take that next time.

chris