Long Exposure

[David Solow]

Hi All,

Newbie here, again. I have a client that wants a shot of a downtown building at night. It's about 15-20 stories tall. I will be shooting Fuji Pro 160S, with a 75mm f/4.5 apo-grandagon lens on a 4x5 Sinar P2. If I want to have the building and the forecourt in focus, I'll need to stop down to at least f/16. The exposure reading could be in minutes. What is the reciprocity factor. I have been reading Ansel Adams, "The Negative," which gives really long reciprocity factors for B&W film, as most of you know. If a B&W neg reads 100 sec on the meter, he shoots 1200 sec. I know color neg film has a shorter reciprocity factor, but is there a scale I could use to test around. Has anybody shot night scenes with this film?

Thanks in advance for your help,
David

[David de Gruyl]

Fuji says in the Pro 160S datasheet (http://www.fujifilm.com/products/professional_films/pdf/pro_160s_datasheet.pdf) to open the aperture by 1/3rd stop for exposures over 4 seconds. To tell you the truth, this seems like a small adjustment.

I wonder, however, if you are looking at the reciprocity failure for Tri-X, which is horrible.

[vinny]

Did you try searching fuji pro 160s reciprocity? Google

[Sascha Welter]

IIRC Fuji gives reprocity information for 160S up till 32 seconds only. After that there are some "generic" reciprocity for color film tables out on the web. With color neg film, err on the side of overexposure.

[cjbroadbent]

My experience is with EPY, but I would suggest getting off the toe of the reciprocity curve where things a volatile.
Stop down to f45 ad leave it open for the time to have a mug of coffee and a sandwich. I never found much difference in exposure between 5 minutes and 35 minutes. If there are lights in the forecourt, use a neutral density wedge upside-down or wave a black card around in front of the lower part of the lens. (Yes, I've done it).

[Jehu]

The articles on this site have helped me with film photography at night.

http://www.thenocturnes.com/index2.html

[Jim Jones]

You might cut the exposure time by shooting in the sweet light a little after sunset when there is enough ambient light to fill in some shadows and provide a little light in the sky to outline the building. The light also might be better a little before sunrise.

[David Solow]

Thanks for everyone's help. I ended up buying some Velvia 100f at the last minute and shooting with that. I'll get the transparencies tomorrow, and let you know how the Velvia did.

David

[vinny]

Sounds like u went in the complete opposite direction with your film choice. Hopefully it works out. Velvia 100f would be my last choice for this type of work.

[Kirk Gittings]

Most clients that ask for ''night'' shots really mean ''twilight'' shots-not the same thing. They simply don't know the correct terminology. Most buildings look like crap at ''night'' with any film.

[rguinter]

You might cut the exposure time by shooting in the sweet light a little after sunset when there is enough ambient light to fill in some shadows and provide a little light in the sky to outline the building. The light also might be better a little before sunrise.

A good thing to do as Jim said. The sweet spot for me at night is when skylight is eV6.

Example. This old one on Provia but works well with negative films also.

Bob G.