Show Me Your Night Shots!

[Corran]

Thanks. I've wanted to try color printing for years but had a lot of trouble getting a working color head.

[rustyhammer]

Firefly pix on 4x5 400 speed neg film, in summary:

Set up and underexpose a likely landscape by about 2 to 3 stops or darker. Do it about dusk. Choose a dim tree-sheltered space. F16 to 45 for 3 to 6 seconds is common, using the Black Cat Exposure Guide. Maximize your Scheimpflug alignment to sharpen the most active firefly zone, usually a couple feet above the ground.

Then, wait until it's as dark as it can get, usually about 90 minutes. By this time, fireflies have been active awhile, but exposing film too early for these first flashes uses up the film's chemistry and overexposes the landscape. Be patient until it's dark as possible. Open up the aperture to about F4 to F8. Too fast an aperture makes the nearby flashes look like soap bubbles and spoils the effect. Too small an aperture sharpens the flashes to too-small, dim dots. My best luck came around F4 to 5.

On the sheet already (under)exposed with the nice woodsy dark landscape, wait for flashes to fly across your shot. Open the shutter with cable release, set to Bulb, and hold open a few seconds while your bug leaves a nice trail of flashes across the sheet of film, then close the shutter.

Re-cock the shutter immediately, ready for the next one that flies across your field of your shot. Repeat until.you collect maybe 30 to 90 seconds of flash-trails on the sheet of film. They'll show up as nice little purple dots on the negative.

Full disclosure, I do use a scanner and digital help to salvage shots, correcting exposure, etc. to achieve a look true to the scene. A long night in the humidity and mosquitos and rushing to not get locked in the State Park overnight, all against the odds of sparse fireflies nowadays, deserves some salvageable result. If someone can teach me how to keep it purely a work of pure chemistry and optics, I'd be interested to know. Oh, almost forgot, watch out for moonlight, it burns blue reciprocity patches into the image.

I wrote a more detailed treatise with diagrams and sample photos, and could relay it along if the Mediators can guide me as to protocol. I'm barely started on Tapatalk, still learning the ropes. I hope to share a couple images with the community when I figure out how.

Good luck and enjoy!

"rustyhammer"

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[EdSawyer]

Nice, RA4 is a great process, relatively easy and fun. The paper base does eventually yellow a bit with time (expired paper that is) but often you can't tell in the print, so I'd say use up what you have and see how it goes.

[Tin Can]

Very interesting, we still had fireflies last year. Bees are going fast, mosquitoes are now so small I cannot see them, they still bite.

Never heard of 'Black Cat Exposure Guide' seems to be a useful item.

Are you connected in any way to Black Cat Exposure Guide?

Firefly pix on 4x5 400 speed neg film, in summary:

Set up and underexpose a likely landscape by about 2 to 3 stops or darker. Do it about dusk. Choose a dim tree-sheltered space. F16 to 45 for 3 to 6 seconds is common, using the Black Cat Exposure Guide. Maximize your Scheimpflug alignment to sharpen the most active firefly zone, usually a couple feet above the ground.

Then, wait until it's as dark as it can get, usually about 90 minutes. By this time, fireflies have been active awhile, but exposing film too early for these first flashes uses up the film's chemistry and overexposes the landscape. Be patient until it's dark as possible. Open up the aperture to about F4 to F8. Too fast an aperture makes the nearby flashes look like soap bubbles and spoils the effect. Too small an aperture sharpens the flashes to too-small, dim dots. My best luck came around F4 to 5.

On the sheet already (under)exposed with the nice woodsy dark landscape, wait for flashes to fly across your shot. Open the shutter with cable release, set to Bulb, and hold open a few seconds while your bug leaves a nice trail of flashes across the sheet of film, then close the shutter.

Re-cock the shutter immediately, ready for the next one that flies across your field of your shot. Repeat until.you collect maybe 30 to 90 seconds of flash-trails on the sheet of film. They'll show up as nice little purple dots on the negative.

Full disclosure, I do use a scanner and digital help to salvage shots, correcting exposure, etc. to achieve a look true to the scene. A long night in the humidity and mosquitos and rushing to not get locked in the State Park overnight, all against the odds of sparse fireflies nowadays, deserves some salvageable result. If someone can teach me how to keep it purely a work of pure chemistry and optics, I'd be interested to know. Oh, almost forgot, watch out for moonlight, it burns blue reciprocity patches into the image.

I wrote a more detailed treatise with diagrams and sample photos, and could relay it along if the Mediators can guide me as to protocol. I'm barely started on Tapatalk, still learning the ropes. I hope to share a couple images with the community when I figure out how.

Good luck and enjoy!

"rustyhammer"

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[Corran]

Thanks Ed, yes I think I will use this up and see what I can get. Photos that don't need/have perfectly neutral color will be easier, such as the above.

I want to see some LF firefly photos. I shot digital and MF last year of synchronous fireflies but the MF didn't come out. I have a better idea/plan this year, if I'm able to go.

[rustyhammer]

My only connection with the Black Cat Exposure Guide is as a customer. I couldn't really afford a light meter, so I tried it out. Helped me with a few situations probably outside the comfort range of most meters.


rustyhammer

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[Tin Can]

My only connection with the Black Cat Exposure Guide is as a customer. I couldn't really afford a light meter, so I tried it out. Helped me with a few situations probably outside the comfort range of most meters.






I just bought one

Thank you!

rustyhammer

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[hsandler]

Crown Graphic 45. Schneider Xenar 135mm f4.7 lens at f22. Kodak Ektar film. About 30s exposure.

Cenotaph in Ottawa by Howard Sandler, on Flickr

[Ray Van Nes]

Here is a night shot from Calgary. It is of the new Calgary Central Library which has received much attention for its design. Taken with my homemade 5 x 12, 300mm Nikkor M, HP5 film in Rollo Pyro.

[hsandler]

Wellington Building, in Ottawa. Crown Graphic 45. Optar WA 90mm f6.8 at f22. HP5 film.

Wellington Building, Ottawa by Howard Sandler, on Flickr