Focusing at Night

[JHenry]

I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and decided to try shooting the Golden Gate Bridge at night. Now, I'm totally new to a view camera and up to this point I had shot all of 8 frames, all in the middle of the day. So, I arrive at a spot northwest of the bridge and begin to both set up my equipment and freeze.

When I went to frame and then focus the shot, I found it very difficult. Even with the lens open, a loupe and a darkcloth, I found it very hard to see the subject on the ground glass, and even more difficult to focus it. (Yes, it was night time, but I expected--stupidly maybe--to see the image more clearly on the ground glass.)

I just got the negatives back, and they look good at first pass (I'll be scanning this weekend, so will know more soon). But, as I was going through this process, I wondered how other people approached this problem, and if there is some super-secret solution that I might be able to glean from the users of this forum.

Appreciate your help, insights and suggestions.

Cheers,

Jeff

[J Ney]

2-million candlepower spotlight

Of course at the Golden Gate bridge, that may attract the ghetto-birds.

[dsim]

Arrive early for focus and composition. Wait for the light to shoot.

Maglites can be placed in the foreground for focusing in low light levels.

[urs0polar]

Press-style cameras like the Linhof Technika, Speed Graphic, etc have models that come with rangefinders. A rangefinder is often easier to focus in low light. Of course, if you are doing movements, then that doesn't help much.

[Don7x17]

For close to intermediate distances (but not the far end of a two mile long bridge) get a lasar pointer. You'll see how easy it is to focus on the spot.

Obviously you don't shine this at a car's driver or an airplane - we are talking about focusing on inanimate objects.

[GPS]

Depending on the angle and distance of your subject - why not using the car headlights illuminating the bridge as the cars drive on it?

[rguinter]

...When I went to frame and then focus the shot, I found it very difficult...Jeff

Jeff: I'm not sure why you experienced a problem. For me focusing at night on a lighted subject is easier than focusing the same scene during the day. I don't even use a dark-cloth. But I'm a night-owl and nearsighted so those things may help.

The secret may be to let your eyes dark-adapt a bit before focusing. Then pick a bright spot at the right distance on your subject and focus it precisely. Bob G.

[Louie Powell]

Actually, for a subject like the GG bridge, focusing should be quite simple - during the daylight hours, focus the camera on infinity and place marks on the camera noting the position of the front and rear standard (or measure the distance between them). Then, after dark, use a flashlight to return the standard to those positions (or to the measured spacing). Because you are going to have to be some distance away, approximate focusing is good enough.

dsim mentioned a technique that the Nocturnes (a group of night photographers) routinely use - focus on small flashlights that are strategically placed in the scene. After focusing, retrieve the flashlights and then make the exposure.

A similar technique will work on the bridge - instead of flashlights, there are streetlights on the bridge - just focus on them. Don't worry about the structure itself.

[tgtaylor]

I don't believe that it would be necessary to focus the camera in day-light and wait for it to get dark.

Back in '02 I shot the Bay Bridge from the Embarcadero at midnight with my then new Toyo 45CF without a Fresnel. The Lens was a 150mm Rodenstock Apo Sirona-S whose widest aperture is f5.6. It took several minutes to focus as things were dark at that aperture without a Fresnel. I focused on the suspension cables as I wanted them as sharp lines in the photo and then stopped down to f16 for insurance. The picture came out sharp as a tack with nice star-like effect on the bridge lights that were facing me. Exposure was 60 seconds on Fuji Acros. The long exposure served to smooth out the bay's water, which was apparently transitioning from high tide to low tide as it was really moving, giving it a nice texture with the lights from the upper deck of the bridge falling on the dark waters of the bay painting it in a silvery white.

With the Golden Gate, which is lit at night, I'd focus on the north tower if shooting from the south, or the south tower if from the north.

[rguinter]

For close to intermediate distances (but not the far end of a two mile long bridge) get a lasar pointer. You'll see how easy it is to focus on the spot...

In high density population areas this is probably some very bad advice with security concerns running off the chart. Not wise to shine a laser outdoors for any reason now. My opinion. Bob G.