Night Photography - General
Information
by Tim Baskerville
The practice of photographing at night goes back to some
of the first photographers. Technical limitations (slow film
speed, large camera size, the large wet plates that were
used, etc.) severely hampered efforts in this area of photography.
However, from the early 1900's on more and more night photographs
can be seen. Stieglitz, Brassai, Genthe, Steichen - all have
made some notable images that were nocturnal. Stieglitz and
Steichen's studies of the Flatiron Building in New York are
widely recognized images. Brassai's studies of Paris after
dark were classics of this relatively new (at the time) genre.
Many of the photographers aligned with the Surrealist movement
in the 20's and 30's, did work at night and many of their "non-night" prints
evoke the nocturne. The Englishman Bill Brandt also photographed
at night, revealing wartime and post war industrial England.
And even his darkly printed images of non-night images have
a dark, nocturnal feel to them. Lee Miller, a woman photographer
during WWII made some interesting night images, the most
famous perhaps, being the burning of Hitler's house, photographed
at night with a GI looking on as a cold, detached onlooker.
Even Ansel Adams, in probably his most famous (and notorious)
image, "Moonrise over Hernandez" used the blanket
of dusk, moonlight, and a darkened sky to convey a sense
of mystery and place.
Who's Doing It
While almost every photographer has
at least attempted a "night
shot" at some time or other, a relatively small number
have devoted their photographic and creative skills exclusively
to photographing at night. In the late 1970's on the West Coast
more and more work (a lot in color) began to surface by photographers
such as Steve Harper, Richard Misrach, Arthur Ollman and others.
Steve Harper began teaching college level courses and workshops
dealing exclusively with night photography or "Night Light".
As a result, a substantial body of work was done in Night Photography
by photographers from the Bay Area in the 1980's and continues
to be done today. Michael Kenna moved here from England and
through most of the 80's focused on night photography, also
offering workshops on the subject. Arthur Ollman went on to
head the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, where the
exhibition, "Night Light, A survey of 20th Century Night
Photography" is currently appearing.
Timing
While a "true" night photograph would
be taken an hour or so after dark, excellent results can be obtained
at dusk or shortly after. The overall light is a more even
balance of artificial and natural light and the mood is definitely
of the night. Thus, exposures for night photographs range from
a few seconds to ones that are 5 to 8 hours in length. The
latter exposure time would generally take place in a traditional
landscape setting, far from urban areas (and any ambient light).
Film
Any Tungsten balanced film (Ektachrome 160. Fujichrome
T64, Vericolor type L, etc.) is good for most color night work.
Most are transparency films, i.e. they produce positive slides
for viewing and/or printing. With their tungsten color balance
of approx. 32000 Kelvin they render most scenes in a "natural" way.
That is, the sky is blue, the grass is green, etc. The B/W
film most commonly used is Tri-X (now T-Max 400) or its Ilford/Agfa/etc
equivalent. With these films, a little less development (10-20%)
is usually in order due to contrastiness of scenes.
Exposure
Reciprocity failure refers to the breakdown in the
relationship of exposure (time/aperture) to the density build-up
in the negative or transparency. Normally films react with
predictable results in this regard. When exposures run much
beyond the normal range of the film - let's say 1/500 second
down to 1/4 of a second, adjustments need to be made.
Suggested reciprocity failure factors: (Tri-x)
Meter Reading
|
x-factor of |
= corrected exposure |
1 sec. |
1.5 |
1.5 sec. |
2 sec. |
2.0 |
4 sec. |
3 sec. |
2.5 |
7.5 sec. |
4 sec. |
3.0 |
12 sec. |
10 sec. |
5.0 |
50 sec. |
20 sec. |
6.0 |
2 min. |
40 sec. |
7.0 |
4 min. 40 sec. |
80 sec. |
8.0 |
10 min. 40 sec. |
10 min. |
11.0 |
2 hours |
Specifics
- Keep accurate records of all exposures. You learn from
your mistakes as well as your successes. Don't go out each
time, only to have to "re-learn" the basic
info that you need. Night photography as a learning experience is cumulative,
much like the exposures involved. A sample exposure log is included.
- Invest
in a timer with an audible signal, and maybe built in illuminance.
- Get
a good industrial strength "Thermos" (unbreakable)
for warm drink. It gets cold out there after an hour
or so!
- Consider a MagLite flashlight as well as a small
pocket flashlight. The MagLites are focusable and come
in various power/brightness ratings, depending on number
of power cells used. You can "light" a whole night scene
with one!
This article was originally published as part
of syllabus for the "Ten Years of Night" Workshop, held
February 23, 1991 in San Francisco's Lincoln Park
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