 BetterPhoto Member |
Night Filming on Bulb Settings I am using a F80/N80 Nikon, but I am sure the same factors or response relate to other cameras. When I am trying to photograph lightning in the black of night using the bulb setting, can you advise what is a good time frame to use to adequately expose Sensia slide film and what aperture setting should be used? I realize the degree of lightning strikes will expose easier, but is there a general rule of thumb to use? Most of the slides just processed were I guess underexposed, as they were dark. I was using F8. Most pics I tried were also done with Cokin filters attached. I look forward to your response.
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Ricky Lloyd |
Hi Russell I also have an F80 which I love and an older pentax which I prefer for bulb photographs. This is because the pentax has mechanical shutters for B which dont use the batteries. The F80 however uses battery power to keep the shutters open so if your batteries die in a photo they close (which has happened to me in a 2 hour exposure so I lost it) anyway thats just a consideration. I think you should use negative film when experimenting until you can judge exposure better. It is much more lenient than slide film and you can bracket with various settings so it will be cheaper in buying film and developing. Once you know the results then move to slide. If you don't have one get a mechanical cable release with a lock is great for the F80 on B, just press and wait till you want. Ok to the point. Use a light meter to determine exposure in the dark and go 1/2 to 2 stops underexposure to what it says (which will account for the extra light). Take a couple shots on different settings and write down settings then see which works best. Fortunately with night photography over exposure does not matter it just looks more like daylight. Uing a really long exposure will capture lots of lightening (I like form 5 to 20 mins) I usually use a slow film such as 100 or 50 and a fairly small aperture from 11 down. But it all depends on the severity of the storm and distance so a light meter is the only way to get started or simply experimenting and keeping records then seeing what works and the different results. Hope all that helps.
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John A. Lind |
With night lighting photographs against "dark sky" exposure is set by lens aperture and shutter speed has little or no effect a long as it doesn't exceed about 8 seconds Ater that, depend on film speed, the sky can begin to lighten too much (depends some on how dark the dark sky is). Aperture used depends on film speed. Recommended aperture settings (for lightning against dark sky): Slower films have worked better for me in doing this. IMHO ISO 64-100 is optimal. Hold shutter open until you get one or more lightning strikes, but no more than 8 seconds. Be patient and be prepared to shoot quite a few frames. Whether you close after one strike or wait for more than one is up to you and what you want. Safety: -- John
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Michael Grace |
Hi Russell, Lightening shots can be very dramatic, especially in color. What I do is set the aperature wide open, focused at infinity. Then I lock the shutter open or hold it open on bulb setting. Then I use a black or grey card to hold up very close to the lens to block the light. Depending on how many strikes you want on one piece of film.When you thinks it will flash simply remove the card and replace it untill you have enough strikes. That way you won't get much if any greying of the blacks and can get as many or as few strikes to liven up the action. I do this on a view camera for 4x5 so it can be blown up quite large.With good strikes you can see the corona around the discharge very well. Have fun and good luck! Mike Grace
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