Geek Stuff

Night and Low-Light Photography: Non-Digital SLRs

The idea

Long exposure photography is a means by which to take pictures at night (or in very low light) of subjects in a fashion which captures light in motion. The shutter stays open for longer than usual (some of my night shots have taken as much as eight minutes), and captures all the light which passes through the view of the lens. This allows the photographer to take pictures not otherwise possible, such as images which include the trail of lights from passing cars, or pictures which capture a variety of illumination on a given subject.

What you need

• A SLR (single-lens reflex) camera with manual settings (most non-automatic 35mm cameras work for this, but so do a wide variety of other camera types). I've taken night pictures with many kinds of camera, including digital and film.
  
  
• A tripod, or some other way to keep the camera steady (there are a lot of different tripods out there, all with varying qualities which make them more or less useful in a given situation. Take your time and pick one which most suits your own needs).
  
  
• An adapter which allows you to open the shutter without moving the camera. This is commonly referred to as a "cable release" and is relatively cheap (I've seen used ones for $3.50 and new ones for as little as $4.99). Some modern cameras have remote controls which work equally well.
  
  
• Film with a speed of lower than 200, preferably as low as 64 or 25.
  
  
• A camera with the ability to turn off the flash. Flashbulbs only work within a certain distance. I've seen people try to use them to take pictures of fireworks. This is useless. Fireworks don't reflect light. They ARE light. Fortunately, no flash bulb is strong enough to illuminate the moon. If it were, we'd be burnt to crisps every time someone tried to use it.

Selecting a subject

You want a subject with a little bit of light on it, but not too much. You need it to be in a dimly lit area, without a lot of surrounding ambient light, but enough of a light source to make an imprint on the film. This can vary considerably, because some street lights are a great deal brighter than others. You may have to go through a few rolls of film before you get a good understanding of what works best. A nice first try might be a tree or mailbox or some other object on a local road which isn't very busy but has a couple street lights. Or, alternately, the road itself, if it's got enough traffic to make occasional lights, but not so much that it creates a mess of light.

What to do

You need to get some slow-speed film. Film speed is a measure of how quickly light imprints on the image. I.e., the faster the film, the less time and/or light you need to get an exposure on the film. High speed films (such as 800 or 1600) are good for taking pictures of quick action, such as a race, or still shots of fireworks, or for more traditional events in low light (such as an inside event on a dark day). Slower speed films (200 or lower) are better for when you have time to prepare the shot or are using a flash, or for outdoor shots on a very bright day. I almost always use 64 or 25 speed film for night photography (occasionally I use 100), because the images tend to be higher quality and less grainy, but a lot of photographers tend to shy away from speeds that slow.

My own preference is to use slide film, but that's just a personal preference. I've done it successfully with 100- and 200- speed Kodachrome print film, as well as digital film.

The reason for using slow-speed film in night photography is because even slow speed film will capture bright light at night, and the shutter can be left open for longer without overexposing the image.

You need to select an F-stop appropriate for the conditions: VERY low light means a lower F-stop. More light means a high F-stop. Ideally, the higher the F-stop the better, because it produces clearer images, but if your film speed is under 100 and you have very little light, you'll have to leave the shutter open for at least ten minutes to produce an image, and that's not always an option.

You also need to remove any special filters you generally use on the lens. Night shots are best when taken pure-- no filters, no special tricks other than the camera eye itself. It takes time and patience to learn what works best with respect to this. You may want to keep a log which catalogues your various F-stop levels and exposure time under different circumstances.

Set up the camera with the tripod and make sure it's stable and sturdy. When you're ready, set your camera to bulb (on some cameras, this is listed as "manual"). You can use the adaptor (it screws into the shutter click button) to start the shot, and then let it go, probably for at least a minute. Once done, use the adaptor to end the shot, advance the film, and try again.

What you want to do is to try varying the length of time you leave the shutter open. I.e., try a shot for 1 minute, then try it for 30 seconds, and then for 2-3 minutes. If you can, record how much time you've left the shutter open, so you can get a better idea when you get the film back as to what works best. Alternately, you could try one roll of film where you only use shots for 2+ minutes, and another where you only use shots for 1 minute or less.

Whatever else you do, don't be afraid to experiment, and don't be disappointed if you only end up with one or two good shots out of a whole roll of film at first. It takes time, practice and patience to learn to do this right. I've done this for years and I will still end up with lots of mistakes when I come back from a shoot.