flashless night photography

[EcoLeica]

So anyway my local shop has got in some nice film lately so i thought i might try a few different rolls (usually only content with 400 asa film). I stumbled across some ilford 3200 and seeing that a) dont really like using a flash and b) my leica IIIc doesnt really have a flash attachment i decided to have a go and try some night time shooting.

The first shot was in a bar while a band was playing and the second shot was a couple of drunk guys out in town

Anyone else tried similar things?

 

[kully]

Hallo, I've found I like night photography the best (mainly because that is the only time I have to take photos..).

I've tried Delta 3200, but at 3200 I find it much too grainy and lacking in latitude.

I prefer HP5+ @ 1600 and then developed in DDX, you lose one stop but it's not really hindered me. It'll work out cheaper too.

 

[DMG]

Kully do you dev for 1600 or do you rate it as something else on the dev side, interested to know...

 

[kully]

I rate it at 1600 and develop it for 1600. I wouldn't mind trying Tri-X in Diafine again to see how it compares, I did try this last year but I'd only been taking photos for a few months so I made many other mistakes (fixer, drying, keeping negatives on my desk... )

I read reams on metering, but I've found that all I need to do is get a reading from something that looks about middle grey, set it at that and then keep it at that until I go somewhere else. It works fine probably 95% of the time.

I think the best thing to do with night-shooting is take loads and loads of photos, I got hideously confused reading books and posts on the internet, but now I know what works for me.

One important thing I "discovered" last month - different films have differing sensitivites to light (d'oh) so although HP5+ looks cool in all lighting, other films like Agfa 400 or Jessopan 400 look like turd in artificial lighting.

 

[Ken Ford]

Eco, did you see Merciful's megathread? I think it's called "Push it, push it real hard" or something of the like. Good reading if you like extreme available light shooting.

 

[bsdunek]

Metering becomes difficult in these situations due to dark shadows and hot lights. My method is just to leave the lens wide open (f1.4 or whatever) and use the slowest shutter speed I think I can hold (1/10 or so with a steady). You can't hardly overexpose! 😎

 

[VinceC]

Metering isn't that important in ridiculously low light. Unless there are important highlights in danger of blowing way out, your main goal is to get the silver halide on the film to react with as many photons as possible.

This does become significantly easier if you allow yourself to use a tiny table tripod and six-inch cable release. I have a cool gizmo made by Culman that is sort of a tiny tripod, but instead of three legs, it has a big suction cup.

EDIT: If you don't feel like carrying around an itty bitty tripod, you can also just set the camera on a table. Napkins or a bar towel allow you a lot of leeway in aiming it just right. If you've got a self timer, you can use it to eliminate camera shake, and very handily shoot down to one second.

 

[kaiyen]

An additional tool for your belt would be to use a low contrast, speed-increasing developer. Microphen, for instance, is relatively fine grain and does not build up contrast very quickly. Sometimes I shoot Tri-X at "something more than 800" with no real idea of how much more. My EI 1600 time is 16:00, so I usually do that or maybe 20 and it still comes out fine for the most part.

allan

 

[Glenn2]

Plain old Tri-X rated at 400 works if you're not afraid of wide open at slow shutter speed...
Seem to remember that I leaned against a building for this shot. It was near the end of a roll I was try to finish... M4, 35mm Lux.

 

[Kin Lau]

This does become significantly easier if you allow yourself to use a tiny table tripod and six-inch cable release. I have a cool gizmo made by Culman that is sort of a tiny tripod, but instead of three legs, it has a big suction cup.

Or you could try the Monster POD, which sticks to anything including non-flat, porous surfaces.

 

[jan normandale]

hey Eco I know this is turning into a thread about developing BW film however I'm interested in your results using the 3200 Delta. I'm quite impressed since Ive never used film that fast for my low light shots.. have you been using it long and is this a representative result.. Most of my stuff at RFF is low light colour using 400 ISO and relatively low f stops like 4.0 or 5.6.. however sometimes I'll shoot using a tripod and 16 for up to 30 seconds. Do you have a gallery here or elsewhere with some of your low light shots?

BW : http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=42744

Colour: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=6252