Night Photos

[ClaremontPhoto]

I am going to do some night photos of a marching band at nidnight in a dimly lit street.

My fastest film in stock is C41 color ISO 1600.

I wonder should I photograph at ISO 1600 and maybe have long shutter times, or rate at ISO 6400 and cope later with under exposure?

I'd tend to go with the ISO 1600. But the shutter speed is likely to be 1/8 even with an f1.4 lens and these marching bands are not going to stop for me when I get in their face.

What would you choose?

Please tell me to use the film as rated on the box and to be brave when hundreds of people threaten me with trampling!

 

[Sparrow]

Received opinion is to overexpose, and that has been my limited experience of Fuji 1600, sorry.

 

[icebear]

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Hi Jon,

when the band is really moving/marching then 1/8 of a second will be a bit long, may result in interesting effects, moving intruments with light reflections etc. but faces will be blurred. So I would opt. for exposing at 3200. Do you have to shoot color at night ? How about B&W, TMZ at 6400 should give you some extra stop. Are there any street lights around where you will be standing or do you march along with the band. Using the street lights as additional light source might get you out of trouble. Happy shooting in the dark 😉 .

 

[furcafe]

A lot depends on the lighting & the speed of your glass. If you're in a rural area without streetlights, etc., I suppose ISO 1250 (the best shooting ISO, IME, for the ISO 1600 C41 films) would be too slow, unless you have a Noctilux & even that may not be fast enough to stop motion. If there is street lighting, I think shooting @ ISO 1250, or a B&W film @ 1600 or 3200 is fast enough, assuming you have an f/1.4 lens, e.g.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/63760844/

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Thank you for your well thought out techniques.

From memory I will have dim street lighting only. And my 'best' film will be ISO 1600 with no option of stocking up overnight.

I will walk out to the specific locations in an hour or two and take a few light readings.

They will form up in a praça which should be good and moody, and then march fast throught the city but I can walk/run up a small side street and photo them as they come past the other end after a few minutes.

They dress in a traditional costume but wear 'Blues Brothers' Raybans which gives them a whacky look. Especially at night.

 

[OurManInTangier]

I was going to suggest some films for you Jon but it seems time is too tight!

If the procession goes on long enough then I hope you manage a couple of rolls, one pushed to 3200 and the other at 1600...being canny and using what light sources you can of course. I for one will be intrigued to see your results.

Either way, good luck and enjoy the festivities!

EDIT: Aw go on, seems pointless not to mention them. various colleagues have said good things of the Fuji Colour Press 1600 as well as Konica's 1600 - several actually prefer the Konica sayimg it pushes better to their eye. I've only used black and white fast film though so I can't vouch for it personally!

 

[back alley]

does it have to be colour film?

if not i would use delta 3200.

 

[oftheherd]

If you are permitted, and from your post it sounds like you will, try to take your shots from directly in front or behind. That will help minimize the movement. From the side will emphacise movement if you want to try for unusual effects. The lighting must really be dim if 1600 at 1/8 is questionable. Good luck.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

My film stock is Fuji Superia 1600.

Last night in a similar street I was getting 1/30 at f1.4.

 

[robert blu]

Jon, I have no more tech suggestions but I'm curious anyway to see the pictures !
robert

 

[jamiewakeham]

1/8 sec at f/1.4 at ISO1600 is really dark! At Luminox a while back I was getting 1/20 or 1/30 at f/1.5 at ISO800, and the only lighting there was from the fire displays. In the end the photos were rubbish, not becuase of camera shake but because I simply couldn't see wee enough through my Zorki's RF to focus!

I would hope you'd get some more useable shutter speeds than 1/8.

Otherwise - monopod?

Jamie

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I've got the photos.

People making music in a marching band at after midnight in a small city.

At about midnight I had all but given up and thought I had misunderstood the schedule. The only place open to wait nearby was a sex bar and they had started to eye up my camera with interest. Negative or positive I don't know. Then I heard the band in the distance and got back to my location.

I didn't see the shutter speed display, but it felt like 1/15 or so.

Today is a public holiday so it's tomorrow before the film can be minilabbed and scanned.