night photography questions

[the_peel]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum and just began playing with some night time photography in preparation for my trip next month to Europe. I am trying to focus on some night time pictures of buildings, so I went out the other night and did a few bracket shots. Here's the stuff I've been using:

-Nikon F65 with Nikkor 28-200mm ED G lens
-Fuji Superia ISO 400 film
-used a tripod and no flash

exposure times after dark ranged from 8 sec to 30 sec. They were developed at Black's photography using 1 hour processing. Subjects were buildings that were lit up by some spot lights aimed at the building.

After development, I noticed that the dark areas of the photos (sky, the ground in front of the building, etc.) were very grainy. I am really not happy about the amount of grain showing and was wondering if any of you have tips, ideas, or can help explain to me what may be happening... should I use an even longer exposure (ie: greater than 1 minute)? Should I switch to a slower film (possibly 100 iso)? Please help! Thanks so much!

[TPF Sponsor]

[drlynn]

I would try switching to ISO 100 film. The reciprocity breaks down slower with slower film, so it is more reliable for long exposures.

A lot of time the grain in dark spots is due to extreme underexposure (or it has always seemed so to me). How much did you bracket? I'd try a minimum of +/-2 stops.

[malachite]

Eliminate the exposure compensation of others (printed film) by shooting slide film. Stick with 100 ISO or slower like Fuji Velvia (50 & 100F), Provia, or Sensia. I used to use Kodak Ektachrome E100SW but they don't make it anymore and I have yet to try any of the newer super saturated films they have. Rule of thumb for color casts produced by reciprocity failure is Fuji will produce blue/green and Kodak goes orange/yellow.

Make sure you bring lots of batteries for your camera as newer cameras without a mirror lock-up will eat em' away in a matter of just a few exposures when you're dealing with times of 30 seconds and up.

Nocturnal photography is a whole subculture of it's own if you really get into it. I've just gotten back into it recently and really enjoy the "less is more" when it comes to equiptment...........

[the_peel]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have any experience with slide film, so I think I'll try ISO 100 first. I've been bracketing a maximum of 1 stop, so I think I'll also try playing around with +/- 2 or even 3 stops.

Since drlynn mentioned grain in dark spots is normally due to extreme underexposure, I think I'll have to start playing with exposures > 30 sec. which will be lots of fun!

Currently, I'm not too concerned with color casts... I'm more interested in avoiding the ugly graininess of the dark areas of my photos. Once I nail this, I'll start playing around with color casts.