# Shooting with moonlight



## pixeldawg (Nov 29, 2008)

I was a photojournalist for over 20 years and worked at small weeklies and international news organizations. In many ways, I enjoyed the more intimate journalism I was able to practice at the smaller papers. I knew all of the cops in town and they knew me. I forged a trust with many of them and was able to get into situations that many would not have been allowed. Much of this is a building of rapport and understanding. They realized that I wasn't after dead body shots and had a respect for the conditions I had to shoot in on various occasions. Case in point, This image was shot in the middle of the night, on Kodak P3200 film pushed to 12,800 ISO. Since the police officers were taking down robbery suspects, you can't really use a flash to get the images- people tend to start shooting at flashes in the dark, so common sense has to prevail. This shot is technically pretty bad- grainy, a little soft (I shot at 1/8th of a second at F2.5 with a 180mm Tamron lens, hand-held). I'm proud of this shot simply for HAVING a usable image. You'll note that the officer is pinning down one of the suspects. I've put the image farther down because I wanted you to get an idea about the shooting situation before seeing the image. Hope you enjoy!


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## bikefreax (Nov 29, 2008)

Great capture and my hats off to you for getting it. I would not want to be around for that.


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## Downing (Nov 30, 2008)

wow thats an amazing capture


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## LaFoto (Nov 30, 2008)

The photo as such is totally dramatic, more so since this is not a staged situation but one that was for real. And it is even more dramatic since you had simply no light at all but still got a photo out of it (and back in film days, not today, when you can buy digital cameras that "do" 12800 ISO). Wow. Admirable!


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## jv08 (Nov 30, 2008)

Nice! You captured it well.


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## gsgary (Dec 1, 2008)

Great shot, love it , a shot with grain is better than no shot :thumbup:


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## keybq (Dec 1, 2008)

awesome


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## pixeldawg (Dec 2, 2008)

Thanks one and all! It was a pretty scary scene and the guy who they were pointing guns at ended up getting wounded in the leg. He went into a house and came out with a gun. Not a good idea with a lot of police officers pointing their guns at you. This negative scans, but it's difficult to get the image to look correct. LOTS of PP work and it shows darker here than it would in a print. 

I'd had this shot in my portfolio for a few years just because of the technical challanges that it takes to even get this kind of image. I had one editor (A REAL Ninny in my book) from the Tampa Tribune complain about the grain and went on to tell me that I should have "Lit the scene", meaning use a flash to make the image. Some people just don't get it, I suppose.   Not long after that, he was fired because the staff was in revolt-mode. No small wonder why.


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## Downing (Dec 3, 2008)

IMHO the grain and the poor quality really add to the image, it would not have the same effect if it were nice and clear.


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## deja vu (Dec 4, 2008)

really really really great picture. love it!!!!


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## Crazydad (Dec 9, 2008)

Downing said:


> IMHO the grain and the poor quality really add to the image, it would not have the same effect if it were nice and clear.


 
I couldn't agree more with Downing. Especially given the story behind the photo. Awesome picture!


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## pm63 (Dec 10, 2008)

Amazing shot. I like how the lightness seems to be on the cop pointing the gun. Impressive that you managed to capture it given the conditions, too.


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## polymoog (Dec 13, 2008)

I agree with the others, the technical quality here is less relevant than the scene you capture - a once in a lifetime moment!


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## ATXshots (Dec 13, 2008)

Nice! Did you give a copy to the policeman?


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## Josh66 (Dec 13, 2008)

Great shot, I love it.

Just out of curiosity, when was it?  Most departments didn't go to semi-autos till what, the mid 80's?


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## Ejazzle (Dec 13, 2008)

wow thats an awesome shot. really really cool


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## pixeldawg (Dec 14, 2008)

O|||||||O said:


> Great shot, I love it.
> 
> Just out of curiosity, when was it? Most departments didn't go to semi-autos till what, the mid 80's?


 
This was the early 90's, I think... I went digital in 95, so it had to be previous to that. This particular officer loved his revolver and said it was far more accurate than the semiautomatics that the other officers were using at the time.

And yes, I actually gave him several copies of this shot.

Thanks once again for all of your interest in this shot, folks. I really appreciate it!


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## SrBiscuit (Dec 16, 2008)

O|||||||O said:


> Great shot, I love it.
> 
> Just out of curiosity, when was it? Most departments didn't go to semi-autos till what, the mid 80's?


 
 as a gun lover, that;s the first thing i noticed as well!

GREAT shot though...i also agree that the grain adds a very gritty reality to the shot....well done.


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## pixeldawg (Dec 17, 2008)

Thanks once again, all! I'm pretty surprised at your responses, thinking you'd tear this shot apart. What a pleasant surprise. 

Merry Christmas to all of you!


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## MongooseDog (Dec 22, 2008)

Hello, you win my forst post. That is an amazing image.


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## Jurence (Dec 24, 2008)

You were able to adjust the iso in that split second? Wow!


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## pixeldawg (Dec 25, 2008)

Hey there,

With film, you shoot the entire roll at one ISO, so that it can be developed correctly. I was riding with one of the police officers that night, and we spotted the vehicle that was involved in the robbery. As soon as we spotted them, I rewound what I'd shot and put a fresh roll of TMAX P3200 in and adjusted the ISO to 12,800 and shot the entire roll of 36 exposures in a few moments.

Great question and thanks for you interest and asking!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  :hugs:


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