# Film class student, need help with a night shot of city skyline



## dblb48 (Oct 25, 2011)

Hello,

Im looking for some advice. Im in a photography class and were required to shoot a night scene. I am going the closest city in about a week to shoot some rolls. Ill be honest, my equipment is probably lame. I have a vivitar 3800n. Its manual everything. Our film is black/white 400 ISO. The only lens I have is a 50mm. I do have access to a tri-pod FWIW. Can someone offer me some general guidelines as far as aperture settings and shutter speeds? I really don't know much and my camera isn't super capable, so just generalities will suffice. thank you


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## compur (Oct 26, 2011)

dblb48 said:


> Im in a photography class and were required to  shoot a night scene. ... Can someone offer me some general guidelines as  far as aperture settings and shutter speeds?



One might ask what they've been teaching in your photo class if not how to determine 
correct exposure but I won't go there ...

If working properly your camera is capable of taking beautiful photos.  That tripod may 
be a good idea if shooting at night.

There is a user manual for your camera here which explains how to select shutter speeds 
and aperture settings.


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 26, 2011)

Just because my car has a standard transmission, does that make it less capable than an automatic?


If your camera has a Manual mode, than it's capable to do anything. No joke. It can take just as good of pictures as a $3000 film SLR like a Nikon F6. No joke. Film is film, so long as the format is the same, the results will be the same no matter what camera it is. f/5.6, 1/1000th, and ISO 400 is f/5.6, 1/1000th, and ISO 400 regardless of what camera you've got. 



Speaking from experience here,
Don't even waste your time trying to use a digital camera or cell phone to gauge exposure. Film is organic, it has what's called reciprocity failure. Meaning unless a certain number of photons hit the emulsion, than the film won't see anything. So where an exposure may normally take 30 minutes in a perfect world, in the real one with film, it really would take 5 or 6 hours. 

So, if you're shooting at night with 400 speed film, well than it's easy, as long as you're patient and don't go outside the city. 

You have a camera, a lens, a tripod and a cable release. The only 4 things you really need, regardless of what camera you shoot. How many pictures do you need to turn in? I'd shoot at least 3 or 4 rolls on this assignment because you'll be doing alot of different settings for the same compositions. 

Find something you think is interesting, and since it will (most likely) be too dark for the meter to work, you'll have to guess your exposures. If you have something like streetlights, i'd start at f/2.8ish (for sharpness), and have a shutter speed of 1 second, than do 2 seconds, 4 seconds, 8 seconds, 16 seconds, and 30 seconds. That's 6 pictures per composition. That way, you make sure you get a good exposure on at least one of them.

You do that, and I guarantee you'll have printable exposures. The creative part is up to you.


Also, do not shoot:
-graveyards
-cars driving by on the freeway
-your friends walking around during exposure so they look like ghosts in the print
-5 pictures completely unrelated. 

I'm speaking from experience again, because I guarantee you'll see at least one of those turned in by a classmate when this assignment is due. Pick a theme, stick with it, and make something cohesive. For example, something literal like cloud movements. print out 5 different pictures showing how clouds move over long exposures. the under lighting form the city will make them look different from what everyone else does. You could also do something more personal and conceptual about yourself too. for example, photograph stained mattresses in alleyways because when you were abused by your guardian as a child you remember the smell of the piss stained bed you would retreat to when you were hurt or scared, the pictures could relate to how your family would put the spent mattresses out on the street with signs that said "free" on them. 

The cameras settings are the easy part.


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## Mike_E (Oct 26, 2011)

You should probably visit this site  Ultimate Exposure Computer  and read everything there.


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## dblb48 (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it.

I wasn't implying my equipment wasn't capable, as I already know it is, I just wanted to make it clear  I don't have the quality of tools most of you will have.
And I also wanted to be clear, I know how to properly expose film under normal lighting conditions...but I will be lost at night when I can't trust my light meter.

If it matters, here is one of the areas I will shoot, however it will be totally dark, and as i said, black and white. Just to give you an idea of the amount of light available.
*http://www.flickr.com/photos/dtll/2356898808/#/photos/dtll/2356898808/lightbox/*


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## fotoshooter (Oct 26, 2011)

My favorite exposure guide is the Black Cat extended range exposure guide which can be found at Black Cat Exposure Guide

This can be used with film as well as digital cameras. I would suggest getting one since it will help you determine difficult lighting situations..


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## ann (Oct 26, 2011)

Don't forget to allow for reciprocity failure


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