From: jake@bony1.bony.com (Jake Livni)
Subject: Re: question about night photography
Organization: The Department of Redundancy Department
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 23:07:35 GMT

In article <267@metran.UUCP> jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts) writes:
>gsnow@clark.edu (Gary Snow) writes:
>: In article <1992Sep1.211030.7240@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com> dhr@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com (Dan Harlow 3551) writes:

>: >I would love to take pictures of the beautiful San Diego skyline at
>: >night, with all the lights and the hills and the lit up towers.

>Absolutely.  Just about all scenes like the one you describe are very
>high contrast; probably, the lights in office buildings will have to
>really burn in if you are going to see details in anything else.  One
>really good way to get around this is to shoot at dusk, just after the
>sun sets.  If you start then, you will be able to catch a magic minute
>or so when the fading sunlight is matched to the brightness of the city
>lights that have just switched on.

The various qualities of skylight change wonderfully and quickly
immediately after sunset.  Have your gear set up BEFORE sunset.  Once
you become sensitized to the qualities of skylight, you will realize
that the light changes appreciably and significantly every minute or
so.  Try watching the clouds change color and form after sunset, for
example. 

>Exposures may easily be longer than 1 second, so reciprocity failure of
>color film quickly comes into play; you will get loss of film speed along
>with color shifts.  I have had some good results using Ektachrome 64x at
>night (exposure around 3 minutes at f/8).  Velvia and Fujichrome 100D are
>neat if you desire a lot of green "enhancement".  You may need to bracket
>quite widely, so be prepared to use up a lot of exposures finding out

You will probably start of using a whole roll of film, starting just
after sunset.  Because the increasing gloom and bracketing
requirements will result in some fairly long exposures, you'll
probably find that after shooting 3-5 bracketed shots of a scene, that
the light has changed so drastically that you are ready to shoot the
next bracket-sequence.

>what works.  The exposure depends a lot on local conditions, phase of
>the moon, and weather (seriously!).  The film's speed is not as important
>as its reciprocity characteristics!  Have fun!

Try shooting on as clear an evening as possible.  (In smoggy places or
summer locations that are often hazy, this is a planning challenge.)
The clarity of the sky will make your background more blue than
gray-black.  

In some locales, you will often find brilliant red, purple or salmon
skies; reciprocity for the type of film you are using will probably
modify these, perhaps to hues you prefer more, perhaps less.  

In different parts of the world, in different seasons, darkness
descends differently, sometimes faster or slower, sometimes more
gradually or more suddenly.

For shooting cityscapes on clear evenings, shooting  away from the
sunset will result in more evenly balanced lighting; you will then
have the whole sky as a "reflector" for the sun, now beneath the
horizon.  Shooting towards the sunset may yield more colorful or
dramatic skies but will probably silhouette the cityscape.  This might
work well with bridges or trees.  If you have a particular piece of
skyline in mind, consider where the sun will set and plan your
shooting position accordingly.  (Note that if the sun does not
co=operate tonight, you can always wait a few months; the sun's
setting position changes with season.)

If you follow the bracketing advice, you will probably find one or
more exposures that give you a pleasing sky color with a pleasing
level of brightness on the buildings that you wish to emphasize,
together with a pleasing level of brightness for city lights.  Unless
it's bitterly cold that evening, it can be a very pleasant experience.

-- 
Jake Livni  jake@bony1.bony.com               Pat Paulsen for President
American-Occupied New York                    This year he has a real chance!
My opinions only - employer has no opinions.