Evening star., 1949-08-14
Camera Angles
Nighttime Affords Unusual Pictures
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curotor Of Photography
The Smithsonjun Institution

ENbSHS"SSt
Curotor Of
The Smithson
On these breathless midsummer
nights, when you leave the house
in an effort to escape the heat,
take your camera along. 1t will
provide you with a means, tempo
rarily, at least, to forget the soar
ing temperature and, at the same
time, discover a different and in
teresting form OF photography
one that will tax your ingenuity,
but will pay off with pictures of
sometimes startling beauty and
interest. There is lure to night
photography that few can resist
once they have taken picture
or so after dark.
Almost anything that you would
photograph by day will do for sub
ject matter. You will soon dis
cover that many objects and
places that you ignore during day.
light hours are perfect setups for
night picture-taking.
A good many amateurs have
missed out on this interesting
branch of photography because of
the mistaken impression that it is
necessary to have q camera with a
very fast lens to take a: good pic
ttre after dark. On the contrary
any box or folding camera with
nothing more than a simple
meniscls lens will perform as well
at the cameras with faster ienses.
The only difference is that the
exposure will have to be a bit
longer. -
Fast Film Helps.
A few years back, night pictures
were somewhat of a problem to the
uninitiate. who lacked a fast lens.
Today the increase in film speeds
makes all the difference in the
world. The slower the speed of
your camera lens, the faster the
type of film you should select for
the job. Any fast panchromatic
film will enable you to shoot good
night scenes, regardless of the type
of camera you own.
Exposures will vary from 2 or
3 seconds to 80 seconds or even
more depending upon the amount
of light available, the film speed
and the lens speed. and any
special effects that you may have
in mind. 1t is apparent, there
fore, that tripod or some other
firm rest must be used.
A tripod is preferable for
obvious reasons. 1t will allow you
to obtain almost any angle or
framing for your shots as we'll as
to hold the camera rock-steady:
If you don't own a tripod or
camera clamp you must then look
around for some firm object upon
which the camera can be held in
place during the exposure. The
camera clamp is next best to the
tripod. With this you can fasten
your camera to a tree trunk or
limb, park bench or other object.
But if neither is available you
should rest the camera on some
stationary object and hold 1t IN
place by hand pressure during the
exposure. If you do have fast
lens it may be possible for you to
shoot pictures under favorable
lighting conditions hand-held at
a speed of not more than 1/10th
Of a second.
If you use a flash-gun with your
camera, you can use t'just about
as you would under normal operat-
ing conditions. However, for true
night scenes, the fiash-gun should
be used only for special effects
such as side or back lighting.
AS an example you might use a
flash directly behind the figure OF
a person to achieve a silhouette
effect. On side-lighted shots, the
flash should be held well away
from the camera for the more in
teresting effects.
Highlights in the Rain.
Glistening wet streets, catching
the reflections of nearby lights,
will add highlight and sparkle
to your night scenes. You will
find it surprising to note the diff
ference between two shots made,
one on a dry night and the other
during or just after a rain. A
wet street at night will act as a
mirror and catch reflections of
lighted buildings and adjacent
scenery and provide many a fine
opportunity for unusual and pic
torial compositions.
Another similar location where
reflection shots can be made with
out waiting for a rainstorm is
along the waterfront. Highly dec
orative pictures can be shot OF
lighted buildings together with
their reflected images in the wa
ter. Or, If you prefer. the re-
Elections themselves offer sub
iects galore for your eventide ef-
forts. Try getting across the wa
ter from the city at night and
shoot a series of Illuminated sky
line pictures Of the town. And
don't overlook the inherent pos