Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-09-23
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
curaior Of Photography
The Smithsonian Institution

We have become SO accustomed
to accepting light as the all i'm
Iportant factor in taking pictures
that few give much consideration
ito the possibilities of shooting
scenes after dark. 1t is not only
possible but fairly easy to take
pictures at night. You can use
the illumination from buildings.
that from street lamps and We
Ihicles or, if you have lots of pa
Itience. the light of the moon.
There are a number of advan-
Itages to night photography. You
don't have to use any special
camera and you don't need lot
of equipment-just a tripod and a
lens shade. Scenes that you
would pass up during the day be-
cause of unpleasant details be-
come ideal subjects by night. The
Iguise of darkness will hide all but
the larger masses that are impor-
ltant to your picture.
Taking pictures after dark has
another attractive aspect. You
don't have to hurry about any
phase of the work. You can't
hurry because your exposures, for
the most part, will be very slow
and many will be made by time
exposure. You will have lots OF
time to set up your camera and
move it around until you see just
what you want in the finder. And
don't worry about finding subjects
Ito photograph-they will present
themselves wherever there is any
form of artificial lighting.
Neon signs, brightly lighted Of
fee buildings. and apartment
houses are ideal subjects for night
pictures. If you are a resident
Iof an outlying district you will
discover that illumination from a
single source such as one street
light will give you all the light
Iyou need. And far from being de-
'terrents. you will find that fog or
rain will lend themselves as excel
lent props" after dark. They
Twill act to disperse or diffuse the
light rays and add that needed
touch of mood that so often is the
making of a good picture.
AS previously mentioned, ex-
posures at night will be much
longer than by day. This means
that the camera will have to be
absolutely still throughout. You
Just can't make good night scenes
with a hand held camera. Null
itiple images will result unless the
camera is firmly anchored either
with tripod. a clamp. or some
such other rigid device. A tripod
is best for it permits quick adjust
iments-which the other devices
do not. With sturdy tripod you
can stop down the lens as far as
you wish and make exposures of
any length without the danger of
camera movement.
It is also suggested that you
make use of a brand of fast pam
chromatic film. The faster the
film the less time you have to wait
for a completed exposure. An
other advantage of pan film at
night is its truer Interpretation OF
color values especially those that
/. are encountered after dark. Our
suggestion that you take along a
lens shade may have come as
somewhat of a surprise. but you
must not overlook the fact that
during an exposure the headlamps
Of car may strike an unprotected
lens or light rays from other I'M
expected sources may raise hob
with your film.
Better Overexp0sed Than Under.
The best general rule we can
give you for making exposures by
night is that it is always better
to overexpose. So. if you are in
doubt. give the film more ex-
posure than your judgment
would direct. With fast pan film
you might start out by shooting
lat from between 8 to 10 seconds
lat fill. After development you
will be in better position to
Judge similar exposures Shoot
the scene at several different ex-