explain "B" setting technique. give a summary of how to shoot them and the special equipment used, consideration, suggest of F stop, exposure times, film choise, etc...

if so please e mail me thank you!!!

-- Nathan Batzer (batzer@sympatico.ca), November 21, 2001

Answers

There's a website devoted to night photography: www.thenocturnes.com Look for the interview with Michael Kenna, among others.

-- Henry Friedman (friedlew@worldnet.att.net), November 22, 2001.

When I was a beginner I took the night photos with long exposures and developed the film with the recommended times, and the result was too bright skies. So I learned to shorten the developing times with around 20%. Then the dark parts of the scene developed fully and the lighter sky became just as dark as it looked like when I took the pictures.

What films you want to use depends on what you are shooting. For moving objects a fast film is good, but for other scenes you could use a medium speed or a slow speed films to get finer grain and sharper results. When you use a tripod it's easily to have the shutter open for 2-10 minutes.

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), November 23, 2001.

This is where a handheld meter would be beneficial! Your B setting should be used with a cable release that is lockable and a tripod. Another way to get around a handheld meter would be to go up to the subject and take a meter reading with the subject in full frame. Understanding that your camera meter is making everything neutral grey helps... if you want something darker, take time off or stop down... lighter, open up or add more time. When in doubt, bracket! Film is cheap. To suggest a film speed wouldn't be appropriate because I have shot lightening with ASA 25 and 100 and night shots with 400 also. It all depends on what you want and your knowledge of the film used. F stops also, depth of field, length of time and taking into consideration the reciprocity of the film are all things you need to consider. Testing and keeping logs like most of us have done, well there is no getting around it. Experiment and have fun.

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), November 27, 2001.