Using Film at Night

The main problem with taking photos at night is getting the exposure right. This is mainly due to the camera meters design for daylight photography. This has been somewhat bridged by digital media as the image can be inspected immediately and corrections made by the photographer. However those with film cameras do not have this luxury and can only hope they get one good image out of a bunch that would have to be taken.

The inaccuracies of exposure metering is just one problem for the film photographer, another is a problem known as Reciprocity Law Failure.

Reciprocity Law Failure

Reciprocity Law failure is the loss in the exposure sensitivity of the film., Although the reciprocity law failure effect can take place with daylight photography, the long shutter exposures of night photography definitely suffer from this. This is caused by either a prolonged exposure period (more than 1/10 sec. shutter speed) or an extremely brief period of the shutter opening (shutter speeds faster than 1/2000 sec.).

As a brief example, if a film rated at 100 ASA was exposed for 2 sec. its film speed rating could fall to 50 ASA. What this leads to is underexposure if the image taken at the camera meters correct exposure reading. Exposure meters do not take into account reciprocity law failure. With colour film the colours would also be affected giving a slight colourcast to the image. It is very difficult to allow for reciprocity failure as different films and even different batches of the same film react differently under these conditions.

It is extremely important to Bracket exposures when using film for the best chance of success. For more on Exposure Bracketing see our range of courses.

As a very general guide use the following table.

Summary

We hope that the School of Photography's Night Photography lesson has not only been a learning experience but has also created food for thought. If this lesson has you thirsting for more information, have a look at the other courses we have on offer including:

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Happy night shooting, have fun.