Into the Darkness to the World of... Chemistry

These are night series that I've done with medium format film.  Night shooting on BW film can be very technical in terms of film development.  I choose to shoot film at night because it does a better job of keeping the highlights and shadows.

For you older film shooters out there, you might know what I'm talking about when I say, "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights".  Does anybody remember that mantra?... Anybody?

Hasselblad 500cm 80 2.8 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

The detail in the moon lit sky still has texture. 

What that means in this case is, when you shoot, overexpose the film so you can get some density on the shadowy areas, and when you develop the film, do it in a way to keep the highlight from being too bright.

Hasselblad 500cm 80 2.8 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

I was surprised to see the trees to the mid right. Pull processing allows that. 

When it comes to exposing, how do you meter at night?  You have to use the most un/reliable light meter you have... your memory!  Regular light meter will not read with one street light.  Using your digital camera to meter? What make sense in your 5D probably won't make sense in the darkroom.  30 sec of exposure in your DSLR does not work with the same iso film because I'm pull processing. Besides, it only goes to 30 seconds. I usually work around 2-8 minutes. Depending on the intensity of the light source.

Hasselblad 500cm 80 2.8 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

Pull Processing is a technique where you under develop the film intentionally.  That means your film is sloshing around the developer chemistry shorter than normal.   This technique is very useful for high contrast images.  It allows more gradations to be captured on film. On my night shots, I often include the light source in the composition.  So the contrast is very high. Pull processing reduces the contrast so both highlight and shadow details are captured.

Now if you develop normally (according to instructions) the highlight will be "blocked" on the negetive (darkroom term).  Remember the bright areas of the composition are the areas that has "stuff" or silver on it, making it look dark when you look at the negative film in plain light.  When there is too much density on the highlights, no light can go through it, which means when you go to scan, the highlights will be "blown" (digital term).

So when you under develop, or pull process, you're limiting the time it takes for the highlight to clump up. So instead 5 1/2 minutes of development, you'll do 5 or 4 3/4.  You have to come up with your own number.  Temperature, type of developer, method of developing is all different, so actual time will vary.  Wasting your time on countless tests is one of the fundamentals in photography. Better get used to it.

Hasselblad 500cm 50 4.0 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

The detail of the white wall would've been blown and the details near the tree is possible because of pull processing. See the stars streaking in the sky? That's about 8 minutes of the earth's rotation.

Hasselblad 500cm 50 4.0 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

You can actually see what's on the shelf! The contrast between a lit room and unlit outside wall to the right is beyond the ability of most digital cameras.

Hasselblad 500cm 80 2.8 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

Foggy night. If you see real close, you can see the lightbulb fixture.  That's highlight retention for you.

Hasselblad 500cm 50mm 4.0 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

You have to have shadows if you have light. 

Hasselblad 500cm 80 2.8 CF TMX 100. Pull process.

Lights from passing cars made the streaks that complements the vertical beams to the right.

I try not to spend more than 4 minutes per exposure because it gets pretty tedious just waiting around for 16 minutes to happen.  Remember you go by stops... 1min 2,4,8,16... My F stop is around 5.6 to 8. Kodak TMX 100 iso. A good tripod/head is a must.  You should shield the set up with your body if its windy too. a 10 mph wind will shake your camera noticeably in 4 minutes.   I don't use a cable release because I start the exposure with the lens cap covering the lens (but not touching the camera) and just move the lens cap out of the way. When the time is up, I cover the lens with the cap again, then close the shutter.  I use the T setting not B. B setting would require a cable release. 

Another tip.  If you don't want the cars' lights streaking by your composition, you don't have to wait till 4am when nobody is on the road for a 4 minute stretch.  When you see the car approaching, before the light enters the composition, cover the lens with the lens cap. But try not to touch the camera. Then once the car is out of the composition, take cap away again.  Be careful of the shine of the plastic of the lens cap. Don't let it reflect the light into your lens. Angling it down usually helps. You have to remember to add back the time you've covered up at the end.  I've done 4 minute exposures that lasted 15 minutes because of all the cars passing by. 

Night shooting is a different animal all together.  It forces you to really get to know the lights.  After a few sessions, you would be about to take a look at a sodium vapor street light and say, "that's 2 minutes on F8"