Long exposures on film

ekimeno

ekimeno

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Mike
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I'm keen to try some longish sunset exposures on film but not sure where to start and how long I should try for...

I'll be using a Hoya ND-8 filter in front of the lens and probably something like Velvia 50 film. The exposure will probably take place a good 15min - 30min after the sun has gone down... Is it just a case of getting a reading from behind the filter and taking it from there or should I be adding in some extra time?

The effect I'm going for will probably be similar to Edinburgh Gary's long exposures (but he used digital)...
 
ND-8 is I think a 4 stop filter

From what I have read

10 - 30 sec exposure add 1/2 stop

beyond 30 sec double it.

Done some using that rule with black and white and a 10 stop ND and it has worked.
 
velvia 50 15 mins after sunset is gonna give you something like 4 or 5 minute exposure, especially with an ND8 on. The spec sheet for velvia doesnt recommend using out past a certain amount. Have a loof at the pdf fact sheet on the fuji site. Provia 100f is probably the better choice. Good testing of it here

You'll get weird colour shifts whatever :)
 
Velvia 50 isn't the best for long exposures, reciprocity failure begins at about 4 seconds, exposure correction isn't too bad, a bigger problem is colour shift.
Fuji recommend using filters for colour shift, they need to factored in with exposure correction, it all gets a bit complicated.
Velvia 100F might be a better choice, up to 1 minute needs neither colour or exposure correction.
I've never had much of a problem with colour shift on 100F, 10 minutes of dark night have looked fine to me, it kinda depends what the ambient light (if there is any) is.
I've shot a few at dusk that came out a bit blue, the predominant shift is meant to be green..:shrug:
 
Excellent - I have some Provia 100 and will try a few exposures at different times, say between 5-10 minutes. Will post results once I get it done (y)
 
I don't think the colour shift on Velvia at or after sunset is an unpleasant effect though, it goes slightly magenta but its actually quite a nice effect
 
raathistle said:
I don't think the colour shift on Velvia at or after sunset is an unpleasant effect though, it goes slightly magenta but its actually quite a nice effect
Click to expand...

i agree although i always feel that velvia has a touch of a magenta cast anyway so the colour shift just increases the effect.
 
For what it's worth, this may be of use. I think it's pretty accurate (it was quite a while ago).
 
I saw some 10 minute exposures of Kodak's new Portra 400 under a full moon and the color was accurate and good. It looked like a daylight shot. But it's hard to say how much was color balanced in post. And based on the they guy's posted aperture and the Looney 16 rule, it was only about an added 2 stops for reciprocity correction which is pretty good for that long of time I think.

I ordered up some and I'm going to give it a try.
 
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Mr_T said:
For what it's worth, this may be of use. I think it's pretty accurate (it was quite a while ago).
Click to expand...

If you remember we were not entirely sure if it meant it was not recommended to go past 32 seconds or if it meant that it was advised to go up to but not past 64 seconds with Velvia 50. I think that it means the former but of course this requires the CC filters and I'm unsure from the datasheet whether your supposed to adjust the aperture at all or if the adjustments are just whats needed for the filter.

EDIT: Apparently you do have to open the aperture up as well according to some sources so I think is likely to be on top of the filter factor.
 
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Just make sure you record all your settings so you can correct your mistakes next time.

If you are scanning the pics then critical colour correction really isn't required as you can do it all in the PP.

Have fun with the sodium lights....reciprocity makes for some wonderful effects
 
I do the same with Ektar 5x4 unfiltered, you can get some fantastic results :)
 
Yes I think that was around 4 minutes.
Longest I've done is 15 minutes, the black night sky looked blue, I'll dig it out when I get chance.
 
jamesb84 said:
I have done so...that was part of the reason for my shot, I want so see what sort of colours are thrown up by reciprocity failure on Velvia. It may be something I can use to my advantage...
Click to expand...

Mohain - Velvia 50

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2625116&postcount=2031


Joxby - Velvia 100F

8 mins of pitch black http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1182041&postcount=368

6 mins of artificial http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=627183&postcount=31





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