Re: [Leica] Help on shooting available light pictures

["dwpost" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

J-
I would like to comment on a couple of the four points, or questions, that
you raised. I am not to good on resources, here. The best book I ever had
was C.B. Neblette's text on photography, but it is, sadly, long out of
print. Recently, I got John Schaefer's Basic Techniques of Photography, Book
1, from the Quality Paperback Book Club and was quite taken with his in
depth treatment. He is also a curator of the Ansel Adams' Collection, so you
can see the 'bias' he might have. Regardless of whether you like the Adams
Look, it is a pretty good book!
Most suitable film? It's the same dilemma you have trying to figure out what
tie to wear with which shirt! Personal taste unless youlet someone else pick
for you. If your 'significant other' knows nothing about film, I would
strongly suggest good old experimentation. You are obviously troubled with
grain- something you will have with fast films, especially if 'pushed'. As
my dear Rosie says, when I complain about every surface in the house covered
with 'cutesy' stuff--- "Deal with it!" I would also stress that color film
is very dicey when it comes to really low light! The results are hard to
previsualize, particularly if you don't do your own developing (see an
earlier post to André!)
Grain is going to be bigger, and using a compensating developer to keep
contrast down in overdeveloping, the grain becomes more pronounced due to
the 'edge effect'. You just have to find the right combination of speed and
grain that YOU personally can live with, and then just worry about the
content.
Techniques? A steady hand and a tolerance for a bit of blur goes a long way!
I used to make candlelit shots in college- they were 'cool', and none were
'perfect' in the sense that the exposure was optimal, or steady! My best was
a friend dancing with his friendgirl at a school dance, without flash, and
chosen as a 'fill' photo in the yearbook- Reproduced, it looked good. In
real life, it was grainy, contrasty, and somewhat muddy- it was pretty good
for a low low light shot. The best thing to do is to practice, burn a lot of
film, and develop your own style and techniques! I have set up a gray scale,
and test target in a room, with various lighting- ranging from candles to
regular lamps, and just tried to see what would turn out!
Your reasonable expectation is that a large number of your photos will be,
to be generous, absolutely "POO-POO CA CA". However, in all that dreck, you
will find a gem once in a while! Low light is notoriously hard to meter, and
at those levels, your eye is much more sensitive to any film, and trying to
'eyeball' exposure is almost futile, since you will inevitably underexpose-
I would suggest bracketing- a whole lot! Especially on the over exposure
side, since at these levels, it will be very hard to overexpose a frame
unless there is a hot spot that blocks up.
A suggestion aside, a tabletop tripod, one that can be used braced on your
chest like a gunstock, will make a tremendous difference. It should come as
no surprise that a tripod makes for a more stable platform, and even braced
against the mass of your body, it will improve the sharpness of your images.
Good luck! I hope you get some shots that you'd like to share with us! And
as a, *groan*, politician once said, "Never, never, never, give up!"
Best of (Low) light!
Dan
- ----- Original Message -----
From: J Beal <jbeal@bendnet.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, December 18, 1999 1:48 PM
Subject: [Leica] Help on shooting available light pictures


> Hello All,
 > would be most desirable, but it's not in the cards just yet.  Could any
one
> on the LUG comment on any of the following:
>  - good resource material (books, websites)
>  - most suitable film for low light
>  - techniques you use in available light
>  - reasonable expectations of available light shots
> As always, any help is appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> John Beal II, Oregon
>
>