night photography

[Anonymous]

Hello, could someone please give me some pointers or advice on how to shoot trains at night? I have a 35mm Vivitar BV40 with flash and also a Minolta XG1 w/out a flash. I have tried to take night photos of trains with the flash on and also with background light but the only thing that showed up on the print where the headlights and relfective road numbers.

Is there anything i can try or do that will give me a better photo w/out having to buy alot of special equipment or a new camera?
Thanks in advance.

[thirdrail1]

First, unless you are using an exceptionally fast film, it is not possible to photograph a moving train without an extensive multi-flashbulb setup (100's or more). I took some really good night photos many years ago using Tri-X film and time exposures. One of the best came back originally as a print showing only the headlight and a platform light. If the print is done commercially, it is going to key on the brightest point and develop the exposure based on that. Developed as an 8 x 10 in a friend's darkroom, the photo of an LIRR MP54 MU car sitting at the end of the line late at night with the headlight on and the interior lights on, next to an umbrella platform with lights, came out beautifully, although the "store print" showed only the headlight and platform lights.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

There is little you can do to photograph moving trains at night without special equipment or without special arrangements. You can photograph still objects at night without a flash. Years ago I photographed the Empire Builder in Spokane, WA at night,and I got some good results. I used Ektachrome 160 or 200 film with a time exposure of one minute at shutter openings of f/16 and f/11. I mounted my camera on a tripod to provide a steady base for the time exposure. In this case I did not use a flash attachment.

The so called pop-up flashes on most SLR's do not emit enough light to give you a clear picture except at very short distances. Flash bulb based flash attachments emit a large amount of light, the trouble is you can't buy flash bulbs any more. You can buy electronic or strobe flashes that are more powerful than the "pop-up" flashes, but the more powerful ones are very expensive.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

There is little you can do to photograph moving trains at night without special equipment or without special arrangements. You can photograph still objects at night without a flash. Years ago I photographed the Empire Builder in Spokane, WA at night,and I got some good results. I used Ektachrome 160 or 200 film with a time exposure of one minute at shutter openings of f/16 and f/11. I mounted my camera on a tripod to provide a steady base for the time exposure. In this case I did not use a flash attachment.

The so called pop-up flashes on most SLR's do not emit enough light to give you a clear picture except at very short distances. Flash bulb based flash attachments emit a large amount of light, the trouble is you can't buy flash bulbs any more. You can buy electronic or strobe flashes that are more powerful than the "pop-up" flashes, but the more powerful ones are very expensive.

[Anonymous]

I've taken some good night photos with Kodak 400 speed film. But as the gentlemen before me mentioned I also used time exposure. A camera with adjustable shutter speeds is a must as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Although I've never shot any "night train" photos, I can tell you that there are excellent 400 and 800 speed films by Kodak and Fuji, B&W and Color. As I recall (from 7-8 years of camera sales experience), I do not think that your XG-1 has full manual override. The only two things you will need are an inexpensive camera with full manual control, a good flash (or not depending on the desired results) and a good sturdy tripod to do time exposures. Another suggestion: Call Calumet in Chicago (1-800-CAL-UMET) and ask for a list of films, tripods available, etc. They carry virtually everything there is for photography both 35mm and digital. Good luck.
L

[RudyRockvilleMD]

Most railfans use slide film, and most railroad photography is done in daylight so the standard film for photographing trains has been Kodachrome 64. It is a fine grained film, and it is fast enough to stop most action during daylight unless it is cloudy; when it is cloudy, or if telephoto shots are indicated, many railfans will switch to Kodachrome 200 which has a coarser grain structure than Kodachrome 64, but in my mind, the grain doesn't seem to be noticeable. As the film speed increases the grain becomes more pronounced so unless you intend to take a lot of photos of trains in one session at night there is no sense in loading a camera with 24 or 36 exposure 400 or 800 speed film for just a few night shots because using that high speed film for photographing trains during daylight is overkill.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the qualities of slide film rated at ISO 400 or 800 (if there's such a thing), but from what I've been reading lately it seems that the latest 400 (and even some 800) negative (i.e. regular) films (Fuji Superia, etc.) have very negligible grain, and unless you want to make posters out of your photos, where the grain might be noticeable, there's going to be little noticeable difference grain-wise between 200 and 400 films.

And about using flash for night time train-shooting: to put it bluntly, it's a waste of time and batteries. In order to provide enough light for the shot, the flash would have to emit the amount of light that is slightly lower than that of a nuclear blast. Well, I'm exaggerating of course, but not by much.......

The best thing would be to catch a train at a standstill (not hard for a passenger job), find a steady mount for your manual camera (tripod, good-positioned ledge, etc.), and do a 10-15 sec exposure with full aperture open.