Salvation Army 576 by Mike Zeis
Salvation Army 576 by Mike Zeis
Holga 120N with Kodak Portra 400N, bulb-mode.
Here is the story:
Film: Portra 400 NC (I use VC most of the time. I think this roll was part of Kodak’s free-film promotion.)
The Salvation Army photo was submitted by the Northern Rhode Island Camera Club for the “Moonlight” category in a three-club photo competition. The shot took first place.
The photo was taken early in December; temperatures were in the high 20s (F).
As you can see from the photo, I set the tripod up so that I was just about looking straight up. One tripod leg was shortened to accommodate the steps leading to the door. The trick was to push the camera close enough to the building so that the moon would be just hidden behind the sign. I took two shots, one with more moonlight and one with less. This is the one with more. I shifted the focus back a bit from the “mountain” setting, used the “B” shutter setting, and held the shutter open by hand for a few seconds: maybe three seconds, maybe 10. The sign was not turned on: it is lit by a street lamp across the street.
By shooting directly into the masked-off strong light, I had hoped to repeat a circular lens flare I got a week earlier while shooting the moon behind the pointed peak of a mill clock tower. Just as well that didn’t work….
This image has very little Photoshopping. Dust and specs have been taken care of, and the image has been sharpened slightly.
My biggest problem with night photography is leaving the camera in “B” mode the next day and wrecking the rest of the shots.
Tags: 120n, bulb, Kodak Portra 400NC, long exposure, night