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Garry Black Photography

Question:

First of all, kudos on the great site. I have a few questions; forgive me if they’ve been asked previously.

1) How do I use a polarizer?

2) 2) What’s the best way to take long-exposure photos at night of cars on a street? What about if there are bright lights nearby? 

Answer:

I have no idea of your level of technical expertise, so I'll just give you real basic answers.

1. The polarizer is a very visual filter to work with: as you rotate it in its mount the effects are immediately noticeable, it doesn't even have to be on the camera, you can just hold it in front of your eyes - rotate it to see the effect. A polarizing filter can deepen the colour and contrast in a sky (the most intense effects are always 90 degrees from the light source), eliminate glare from wet or reflective surfaces and cut through atmospheric haze to increase clarity and contrast in a scene.

2. For long-exposure photos of cars at night you'll need a tripod. You don't need a fast high speed film, I use either Velvia or Provia Slide Film (50 and 100 ISO). Compose your shot, for the exposure set your aperture to IF 11 for 100 speed film (F8 for 50 speed) and set the shutter speed dial to bulb. Take the picture by either using a locking cable release or by keeping your finger depressed on the shutter release. The exposure time will depend on how many cars pass through your scene and what effect you wish to create. If it is twilight and you wish to capture the cobalt blue of the sky the exposure time should be about 3 - 6 minutes. If the sky is completely black you needn't worry, as black doesn’t record on film, so the sky will stay black in your photos regardless of how long the shutter is open. What do you mean by a bright light nearby? Will the light it's self be in the shot or only the light reflecting on your subjects?

Garry