Night Photography Research Paper - Essay Example

It was John Adams Whipple that has firstly tried the system of daguerreotype into nigh photography. He captured the moon using a telescope. Following this, he then took photographs of the Boston Common using electric lights. This was in the year 1863. Although Whipple has been taking photographs specifically during at night, night photography had only been positively real with the invention of the gelatin dry plate. Earlier photography had used the wet-collodion process. In this process the negatives are needed to be exposed and processed while still damp.

However, with the gelatin dry plate process, the plates were more light sensitive and they allow longer exposures. In 1890, Alfred Stieglitz tried testing the limits of the photography when he tried capturing the New York Streets on wintry night. Aside from this attempt, there was no significant attempt for night photography until the 1930s. The two significant people that have contributed to night photography were Brassai and Bill Brandt. Brassai was responsible for publishing a book of black and white pictures showing the streets of Paris.

This book was Paris de Nuit. The photos in Brassai's book were patented by atmosphere. They were moody, revealing and even gives the feeling of detachment from its photographers. After World War II, it was Brandt's turn to show the London streets during its black out condition. Brandt's photos also with them a sense of detachment from their photographer. Many photographers followed Brandt into night photography. Then in the 1970s, night photography became formal when it was taught as a course in the collegiate level by Steve Harper.

He taught the course on night photography at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. After having taught night photography at the academy, the academy had been known for the legacy of night photography. Then come the 1990s where in Michael Kenna became known for being a successful night photographer that time. His works were mostly set in between duck and dawn. Now with the emergence of new technologies, innovations and developments with cameras used, people have an easier way for venturing into the world of night photography.

Yet night photography still has areas or aspects in it which is needed to be understood so as how to create and even develop worthwhile pictures.Glitches in Night Photography Just like in sports and landscape photography, night photography also demand a great deal when it comes to shutter speeds and apertures. In some instances, these technical aspects are taken into extremes. Night photography is subjected to a lot of different constraints just like any other photography. Much like daylight photography, night photography could also be hindered by shutter speeds, apertures and light sensitivity.

Often times, night photography as said could demand extremes from these areas. In earlier times, many photographers veer away from night photography because of the problems brought about by taking pictures at night. Night photography requires longer exposures so as to maintain the right and enough depth-of-field. More often, it could result to unacceptable amounts of image noise. Another, night photography also poses a problem with the film called "reciprocity failure". This means that the longer the exposure, the more light is needed to reach the film.

This case could lead to diminishing returns compared with shorter exposures. Another problem that was encountered earlier was that, the