From the Arch Club Journal

Shooting film at night with CineStill 800T

Neon, tungsten and red halos. How to get the look everyone recognises.

Written by Arch Club, which shoots only on film.

What it is

CineStill 800T is Kodak motion picture film adapted for ordinary cameras and C-41 developing. The T means tungsten: it is balanced for warm artificial light, so street lamps and interiors look neutral rather than orange.

Why the glow

Cinema film carries a backing layer that stops light bouncing inside the film. CineStill removes it so any lab can develop the film. Without it, bright lights bloom into the red halos that define the look. This is called halation.

How to shoot it

I
Rate it at 800.Many photographers push it a stop to 1600 in very dark scenes. Tell the lab if you do.
II
Use a fast lens.f/1.4 to f/2 lets you stay around 1/30 to 1/60 handheld on a lit street.
III
Meter the scene, not the lights.Bright signs fool the meter. Read from a lit wall or face.
IV
Put light sources in the frame.The halos are the point: neon, headlights, lamps.
V
In daylight, add an 85 filter.Without one, daylight looks cool and blue. With the filter, rate it lower, around 500.
SceneApertureShutter
Bright city streetf/21/60
Bar or restaurantf/1.4 to f/21/30
Dark street, pushed to 1600f/21/30

Starting points only. Light varies enormously after dark, so meter when you can.

Let the lights burn. That is the picture.
White marble stilettos with red marble straps on a black marble plinth
Shot on film at Arch Club

ARCH CLUB

A members' club for foot photography, shot only on film.

Every Arch Club photograph is made on a Canon EOS-1V, a Mamiya 7 or a Fuji GW690II, with real models in New York and never AI. Members receive new film photographs every month, and collectors can own the original negative, sealed in display resin with a print of their choice.

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Published by Arch Club, Brooklyn, New York.