Exposing for police lights

[William Mckay]

Hello all,

I've seen several posts on creating the illusion of police lights, but not much on how to expose for them..

 

I have two night shots, one exterior and one interior.

 

For the exterior shot, I will have two real police cars w/ iights flashing in a driveway. The yard and house will have some lighting (Mole nine lights, not sure). How do I meter and expose for all of this?

 

The interior will also be lit sparsely, a faux moon light through a window sort of thing. The walls

will be bouncing the light from the police lights.

 

I have no idea how to prepare for this, it is a rather large night in terms of production.

 

Super 16, primes. 500ASA Vision 3.

 

Thanks so much

 

Bill

[Jaan Shenberger]

If your digital spot meter's response time isn't fast enough to meter the police light's cast, then maybe try using an old analog reflective meter (pointed at a gray card receiving the light's cast). You can watch the exposure needle swing back and forth as the light varies, and easily get a feel for the average reading for the red and blue. I did this back in the 90s when metering for light being caustically reflected off water and it worked great. Hope this somehow helps.