This is my sister. I know she's cute. And we went to the Professional Bull Riding competition together last weekend. But this is the ONLY good photo that came out of that night. Does anyone have any advice for me on shooting good photos in really bad lighting? I think using a flash kills a photo, so I need some help please.
Thank you!!
Low lighting can be realy tricky, but one way to remedy it is to change your iso. An iso 100 gives you good color saturation and it doesn't act like a "light-sponge". I also try to shoot in iso 100 if possible just because it makes the photo look less grainy. However if you need to absorb more light crank up your iso to 800 or 1600, at these speeds the "film" acts light a sponge and sucks up all light. If I'm not sure what I should set my iso to exactly, then I normally will bracket and test each iso to see which one gives me the best results while allowing me to set my own f/stop and shutter speed. Photography is awesome and it's a great thing for mom's to do on the side. Have you heard of MeRa Koh? She's based out of Seattle and her blog is an amazing teaching tool and she also has this dvd called "Beyond the Green Box" and I've heard that it's a great teacing tool. On her blog www.merakohblog.com she'll also tell/teach how she took a shot. Have fun! Experiment with iso and see what you get! :)
ReplyDeleteRuth, Thank You! That website - Me Ra Koh - is AWESOME! I'll definitely be linking back to that one a lot! And yes, I'm familiar with the ISO stuff (the photo above was taken with ISO 1600 cause it was just so dark) but I'm still exploring exactly how it affects a photo. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI've had the same problem while taking photos at a horse show too, but I really haven't sat down to figure out how to shoot in a dark situation with out using a flash. The only other thing I could think of, and I would love it if I could do this, is to buy the canon 5d which has a faster iso. :) Good luck and if you figure anything out let me know, I'm also interested in new tricks. :) BTW your photos are awesome! It's a great hobby to have.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic picture! I think it turned out great.
ReplyDeleteWhen it is dark, you can lower the aperture on your camera as low as it will go (well, you know, lowering the number as low as it will go so the opening is as big as possible)- you're probably already doing that. Also, as you've probably noticed, the longer your shutter speed is the more still you have to hold your camera. One thing that may help you do this is to set the timer - this allows you to push the shutter and then focus on holding the camera steady while the picture is taken instead of wiggling it around inadvertently while you push the shutter button. This may not be what you were looking for, as it is a pretty lazy non-technical solution, but it's something I have done in the past. I need to start reading up on the technical stuff again. :)