Shooting in low light can produce some stunning results. Colors are richer in the early and late hours of the day, and subjects such as buildings that are dull and uninteresting during daytime take on an entirely new persona lit up at night. This article looks at some techniques for making the most of low light situations.
ISO and Shutter Speed
It is tempting when shooting in low light to simply increase the ISO sensitivity on your camera (or use a faster film if you shoot with film). This may not always be the answer. Increasing ISO sensitivity decreases image quality. You will find that grain begins to appear. How visible this is of course depends on your camera or choice of film. An alternative is to set yourself to use slower shutter speeds. How much you are able to slow down your shutter speed without creating blurring due to camera shake depends on how steady your hand is. Try leaning against a wall or post, holding your breath and squeezing down slowly on the trigger. This is a method I use quite often and I have found that results improve significantly with a bit of practice.
Tripods
Using a tripod can have both technical and creative benefits. A tripod stabilizes your camera producing a sharp image when a long exposure is needed. It also enables you to reduce the ISO speed used to create a better quality image as discussed above. A tripod can also be used to create interesting effects should the scene contain moving objects. For example, a street scene with traffic passing by. Slow shutter speeds capture the motion of vehicles as they pass and the light trails from head and tail lights, adding life and energy to the scene. For many low light situations, a tripod is an essential piece of equipment and the only way of coming away with a decent image. An alternative could be to rest your camera on a flat surface if one is available.
Flash
Another method of low light photography is the use of flash. Using flash photography can produce quite different results. Like the tripod, and just about any other photography accessory, flash can be used to correct an exposure or enhance it. Set it to low power to fill in a dark area, or use maximum power for create highlights and high contrast effects. Using flash also enables you to hand hold your camera, giving you more freedom to move around your subject. Flash photography is not suited to all subjects though. If you are shooting say, a seascape just after sunset and pointing your camera out into the ocean, there is nothing out there for the light to bounce off and so it is lost.
Low light and night photography can be very rewarding. It does usually require a little additional equipment, but is well worth the expense. Taking pictures at different times of the day also puts you in the frame of mind to experiment, which is necessary if you want to improve your photography. Try things out. See for yourself what works and what doesn't. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Digital Photography Low Light
I admit it - I've been slow to embrace the digital photography phenomenon. As a hobbyist, I have two film cameras, an old manual focus Nikon and a newer autofocus Canon Rebel, and I resisted the temptation to indulge in a digital camera up until recently, even though each of my children had them for years now. But recently my father gave me his mid-priced Olympus (he didn't like the menus), and I've been giving it a try. And, to my surprise, I even like it.
My favorite thing about the camera is pretty obvious - no film. My father gave me two (bless him) substantial memory cards, and I just don't run out of film. I don't pay to develop photos that I don't really want now that I've seen them (I don't pay to develop photos period), and since I can actually see how they look on the spot, I can delete bad shots to save the space for more. Taking lots of shots helps me improve, and improves the chances of a better than average photograph as well, and now it's free. My camera has settings on it that allow me to pretend I have film - I can set film speed and worry about aperture/shutter speed combinations just like with my other cameras, so I can still use what I already know about photography, which I really like. And I love not having to wait to see how the pictures came out.
The other really cool thing about digital photography is photo editing. I haven't invested in Photoshop yet, but I have my eye on the Elements program for next year. I just use Google's free Picasa and sometimes my PhotoDeluxe editor (came free with my scanner), and even then I can do an incredible amount of really exciting things with my pictures. The best is being able to correct poor exposures (I admit, I often don't notice backlighting). With a couple of adjustments, what would have been a throwaway photo can become a keeper! I remove red-eye easily, sharpen focus, adjust contrast, warm up colors, and remove excessive unwanted tint (such as from lamplight). Cropping is my favorite - those lucky few who have their own darkroom crop their photos routinely, but us regular folks used to have to take what we got - no longer! We can pick and choose, and glory in removing unwanted background, excess sky - we can even remove most of the shot and make it a close-up. Resizing is a snap - want some wallets? No sweat. 8x10, 5x7, some oddball size - just a simple selection will do it. And don't forget special effects. Depending on the editor, you can turn your photo into a painting, add glow, filters, neon - your imagination can go wild!
When you have your masterpiece ready to go, you can print it on photo paper at home, or you can send it out for processing. Through Picasa, you can click and send it to a processor via the internet, and get your professionally printed photos in the mail - but only the ones you have decided you want. You can upload your photos to a web page, email them, use them in a blog or on MySpace - they are easy to share.
So, as you can see, I am a digital photography convert. There is so much fun in having this kind of control over your work that it has actually rejuvenated my love of photography. If you haven't already converted too, think about it. It really is a blast.
Both Mark Eden & Carol A Miller are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mark Eden has sinced written about articles on various topics from Arts, Digital Photography and Careers and Job Hunting. Mark Eden is a freelance and the founder and director of Expanse Photography, a photographic services company offering fine art,. Mark Eden's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
Carol A Miller has sinced written about articles on various topics from Arts. Interested in learning more about ? Then visit http://www.DigitalPhotography4All.com where you can get real information for regular folks, a. Carol A Miller's top article generates over 2400 views. to your Favourites.
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