Low Light Photography

HybridUK

HybridUK

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Chris
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Hi all,

I was taking a photos last night inside a church of a Christmas Concert and i didnt really want to use the flash from my 430EX (even though i wish i did after looking back). I had my 400D set to 1600 ISO and using AV priority to capture a shallow DOF.

However when i came home and reviewed the photos most where blurry. I'm guessing this is down to the shutter speed being too low.

Does any one have any tips on,
1) Rescueing some of these photos.
2) Tips on shooting in low light indoors.
3) Recommend a decent lens with a good focal range which is fast and good in low light.

Hope this isn't a lot to ask for.

Many thanks. :)
 
It is down to the shutter speed but what effects that? iso and aparture.. your iso is good at 1600 but what f? was you at.. would require 2.8 I would think.

The one thing you cant really rescue is blurred pics.

No done much in a church myself.. but last week I went to Hereford v Accrington Stanley game and visited the cathederal (one of my passengers wanted to see some old map or summat) ... got some nice pics inside without flash here.. well i say nice.. i was happy with a first attempt

http://matchpics.fotopic.net/c1413600.html
 
It would be helpful to see some of the shots with the shooting data to see where you went wrong.

Low light and good focal range don't tend to go together - your best bet is to use prime lenses that have very wide maximum apertures - the popular 50 1.8 is a good and inexpensive starting point.
 
The ones in hereford as linked to above... canon 17-40 f4 :)
 
Sorry to but in but KIPAX how do you put buttons on your fotopic site so that you can change between pages?
 
Cheers chaps, unfortunately I can't really upload some of the photos due to them being of students from the school/college i work in and it would shatter the data/photograph protection policy we have in place.

I have however just checked the exif on most of them and the shuttter speed is way too low.

For example...
[Image]
Make = Canon
Model = Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
Orientation = left/bottom
Date Time = 2007-12-04 19:58:02

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/3"
F Number = F5.6
Exposure Program = Aperture priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 1600
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2007-12-04 19:58:02
Date Time Digitized = 2007-12-04 19:58:02
Shutter Speed Value = 1.32 TV
Aperture Value = 4.97 AV
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Metering Mode = Pattern
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 55mm
Exposure Mode = Auto exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Scene Capture Type = Normal
 
KIPAX said:
The ones in hereford as linked to above... canon 17-40 f4 :)
Click to expand...


Surely you didnt use that lens for those football pictures too??

I do like those shots mind :)
 
HybridUK,you needed to rest the camera on something, either a tripod or monopod or something else solid, then your 1/25th @ 800iso would probably have been fine.
 
Can't make out most of your Church shots for the watermark KIPAX, I think you need to strike a better balance between protecting your work and letting people actually see it m8.
 
Steep said:
HybridUK,you needed to rest the camera on something, either a tripod or monopod or something else solid, then your 1/25th @ 800iso would probably have been fine.
Click to expand...

Think you got confused by 400Dusers thread at the same time :p as those were the setting he used ;)

But yeah Tripod would cause less blur, but if you are still shooting at 3/1 then any motion is going to blur :( The only way to shoot action in low light is to get a lens that handle the lower light (such as a 50mm 1.2 or 1.8 etc)
 
oops! :)

Solution applies just the same though...
 
Thanks for the tips Steep. :) You're probably right about using a tripod but i had to get close due to not having a few good focal range on the camera and i didnt want to block peoples' view of the performance.

I have a pantomine to photograph next week so i'll try some more ideas. Only problem this time is that i will have stage lights to contend with. :(
Has anyone on here done many stage photos before?
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
Think you got confused by 400Dusers thread at the same time :p as those were the setting he used ;)

But yeah Tripod would cause less blur, but if you are still shooting at 3/1 then any motion is going to blur :( The only way to shoot action in low light is to get a lens that handle the lower light (such as a 50mm 1.2 or 1.8 etc)
Click to expand...

I'm seriously thinking about picking up one of those nifty fifties this week i think. :)
 
Thanks everyone.

Think next time i'll invest in the nifty fifty 1.8 and give that a whirl. I'll also shoot in shutter priority and hopefully the camera will pick the right F-stop.
 
HybridUK said:
Thanks everyone.

Think next time i'll invest in the nifty fifty 1.8 and give that a whirl. I'll also shoot in shutter priority and hopefully the camera will pick the right F-stop.
Click to expand...

I think you will enjoy it :) and the shutter priority does seem to do the trick :) Not really meaning this to promote my own threads, but have posted a couple in low light from last weekend Here and Here I really was impressed with how well the 50mm coped :)
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
I think you will enjoy it :) and the shutter priority does seem to do the trick :) Not really meaning this to promote my own threads, but have posted a couple in low light from last weekend Here and Here I really was impressed with how well the 50mm coped :)
Click to expand...

WOW!!

Well, you've totally made up my mind now. I'm ordering one lol.

How much PP did you do on those afterwards as i really like those photos!!
 
Quite a lot of PP to be honest. The sky was very grey, so anything with sky in has been heavily worked on, the 2nd lot in the dark arent that worked on, just a bit of work trying to remove a few bits in the shadows (like plants and peoples feet in odd places etc) and trying to stop the fire from blowing its highlights etc.
 
HybridUK said:
Has anyone on here done many stage photos before?
Click to expand...

Loads :)

Stage lighting can be surprisingly bright, in pubs/bars etc it's normally fairly crap, and you will be up at the 1600/3200 ISO even at F1.8.

But for fairly good gigs/stages the lighting is much better, and you will find that you can take some shots at F4.0 with a lower ISO and a reasonable shutter speed.

First thing I would suggest is that you do not use any other mode than Manual. You do not want your camera making any decisions for you in low lighting. Chances are, to get the best pictures, at the lowest ISO to keep noise down, you will be using the maximum aperture anyway.

Set your camera to manual, set the shutter to 1/60 for a start, ISO at say 400 and max aperture (the smallest F number your lens can give you)

If the photos are dark, up the ISO. I would not recommend shooting hand held at less than 1/60 or you will have a lot of blurred shots, no matter how steady your hand. Don't worry about underexposing a bit, you can push the shots in Photoshop and lighten them up.

Here are a couple of shots I did when I first got my 50mm F1.8.

I hope the following helps you think about your next attempt.

The settings for the first one were:

50mm
ISO400
F1.8
1/125 <---- With 1/125 you won't get many blurred pics :)

img_9750.jpg



The settings for the second one were:

50mm
ISO500
F2.8 <---- Look, I didn't even use max aperture, nice :)
1/80 <---- 1/80 is okay for hand held, I try to keep 1/125

benji_23.jpg
 
Is there any chance you could photograph the dress/lighting rehearsal of the pantomime? It's definately worth a try. I have done this before and it is soooooo much easier: you can set up a tripod without worrying about getting in the way of an audience, you can move around freely and generally get much better shots. Stage lighting for this kind of performance is usually good.....not like a gig where lights are changing all the time. The leading actors usually have a spotlight following them around, so it's usually fairly easy.

If it's too late, or not possible, take a monopod (less intrusive than a tripod). I used a 24-70 f2.8L when doing my shoot, but a nifty fifty would be fine if you can get close.......naturally the actors don't stand still and pose for you, so occasionally there can be a bit of motion blur, but hey...that's show biz! ;) Good luck!
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
I think you will enjoy it :) and the shutter priority does seem to do the trick :) Not really meaning this to promote my own threads, but have posted a couple in low light from last weekend Here and Here I really was impressed with how well the 50mm coped :)
Click to expand...

They are not really what I would class as 'low light' in the same context as an indoor stage. Of course as you have processed them it's hard to tell what the light level was. What time of day was it?

Alan
 
Some really nice tips coming in. I'll have to give them a whirl pretty soon. Cheers :D
 
btw. I've just ordered a 50mm 1.8 from Kerso :)
 
HybridUK said:
btw. I've just ordered a 50mm 1.8 from Kerso :)
Click to expand...

Cool, it was using the 50mm that really got me going on the live stuff, now I use an 85mm F1.2 and its just amazing.

Post some photos when you have some.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, buy a cheap screwfit hood for your lens, can't remember the size off the top of my head. You can get some really annoying lens flare from stage lights, and a hood will help to cut it down.

A cheapy rubber one from ebay should only be a few quid.
 
WildWalker said:
They are not really what I would class as 'low light' in the same context as an indoor stage. Of course as you have processed them it's hard to tell what the light level was. What time of day was it?

Alan
Click to expand...

Yeah granted they are not as low light as indoor stuff, but the stuff in the second link was taken at about 4:30 with a very overcast sky, would have been impossible without something like f1.8. Been there for the past two years with basic lenses etc and got no keepers at all.

Congrats on your new purchase HybridUK :) (sorry for helping you spend money) and when you do open it, it isnt a joke it really does feel like a kids toy :p
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
Yeah granted they are not as low light as indoor stuff, but the stuff in the second link was taken at about 4:30 with a very overcast sky, would have been impossible without something like f1.8. Been there for the past two years with basic lenses etc and got no keepers at all.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks for that. And yeah, they do look really good so you should be happy with them :)

Congrats on your new purchase HybridUK :) (sorry for helping you spend money) and when you do open it, it isnt a joke it really does feel like a kids toy :p
Click to expand...

Hehe, spending other peoples money is great isn't it :)

They do feel a bit cheap, but the great thing is they weigh nothing at all and are really small, so for using while stood in crowds etc they are superb.

I never use mine now but I just can't bring myself to sell it either !
 
I did some low light photos in a dimly lit medieval church (St. Giles, Chesterton, Warwickshire) last weekend. I didn't realise exactly how dim it was until I looked at the EXIF information a minute ago- this exposure was a whopping 17 seconds!!! Beyond most image stabilizing wizardry methinks!

DSCF2414.jpg


Oddly enough I was using a tripod- it's a good job my subjects kept still!
 
Steep said:
Can't make out most of your Church shots for the watermark KIPAX, I think you need to strike a better balance between protecting your work and letting people actually see it m8.
Click to expand...

Yup I agree... Changed now :)


Ta :)

Hmm wheres me sig gone?
 
Signature only shows up once per page Kipax and then it is only if there is over a certain amount of characters in the post. It seems to be sitting up with your first post in here at the moment ;)
 
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