Photos inside under lights

[chump1979]

Hi,

With my 40d and 17-55 f/2.8 I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get decently exposed shots under normal bulb lighting (no flash).

Today for instance - everyone round for christmas. fairly dark dim day so house lights on most of the time.

Was shooting in Aperture mode cos i wanted to make sure I could shoot with a resonable DOF (family shots etc etc). Only problem is that even at 1600 ISO the shutter speeds are very slow. The IS of the lens helps me to go fairly low but the pics are just not quite bright enough. If i'd thought at the time i guess i could have used exposure compensation but that would just have increased my shutter time further.

So are there any tips when shooting static subjects in these conditions when i want to use an aperture of say f/8 or more.

I'm guessing i'm gonna have to just bite the bullet and use the flash but i don't like how un-natural in-camera flashes make photos look.

Any help appreciated. Newbie in need!

Cheers
Marc

 

[antihero]

i'd say (with my limited knowledge) if you want to use an aperture of f8 indoors you're stuck with using a flash i'm afraid. Even using the lens wide open you would struggle to get en ough light in. You could always put a bit of tissue over the flash to diffuse it a touch.

 

[Ally]

Hi,

With my 40d and 17-55 f/2.8 I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get decently exposed shots under normal bulb lighting (no flash).

Today for instance - everyone round for christmas. fairly dark dim day so house lights on most of the time.

Was shooting in Aperture mode cos i wanted to make sure I could shoot with a resonable DOF (family shots etc etc). Only problem is that even at 1600 ISO the shutter speeds are very slow. The IS of the lens helps me to go fairly low but the pics are just not quite bright enough. If i'd thought at the time i guess i could have used exposure compensation but that would just have increased my shutter time further.

So are there any tips when shooting static subjects in these conditions when i want to use an aperture of say f/8 or more.

I'm guessing i'm gonna have to just bite the bullet and use the flash but i don't like how un-natural in-camera flashes make photos look.

Any help appreciated. Newbie in need!

Cheers
Marc

ur best bet at f8 is a flash bouced off the roof. The other thing is possibley shot at f4 and used as wide as your lens can go? You get more depth of field with a wider lens.

 

[W.Smith]

So are there any tips when shooting static subjects in these conditions when i want to use an aperture of say f/8 or more.

Sure there are!
Use a tripod and the selftimer.
Unless of course your "static subjects" are really not-so-static people....
Then, yes, you will have to go flash!

Have fun!