You walk into a darkened/poorly lit room - What do you do 1st?

No1Joker

No1Joker

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I'm quite new to this and i am looking at finding out how other people's brains work. :thinking:

I'm looking for what your instinct/gut tells you to do first when you walk into a badly lit room. You are photographing people in a non-formal fashion and flash is allowed.

Just looking for a 1,2,3 kind of thing.

One thing i'd ask is limit this to only the equipment you own. So if you don't own a flashgun, you can't use it.

Don't think about it too much either, you're under pressure to start getting some great candid photos :lol:
 
I'd turn the light on, and shoot as normal! :)
sorry, not the answer you were after!


id use my 50 1.8 and bump up the ISO
 
No1Joker said:
You are photographing people in a non-formal fashion and flash is allowed....

you're under pressure to start getting some great candid photos :lol:
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NorthernNikon said:
It depends entirely what the objective of the shoot is.
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Thought i'd covered that one. I'm thinking cocktail/drinks party in a low-light bar/venue.
 
get the 50mm 1.4 out, set the D700 so that the minimum ISO is 1600 but will change that up to 6400 to maintain 1/40 sec and start shooting.

I would, however, prefer to stick a flash in two opposing corners and try and light the room.
 
... wide aperture, then shutter speed to as slow as you can get away with at the focal length you're shooting at, then crank the iso...

or that AND buy a flash...
 
My usual set up for something like this would probably be Nikon 24-70mm on camera which is in manual mode, around f/5.6 1/80th, ISO800, flash on camera in iTTL with a Demb Flip-it.
 
all those that are talking about using 1.4 or 1.8. What about if the shots you were taking were of more than one person.

these wide apertures are always suggested as the solution but they only work if you need a very shallow DOF. You can't use them if you need more DOF
 
NorthernNikon said:
No, that's the environment, not the objective.
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Sorry, the objective (should you choose to accept it) is to photograph people in conversation, while drinking/laughing/socialising.

This thread will self-destruct in 10 seconds.

ShawWellPete said:
I would, however, prefer to stick a flash in two opposing corners and try and light the room.
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If you had this setup would it be distracting to the people at the venue? Or would it resemble strobe/disco lighting effect :shrug:
 
First thing would be to get to the bar and get myself a Mojito, then I'd mingle for a little while to get people used to seeing me around. For shooting, i'd up the ISO to 1600 or possibly even higher (D700), stick on the 50mm f/1.8 and start shooting. Possibly (if there was enough light) whack on the 24-70 f/2.8 for some more distant candids. As a last resort, SB-600, gelled to match (as close as possible) the main light source(s) and as far off camera as possible on a cord.
 
Get the 24-70mm out. Flick iso onto auto with max 12800 on the D3s and start shooting. I may get the sb900 out later and start playing with light.


Kev.
 
If I wanted to do candid shots then ideally I would'nt want to be flashing all over the place so I would attempt to put the camera into aperture priority mode, wind it right down to the biggest aperture my selected lens will allow and crank up the ISO until I got a good shutter speed of atleast 1/80 of a second. If I were to need the use of a flash then I would have to use the inbuilt flash because I don't own a flashgun. I would experiment with the flash intensity and exposure compensation because if there is one thing I hate, its those burning highlights!
 
Lightstalker said:
Snap on my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (or 17-35mm f/2.8 if it's a club) and attach the Flash, set cam to M, f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 800 and have some fun.
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I really liked the 45 degree angled B&W of the 1st dance. Was it really that dark in the background or did the flash create that black-out look?
 
No1Joker said:
I really liked the 45 degree angled B&W of the 1st dance. Was it really that dark in the background or did the flash create that black-out look?
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Yea it was incredibly dark, but this was slightly enhanced by raising it to 1/125 and using an off-shoe-cord and flash.
 
Stop down to f8 or f11 for optimum sharpness. ISO 6 film (Original kodachrome?). Shutter speed 1/2000th (Or if your cameras fancy 1/4000th). Shoot away. I'm sure photoshop can recover any overexposure.

Actually I'd put the flash on the camera, leave it turned off for now untill you can no longer cope [1/30th f1.4 max ISO]. Fastest lens on wide open. ISO high enough for 1/3rd stop overexposure. Shutter speed 1/60th. Once you get to 1/30th give up and use flash.
 
JEmerson said:
Stop down to f8 or f11 for optimum sharpness. ISO 6 film (Original kodachrome?). Shutter speed 1/2000th (Or if your cameras fancy 1/4000th). Shoot away. I'm sure photoshop can recover any overexposure.

Actually I'd put the flash on the camera, leave it turned off for now untill you can no longer cope [1/30th f1.4 max ISO]. Fastest lens on wide open. ISO high enough for 1/3rd stop overexposure. Shutter speed 1/60th. Once you get to 1/30th give up and use flash.
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I wouldn't stop down that far at all, it's people he's shooting not landscapes.
I don't even go that far when shooting a small arena full of people, 6.2 at the most.

Another example using the initial settings: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmettmclaughlin/4114745156/meta/in/set-72157622828490708
 
Drag himself into a dark corner............. :)

Oh you mean photographically? Rats.

a) turn lights on, lamps and auxiliary lighting adds to ambience so stick 'em on.
b)shoot with that ambient if at all possible
c) use flash if I have to.
 
sit down and make observations of the crowd
let folks get used to you and the camera

flash could be a bit intrusive ???
 
as I don't do people photography, I'd put the camera away, find the bar and order a drink!
 
kit lens, built-in camera flash..

set to M, f/5.6, shutter speed around 1/100s. ISO 200 or 400. and fire away. :D

oh, and dial in -1 flash exposure compensation...
 
Increase the ISO, use my nifty fifty lens & bounce my flash off the ceiling or wall (if close) or directed if further away. Oh & shoot in RAW incase any turn out too dark.
 
Assuming it had to be shot reasonably 'au naturel', then boost the iso, and use a bit of bounced flash (maybe off-camera) to freeze movement...using slow shutter speeds to balance the ambient light with the flash...
 
I would use my 50mm f1.4, crank the ISO up and use bounced/diffused flash.
 
I had a bit of trouble with exhibition hall lighting today - I need to get a decent flash....
 
depends, if its candids 70-200 and iso rapage

club stuff wide angle and flash

anything in between 28-70 and flash (switched on is optional but handy to have about)
 
sarahleigh said:
Increase the ISO, use my nifty fifty lens & bounce my flash off the ceiling or wall (if close) or directed if further away. Oh & shoot in RAW incase any turn out too dark.
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If the room is large and the ceilings are high or the colour of walls and ceilings will give a nasty cast use ABBC (A Better Bounce Card)

www.abetterbouncecard.com

Made my own for less than ten bob!;)
 
i had to cover an engagement party last week in a dimly lit room, pretty much like the scenario you have described. Set my ISO to 800 to pick up some ambient light, got out my handy sb600, obviously attached to the camera, pointed the flash behind me and upward and bounced the light around the room, worked a treat!
 
my only problem is my dodgy zip on my bag as I take out my D3s.
 
Firstly, Thanks so much for everyone to put down their guts :gag:, I went to the party on Sunday and it was as expected a dark interior.

I didn't expect it to be a mostly sit down meal (poor family comms :thinking:)

I had a few thing which helped and then hindered. The low roof meant the lights were low but then my flash made people look awful and i couldn't point it behind me because of the other tables.

I did as most reommended :thumbs: ISO up to 1600 and metered down to -1 (my 300D really struggled though and i've got some noticable noise)

However, it let me use no flash and i got some really warm photos under the ambient lights. Shutter was always round 1/50th. I was using a 50mm 1.8 and i'll link over to the best 1/2 shots when i upload them tonight.


Cheers again.
 
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