How to take photographs indoors without flash. So, first you need to understand the dangers of low light. Digital photography setup tools


Shooting at night or in the dark. Oh yes.

This is what people think about the least when buying a camera and what they come to very quickly. Night photography is so romantic.

Technically, handheld shooting in the dark is not difficult, but there are a number of significant limitations that reduce it to the level of impossibility or unacceptable quality:

  • Long exposure due to low light
  • High ISO due to long shutter speed
  • Digital noise due to high ISO

How do novice photographers take photographs “correctly” at night?!

Undemanding young photographers raise the built-in flash and click the shutter with gusto, blinding everyone around them. The more attentive, not necessarily more experienced, frown with displeasure at the sight of flat faces, red eyes and unnatural, grotesque lighting.

Others, who have read photo blogs with answers on how to take photographs and have already purchased a tripod, suddenly discover that apparently motionless people are very mobile when shooting at long exposures. Hello blurry photos and a Manfrotto tripod for crazy money. :)

Still others happily raise their ISO, especially if reflex camera allows you to raise the ISO to over 25k+, and then they sigh sadly, looking at the photographs hopelessly spoiled by digital noise.

Still others experience incorrect autofocus. It seems like the camera is being pointed, but in the wrong direction and somehow in the wrong way, in general. Or he refuses to focus at all.

These are the main problems that our photographer will encounter when trying to photograph something at night or simply in the dark. However, the good news is that these problems are completely solvable if approached skillfully.

When starting a conversation about night photography, you need to know that there are two main photographic accessories that greatly facilitate night photography. This:

  • Flash. External or built-in
  • Tripod

And now we’ll talk about how to take photographs at night with or without them. And, since you are a beginner photographer, we will start with their absence.

How to take pictures at night without flash?!

When taking photographs like this, the beginning photographer has the following choices in how to take photographs:

  • Using a tripod
  • Using high ISO

The bottom line is to ensure that the shutter speed on the camera is sufficient to prevent a blurry photograph.

What happens if you raise the ISO when shooting at night?!

By raising the ISO, you can lower the shutter speed to a value that allows you to get a clear photo, without shaking or blur.

This method is good for everyone, except for one thing:

Raising the ISO leads to the appearance more digital noise and the worse the matrix of your camera, the stronger the digital noise in the photo will be.

By the way, raising the ISO always leads to the appearance and intensification of digital noise. It doesn't matter when or how you take pictures: day or night.

How to shoot at night or in the dark with a tripod?!

The smartest thing you can do if you want to photograph something in the dark is to use a tripod.

The tripod can be anything: expensive or cheap, with or without a rotating head. Its task is reduced only to ensuring complete stillness of the camera during night photography. Yes, actually, and not only at night.

Thanks to a tripod, you can use any long shutter speeds that your digital camera will allow you, without any fear of blur or movement in the frames. You will not have any need to raise the ISO.

In other words, if you take photographs with a tripod, then the ISO can be set to its minimum value.

If there is no tripod, i.e. If you are a complete beginner photographer, you can use any surface suitable for placing the camera and ensuring it remains stationary when taking photographs.

How to take pictures at night with flash?!

To begin with, you must understand that any flash, be it mounted or built-in, is capable of illuminating only a few meters and, therefore, it will not be possible to illuminate the entire Moscow Kremlin with a flash.

Flashes are good for night photography of portraits, small interiors or buildings and the like. In general, everything that is enough lighting from this very flash.

The process of night photography using flash is simple.

Raise the built-in one / turn on and configure the external one and take pictures for your health. As a rule, any Canon/Nikon/Pentax/Sony/Samsung flash works great in automatic or semi-automatic mode on your native camera, which makes life very easy for a novice photographer.

The details of using a flash are described in the instructions for your camera or the flash itself, and we’ll talk about using the flash when shooting portraits at night a little further.

How to shoot at night without a tripod?!

As already indicated, attempts to take up photography in dark time days are fraught with long exposures, and not gopniks, as you might think. Unfortunately, a novice photographer has only two options for photographing at night and without a tripod, i.e. from hand:

  • Use high ISO
  • Use flash

The problems that arise from both of these options for night photography have already been discussed above.

How to take portraits at night with a digital camera?!

There are basically three options for how to take portraits of people or just people themselves at night:

  • Using built-in or external flash
  • Using high ISO
  • Using a tripod and flash

Taking a portrait at night using flash

When using the built-in head-on flash, you will get fairly flat lighting and correspondingly flat faces of your friends. Red eye and harsh shadows come with a photo taken this way.

In general, the sensations from such photographs are terrible and therefore, I categorically do not recommend using the built-in flash.

Much better night portraits are obtained when using an external flash with a rotating head, i.e. the flash can be directed in different directions and operate with light reflected from any wall or ceiling, which gives a softer and better lighting portrait.

The problem with external flashes is that they are quite expensive. Canon/Nikon flashes with rotating heads are quite expensive. The cost of Pentax flashes is absolutely terrifying.

Saves the situation with outbreaks Chinese manufacturer YongNuo brand flashes.

But there is another problem here: most YongNuo flash models require manual adjustment, which places higher demands on the skills of a novice photographer. At a minimum: knowledge of exposure, exposure pairing and shooting in manual mode on a camera.

How to take pictures at night at high ISO!?

When taking photographs, by setting a high ISO, you can get a pretty good picture that will have the right to life and which will preserve all the naturalness of the lighting in the photograph.

However, rest assured that taking photographs in the dark by raising the ISO is not for the faint-hearted photographers, because the abundance of digital noise in the image will be colossal, especially when shooting with a cheap digital camera such as a digital zoom or a point-and-shoot camera.

And therefore, we can assume the conclusion that only advanced cameras with high-aperture optics take good pictures at night with high ISO. In principle, there is no need to assume this, because this is exactly what happens.

Remember: If you use a tripod, then you do not need to set a high ISO for any type of photography.

How to take portraits of people at night using a tripod and flash?!

Now we come to the most important thing: how to take a good portrait at night?!

From the title you already understand that you need to use a tripod and flash. The problem with this approach to photography lies in the fact that it is necessary to study the person being portrayed and everything that surrounds him. Especially the background.

And the type of night photography that allows all this is called “slow sync photography” using “front or rear curtain.” You set the camera on a tripod, adjust the exposure to highlight the background, and turn on slow rear-curtain sync.

What happens with this method of photography?!

The camera will expose the background and at the last moment of exposure will turn on the flash automatically, which will allow you to get a clear portrait of the person in the foreground, without blur or movement.

You can do the same thing, but completely in manual mode on the camera. Typically, this results in a photo with better shadows and lighting.

Photographing a portrait in fully manual mode with a tripod and flash

This photography is performed as follows:

  • Installing the camera on a tripod
  • We select the manual shooting mode on the camera and select the exposure to study the background or background.
  • We select the flash power to sufficiently illuminate the person in the foreground.
  • Turn on slow rear curtain sync mode
  • Set the timer on the camera and press the shutter on the camera.

The flash should not be overly powerful. We just need to highlight the person without visually tearing him away from the background too much. You can find a description of how to turn on the slow sync mode on your camera in its instructions.

This is the most effective and effective way photography at night, which guarantees a high-quality night portrait of a person without blur, movement and a low level of digital noise due to the absence of the need to raise the ISO.

It is useless to combine high ISO, flash and a tripod, because in their essence they all contradict each other.

In the tradition of the photoblog, about the photograph from the article:

This is one of the first pictures I took at night. Photography was carried out late at night in a fully manual mode of the camera without flash or tripod.

I compensated for the lack of a tripod by placing the camera on some kind of fence. It’s not as convenient as with a tripod, but the camera’s motionlessness during shooting was ensured and, therefore, there was no need to raise the ISO when shooting.

The selection of exposure allowed us to get detailed lunar lighting on the mountains in the very background. By the way, this elaboration confuses inexperienced photographers so much that they mistake this line of mountains for some kind of defect in the image processing.

Using a slow shutter speed blurred the surface of the water, but I chose it in such a way that I still retained the small ripples of the waves in the water.

Bonus for those who have read this far. Notice that all the lights in the photo have elongated rays, like stars.

A similar effect can be obtained by using a closed aperture, i.e. The aperture number is in the range of 12-16, and the further you close the aperture, the more the rays will be stretched.

Overall, it turned out quite good interesting photo, taken at night. So romantic.

A photographer is an artist, but he paints not with paints and brushes, but with light and shadow. And in a situation where there is not enough lighting, you need to be able to work with lighting equipment or set the camera settings correctly. What should you do if the flash spoils the frame, or if you don’t have enough experience in arranging pulsed light? Some simple tips will help you shoot indoors in low light conditions.

Do you need a built-in flash?

Set aside the built-in flash for street photography; there are several good reasons to turn it off:

  • When fired, the flash creates a powerful, sharp stream of light perpendicular to the lens, which can lead to the formation of unnecessary glare on the surface of the photographed object. In some indoor environments, such as during sporting events, the use of flash is prohibited to avoid distracting players. This also applies to working with animals, filming theatrical performances, concerts;

    On a transparent surface, on the glass of museum exhibits or paintings, an on-camera flash creates a large white spot, greatly spoils the frame. This includes shooting through windows and reflected images;

    The flash creates overexposed and heavily darkened areas in the image due to the directional light flux. You can point the flash at a reflector, background, or ceiling to create volume, but other techniques are better. If the ceiling and walls are not white, then the photo will have colored highlights, which are then difficult for the editor to remove.

Basic Settings

Experienced photographers know how to set up their camera in low light levels. You will need manual adjustment and 3 parameters, changing which you can get a picture without noise and light, even in a dark room. These are photosensitivity, or ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

Let's take a closer look.

Light sensitivity, or ISO, is the sensitivity of the matrix to light that enters through the aperture; by increasing it, you can significantly improve the picture when there is little light in the room. But as ISO increases, color noise increases, which can spoil a beautiful shot. In this case, adjusting photosensitivity is a balance between illumination and image clarity. Modern cameras have sensitivity indicators:

  • ISO 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600.

Almost every camera model has an ISO Auto mode, with which you set the range, and the camera already selects best option photosensitivity. This option is suitable for inexperienced photographers; you can then see in the image what value was taken and evaluate the results obtained. IN dark room The amount of light entering the matrix can be adjusted by shutter speed.

The shutter speed is also set manually and will greatly depend on what you are shooting. If this is movement (a sports competition or what is happening on stage), then the shutter speed should be as low as possible for the image to be clear. The indicator in this case will be from 1/200 and lower, and if there is little lighting and there is movement, then 1/60 - 1/100 is the best option.

If you combine shutter speed and light sensitivity in different combinations, try them in practice, you can get good pictures, even with a lack of light in the room.

At a high shutter speed, holding the camera perfectly level and shooting handheld is problematic. You will need a tripod that will fix the camera and prevent the frame from shaking. But shooting people from a tripod, and indeed movement in general, is impractical, since the dynamics will be lost.

If the mechanism for setting and selecting shutter speed is complicated and raises doubts, you can trust the equipment to do it itself. Set the automatic mode and trust the camera, with the correct ISO and aperture selected, you can not lose quality.

  • Diaphragm– an indicator showing the degree to which the aperture curtains are opened to allow light to pass through to the matrix.

For filming in a dark room, you will also need a fast lens, then you can play with the aperture and get high quality images.

To indicate the degree of opening of the curtains, the indicator f - coefficient was chosen. It looks like this – f 2.0, f 3.5. The higher the number, the more closed the aperture.

A high aperture (maximum aperture) is used to emphasize the background, making the image darker. It is better to use this option for shooting landscapes. But for portrait or subject photography, the aperture should be opened as wide as possible. Then the background will be a little blurred, foreground sharper, and the photo itself is lighter.

The photographer's job is to select optimal ratio parameters of aperture, shutter speed, focal length and ISO and depends on the specific case. You have to select everything on the spot, taking shot after shot, checking what you get. An experienced photographer can already see on the camera display whether the picture will be light or dark, whether there is a possibility of light exposure, and so on.

So, if there is a need to shoot in rooms with limited light, what points need to be taken into account to obtain the desired and acceptable result.

  • First– shoot in RAV, then “terrible” noises and defects during shooting can be corrected in the editor during processing. Graininess in photographs is normal. the right amount. Look for a balance between sharpness and lightness.

    Second, as the ISO increases, the noise also increases, find the line where there is already enough light, but the quality has not yet decreased. Here you just need to shoot and see what happens.

    Third, use the automatic white balance mode; if you shoot in RAV, you can adjust it in a graphics editor.

    Fourth– use manual focusing, this will make it easier to find the desired ratio of settings and parameters. If you don't have the option to zoom, just move closer to your subject, this will help increase sharpness without changing the settings.

    Fifth– every camera has night shooting modes, sometimes you can use their help. The essence of night mode is to find the lightest area and focus on it. This threatens to overexpose the face and make the background too dark.

    Sixth– sometimes it’s impossible without a flash, then you need to use it as carefully as possible. In this case, not a built-in flash is used, but an off-camera flash, which can be moved away from the subject and directed in the desired direction to produce reflected light. Stock up on reflectors - this great option for portraits and subject photography, they perfectly scatter the direct beam. This way you can highlight the background, or vice versa, the model. By changing the pulse power, you can highlight or darken the image, if necessary.

  • Seventh, choose equipment and shooting modes for the event. Shooting indoors at a wedding, in a disco bar, where there are a lot of people and they are moving quickly, requires the use of a wide-angle lens. With the ISO set to the highest possible, it is better to get noise than color bands or darkened faces in the finished image.

    And the most main advice – don’t be afraid to try, tweak and experiment. This is the job of a photographer; sometimes you need to take several hundred frames to get the one you need. Come up with options, there are no clear rules, set your own rules.

Histogram on the camera screen. What is it for?

If the picture on the camera display turns out good in all respects, this does not mean that it will look the same on the monitor screen. Cameras have a convenient feature - viewing a histogram to determine balance. On the histogram you can immediately determine whether there are overexposed or black areas and adjust the camera settings.

How does a histogram work?

The camera sorts all image pixels by shade and distributes them into a diagram from absolutely black to absolutely white. A normal image has more color pixels, which is what you should strive for during the shooting process.

An ideal picture, or one close to ideal, is a smooth hill on the histogram; a fall in one direction indicates incorrect settings and threatens a loss of image quality. Absolutely black and absolutely white areas do not carry color information and cannot be corrected during processing.

How to shoot in a dark room?

For example, the stage of selecting equipment has already been completed. To get started, you should set the shutter speed to the maximum value at which there is no loss of image quality.

Most often, this parameter depends on the focal length in inverse proportion - if the focal length is 80 mm, then first take a shutter speed of 1/80. When these settings are set to maximum, you can adjust exposure using ISO sensitivity.

We set ISO, look for its optimal option, or select the automatic setting option. Then the camera will choose the indicator for you. If the photo turns out dark, then increase the ISO and increase the exposure time, then (when using a tripod) the photos will be brighter.

If reducing the noise level leads to a loss of quality of the entire image, you can leave it a little, in reasonable quantities - it’s not a big deal. Especially when shooting in RAV and post-processing images.

It is also worth highlighting the color temperature of all lighting fixtures in the room. Fluorescent lamps give out a red or greenish tint, absolutely any color can come from the window, incandescent lamps give out yellow. All this is mixed and an unexpected result may result. The flash, in this case, is as close as possible to pure white light.

Mixing shades can lead to distortion of the color balance, which cannot always be corrected in graphic editors.

What can you do here? A test shot is taken without using a flash, the shade is assessed and a filter of that color is added. Required colors– these are red, yellow and green, they should be very light. Most often, so-called gel filters or a film of suitable light are used.

Examples of low light situations

Shooting moving objects in a dimly lit room without a flash is not an easy task, even for very experienced photographers. And for a beginner it’s almost a nightmare. Subjects? These could be children in the room, athletes in the hall, dancers on the dance floor, guests at a wedding, actors on stage.

If it is possible to get a small amount of natural light, it’s good - we move the children to the window and the dancers under bright light from lamps or spotlights. And we try to extract the maximum from the source.

You need to focus on the aperture, so set the focus to automatic mode. We take the first parameters:

  • ISO– 400, let’s try aperture by 4 and looking optimal shutter speed, usually 1/60 -1/20s, set to 1/80s.

We remember the results obtained, and manual mode We expose them, and we set the focus ourselves, without the help of a camera. When using an on-camera flash, when you definitely cannot do without equipment, do not point it at the model, preferably at the ceiling.

Other examples

Another example, a street landscape at night, sparse lanterns and window light

To get high-quality photos, you will need a tripod and the ability to set up a camera.

We exhibit:

  • Minimum ISO-100, choose aperture 4, 8 or 11 and start playing with shutter speed. It is better to choose automatic focus so as not to be distracted by it during selection; this is the only way to get the desired frames.

When shooting at night, you need to do tests at shutter speeds from 2 to 60 seconds, step by step, in 5-second increments. This is how you find the optimal shutter speed for a specific time of day and landscape.

The most best time for filming the night sky - the first half hour after sunset, there is still enough illumination from the sky and from light sources on the street.

To sum it up, we can say that an experienced photographer can shoot in any conditions, in minimal light or in bright light. You only need to know the rules and features of your camera. By changing the parameters of shutter speed, sensor sensitivity, aperture and focus, you can create excellent shots even in a dim room.

Position your subject near a window so it will receive more natural light. As a result, you will get beautiful images with soft lighting without harsh shadows. Typically, shooting at natural light produces more attractive photos than bright studio equipment.

Use a reflector

A reflector is invaluable for filling in shadows on faces. Position it with opposite side your subject, in relation to the window, at approximately the level of the body, so that the light is reflected on the face, slightly below.

Fast lens

A focal length of about 85mm is a classic option for shooting portraits. Wide-angle lenses can distort facial features when shooting close-up, while telephoto lenses are impractical. If you're using inexpensive DSLR cameras, using a fast lens like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 will give you an effective focal length of 80mm and a nice large aperture to let in plenty of light.

Using a large aperture

When shooting indoors, set the aperture priority mode and select great value aperture number (for example, f/2.8 or higher). Not only will this allow you to take good, bright images in low light conditions, but it will also give you a shallow depth of field that will help your subject stand out from the background.

High ISO

When shooting indoors, it is very important to choose the right shutter speed. So, if you are working at a focal length of 85mm, then set the shutter speed to 1/100 sec, or even less (faster). Taking portrait photography in low light conditions will require you to set the sensitivity to high, meaning you will need to work at values ​​around ISO 800 or 1600. This combination will bring the most optimal and good results. Of course, as you increase your ISO, your images will become grainier.
Thanks to the development of photographic technology and graphic editors, noise in photographs can be removed. When choosing between grainy and blurry images, keep in mind that a small amount of noise is much preferable to a blurry frame.

Focus on the eyes

When photographing a portrait of a person, always follow his eyes. The camera's focus should be on them. Switch your camera to single focus point focus mode. At the same time, when photographing a portrait, you should use a non-central focusing point, as this can lead to the eyes not being clear enough, and the nose, on the contrary, being clear and sharp.

Find a model

It goes without saying that some people are more photogenic than others, so maybe it would be better to work with professional model, or at least with a girl who knows the basics of posing and photography. Very often, beginning models will be happy to work with a beginning photographer on TFP terms. You can easily find those interested on all kinds of photographic forums and websites.

Mutual understanding between model and photographer

You'll get great photos if you actually find common language with your model. Mutual understanding and clear definition of tasks make the work process more fruitful. For your part, you must explain to the model the topic of the shooting and say what you expect from the work. You may need to show her several poses or movements that would help reveal the image. Throughout the photo shoot, keep track of what kind of pictures you get - this way you will have a chance to correct your own mistakes and correct the model’s work.

Good post-processing

Image processing in Photoshop can make even not the most successful shots better. Remember that in addition to the usual adjustments to color balance, brightness and contrast, you must do a good and high-quality retouching. You have the power to make your skin smooth, your eyes brighter, and your smile sparkling. To do this, it is best to use standard tools, masks and selective correction. Make sure that the retouching is done in moderation, do not overdo it and maintain the naturalness of your model.

Black and white photo

Portraits are often done in black and white. Thus, the viewer is not distracted by colorful clothes or a flashy background, paying attention to the person in the frame. Black and white photography is a great way to convey a person's character and emotions. Use monochrome images when appropriate.

We will try to consider today program modes shooting with a compact camera entry level or ultrazoom. Let us immediately make a reservation that this article is more intended for those who have recently picked up a camera and delve into complex discussions about interchangeable optics DSLRs, including ISO yet, I don’t intend to. This information will be useful for those who have a point-and-shoot camera with variable settings, a switchable flash, and want to photograph an unusual evening view, a portrait or a still life by candlelight in a dark room.

The goal is to help a beginner who has an entry-level budget compact camera learn how to take interesting, beautiful photographs in the dark (more precisely, in low light conditions) without a flash. Candlelight photography is offered as an example: take photographs in low light, where there is little light, but interesting objects , probably everyone who has ever held a camera wanted it.

Actually, the article is for those who have it on their desk beautiful bouquet and who, perhaps for the first time, was dissatisfied with how the photo turned out with flash. Or perhaps you have a beautiful burning candle, the contemplation of which directs your thoughts to the idea that it would be nice to shoot a beautiful still life or even a portrait in soft lighting.

One way or another, you have a point-and-shoot camera with a set of subject programs. You need to photograph the subject in the dark, or at least in low light, such as a candlelit subject.

First let's look at large selection subject programs intended for evening shooting. They are often called differently in different cameras, but are based on similar principles.
So what are they called?

Night landscape(often the moon and stars icon) - on most compact cameras allows you to turn off the flash.

Night portrait(often a person icon, stars above it) Be careful, night portraits most often involve the use of flash along with a long shutter speed. This mode is designed to photograph a person with a background - a landscape, the night sky, car headlights on the road. Therefore, a flash is used for the foreground - otherwise the person’s face will be blurred. But for the background under such shooting conditions, clarity is not so important.
Portrait by candlelight (candle icon, respectively) Allows you to turn off the flash. Reproduces the color of objects photographed by candlelight. That is, there will be a warm range.

Smart mode- recognizes what you are filming and selects the most suitable one from all subject programs. Also allows you to turn off the flash.

Auto- works differently in different cameras. For most compact cameras, you can turn off the flash - for this there is a button with a crossed out lightning flash, shoot in automatic mode - it will adjust for shooting in low light conditions. No other settings are provided.

P- program mode close to automatic. You can change the white balance and iso value. Even if it’s difficult for you to figure it out now, you can still safely set this setting - it’s very simple, it will work no worse than the automatic one without your participation.

And finally, hooray! manual setting- the same fully manual mode that we will try to learn how to use for shooting in the dark.
This mode is designated M - manual, manual mode, here everything is in the power of the photographer, you set the shutter speed and aperture of the camera yourself. But the camera will tell you a lot...

Let's turn off the flash. This time. Let's find something that can replace a tripod for us at first. If you have a tripod, please use it. There is no way to take clear pictures in the dark, when there is little light, without a tripod. However, maybe, but only in one case, we will consider it separately.

Let's set one of the night shooting modes. These are automatic modes. They can be used for photography in the dark, but there is only one “but” - you need a tripod. Otherwise everything will be blurry.

So, let's pull out a dark corner and place a still life there. We will make the shooting conditions difficult, and even by candlelight. It’s absolutely impossible to read in such a dark place, but let’s try to take photographs. Where are our story programs? select one by one:

Night landscape
Although we do not have a landscape, but a still life, we will still photograph it in this mode.

Quite good, but a bit dark. It's almost impossible to see what's around.
But there is little noise - the photo is not full of colorful spots, even if you enlarge the picture.
Let's look at the values ​​- shutter speed 1/2 second, ISO 200. All this was set for us by the program.
Now let’s photograph the same scene in an equally dark room using the

Portrait by candlelight

It looks very similar to the previous photo (equally dark), but the values ​​are different: the shutter speed here is 3 seconds, and ISO 100. If you were photographing people, they would most likely turn out self-imposed - it’s too long - 3 seconds. Let me remind you again that all these settings are made by the camera as part of the subject program. In any case, you can’t go without a tripod.

Don't believe me? Here you go: the same photo without a tripod

Let's see what else we have.

Smart mode Not available in all cameras. It differs in that you can shoot without a tripod in poor lighting. But, unfortunately, not so bad. I repeat, you can’t do this without a tripod; there will be a lot of noise. For example, let's compare two shots in fully automatic mode.

One was taken with a tripod, and the other hand-held. a “bad” photo has an iso (what is responsible for noise) of 800, while a “good” photo has only 200. Guess which photo has a longer shutter speed? That's right, the "good" one. This is about shooting in the dark without a tripod or flash and getting clear shots. Unfortunately, this is only possible due to ISO, and you can see for yourself what a rough, noisy photo you get.

The P-program mode in this case behaved the same as the others; there was no visible difference.

M - manual manual mode

Here we have the brightest image. ISO 100, shutter speed 2 seconds. Here we set it all up ourselves, with our own hands, using the prompts on the camera.

Notice the scale below. The correct (relatively) exposure for this photo will be when the yellow cursor moves from the -2 mark to the 0 mark.
To do this, you need to use the buttons on the camera (now read the instructions for your camera!) to change the shutter speed and aperture values ​​(they are shown in red in the picture) Rule one: if you want beautiful photo- Even in low light conditions, try to shoot without flash.

Rule two: you need a tripod. There is no way to take pictures in the dark without it. Neither portraits nor landscapes. If there is not enough light, you need a tripod!

Rule three - watch out for noise, control ISO. Well, if you haven’t figured it out, then forget it for a while - it will remind you of itself with the effect of photographs sprinkled with sand, multi-colored stains on the photograph. Don't be alarmed, just try to reduce it.
Even for dark photographs you can’t set ISO more than 400, it will be ugly. However, remember that if you need to photograph in a dark room, or simply in poor light, and you do not have a tripod, a high ISO value is one of two options for getting a photo. The second option is a flash.

Shooting indoors is always quite personal. Some people need to beautifully photograph a child under one year old, and some need to photograph wrestling at competitions. With all the variety of tasks, I will take upon myself the responsibility to divide them into two groups: with and without flash. Let me make a reservation right away that hereinafter “flash” is an external electronic flash attached to the camera.

Let's start with the case when there is no outbreak

This case will probably be the most frequent and we will consider it in more detail. There may not be an outbreak for various reasons. You feel sorry for the money for it, you forgot the flash at home, the batteries of the flash are dead, etc...
First of all, we inspect the shooting location. The camera's exposure meter, and with the advent of experience and eyes, allows you to determine where the light comes from into the room. There are few options here either - either a window or lamps. In fact, both options border on reality. Therefore, we will, as they say, get out of the situation. Most often, you don’t have to rely on lamps – unless, of course, they are special illuminators. The best we can get out of artificial lighting This is the background light. It is undesirable to simultaneously illuminate the plot-important part with lamps and daylight from the window. If it is possible to somehow move the subject closer to the window, then you need to do this as much as possible. I will immediately simulate real situations.

For example, you are filming infant. You need to persuade parents to move the crib or changing table to the window. If you are a parent yourself, then you don’t need to persuade anyone. The very fact of moving towards something bright will surprise the baby and evoke bright emotions. What is expected of you is photographs, not highly artistic highlighting of the ear or eye... I'm talking about depth of field. Fast lenses are very good, but in our case open holes 1.4-1.8-2-2.8 are of limited use. I can already see how they quote the last sentence and attach amazing pictures at aperture 1.2.,))) so let me remind you that we have a circle for beginners here and our goal is technically perfect pictures. So, our working aperture is 4. We put the camera in aperture priority mode. The aperture itself is set to 4. Sensitivity to start with ISO400. We take the first measurement of the child's face. To do this, we bring the camera as close as possible to the baby’s face and, without waiting for autofocus to catch, look at the suggested shutter speed. Well, what's there? If your camera's light meter tells you something like 1/60s-1/125s, then everything is fine. In order not to lie, I went to the window: today is a cloudy day, at ISO400 and aperture 4, the exposure meter detects 1/80s. Now very important point!!! We switch the camera to manual “M” mode and set both the shutter speed and aperture, respectively 4 and 1/80, do not forget to check ISO 400. This is necessary first of all so that neither you nor the exposure meter (after all, in the background dark room) were not distracted during shooting.

Over time, with experience, you will reach the point that autofocus is also not needed for shooting, because it does not stick to where you point it and, most importantly, it steals time... and unique shots are wasted. But for now, shoot with autofocus! The main parameters are set, now shoot.

Afterwards, looking at the resulting photographs, you may feel that there is a catastrophic lack of light on one side of the object... Next time, and children are constantly being photographed, take a reflector with you to the shooting. I don’t encourage you to buy it ready-made; you will buy it yourself later. To begin with, you can make a reflector yourself. The base material is any - hardboard, foam board, plastic, figure it out for yourself, but don’t even think about buying this material in a store, a ready-made reflector costs 500 rubles, so for the lazy it’s easier to buy a branded one. The size of the reflector for illuminating an infant is at least 30x45. Now put a glue stick in your hands and aluminum foil. Foil for baking is sold in hardware stores; you can also oblige those with a sweet tooth not to throw away foil from chocolates. We place the reflector parallel to the window. If the baby is very small and lives on the lower level, then we simply attach the reflector to the lattice wall of the crib. At first glance, a useless idea with a reflector adds very little light... however, when viewing photographs, its benefit is difficult not to notice. So, the children were removed.

Sports photography in the hall.

Now the next example.
As requested - filming a fight in the gym. Let's start with the main thing - the task. If the task is to report from the site of a competition or training, then the result should be printed photographs or small previews for the club’s website. In both cases, we are quite satisfied with the sensitivity of ISO 800. We look around and look for a light source. Most often these are small windows at a height and light from fluorescent lamps. And most often, the proportion of fluorescent light is much larger.

In any case, if there is at least some kind of daylight, it should be used; if it is completely useless, then you just need to take it into account and not remove it in front of the windows. So, we found the shooting point and set ISO800. DOF is important, so again aperture 4 comes to our rescue. Now we are looking for someone in a gray T-shirt. The participants themselves are not suitable, because white kimanos (I apologize if I called them wrong) are not suitable for determining the exposure. If there is no one - neither in gray nor in green - then stick the exposure meter in someone’s face, in the end, in your own face... If it turns out to be something in the region of 1/60s, then that’s not bad. Not that good though. In wrestling sports there are moments, and these are precisely what are interesting in terms of logging, when participants freeze for a moment. Bowing before a fight, raising the hand of the winning judge... in general, if you are “in the know,” you probably know these moments yourself. So they will save us from lack of light.

A huge help will be provided, if not by a tripod, then by some kind of sports equipment such as a goat, a barrier for runners, and so on... look around. Well, if the measurements upset you and the shutter speed offered by the camera is 1/8-1/15, then only the dishonest “staging” method will help out. After training, you go to the organizer and say: “If you need photographs, then I ask the fighters to come back for photography.” The main thing here is not to screw it up, because everyone will be waiting for staged photos. Be sure to have a tripod or something to put the camera on. Ask the coach to put the guys in the brightest positions, warn everyone that the shutter speed is long. Loud: “Attention!” and after a second, gently release the shutter. Extra takes certainly won't hurt. Be sure to bring printed photographs to people, no matter how they turn out, otherwise no one will want to play theater with you later.

Flash photography

I'll start off harsh. It's great to shoot indoors with flash. There is usually a huge lack of light indoors and flash helps out. Everyone’s flashes are different; I won’t tell you how to use each model directly, but I’ll refer you to the instructions.

  • Do not puff “head-on”; this method is forgiven only in cases where the object is further than 6-8 meters... and then, by puffing “head-on” in this case, we are trying to squeeze all its power out of the flash. The problems that arise with a head-on flash are familiar to everyone - greasy highlights on the face, terrible shadows, red eyes... we see all this in pictures from point-and-shoot cameras. Don't turn your DSLR into a point-and-shoot camera. That is why you need to use the built-in flash in very rare cases.
  • At low (3m) white! ceilings, the best solution for family and everyday subjects it will rise upward. Walls as reflectors are, of course, also interesting... but they are rarely white and will definitely contribute to the color balance of the photo.
  • If you have an E-TTL automatic flash, you can fully rely on automatic flash. When shooting indoors, feel free to: shutter speed 1/200s, aperture depending on your idea, if the flash is powerful, then ISO100, all in manual “M” mode. And there is no need to fence anything in the “green zone” and priority modes!

An example from real indoor shooting. Problem: children in the room, evening, no light from the window. We set: ISO 100, aperture 5.6 (since it’s problematic to drive children into a very small depth of field), shutter speed 1/200s. The flash is aimed at white ceiling. Exposure metering is center-weighted.

All you have to do is remember to hold the camera level, and if you choose an overhead “children on the floor” angle, reorient the flash head towards the ceiling.
In general, the average amateur understands the flash quite quickly. And there are few questions on this topic.

Try it and everything will work out! Happy shooting!



 
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