Comments on: Tips for Shooting in Low Light, No Flash

By: Ivan

Ivan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:51:45 +0000

mcpactions.com - da best. Keep it going! Ivan

By: Julie McCullough

Julie McCullough — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:41:38 +0000

Thank you for the comments and questions… in regards to ‘f’ and ‘a’ — the word OPEN should be CLOSE, I apologize for the confusion and my typo there. What I’m trying to say there is if you wanted your aperture at f/22 in low light (e.g. – to create a starburst) then you would want to either increase your ISO or slow down your shutter speed – this increases the amount of light coming into the sensor. You do get slightly different effects when you change one or the other – like the starburst effect or the increase of noise. I hope that clarifies the questions, if not you can always email me directly.

Also, you can do low light shooting with a 50d, we shot these events with both cameras but realize you do get more noise on the 50d. My husband does most of his astrophotography with the 30d and there is noise but we can eliminate a good portion through post processing.

Thanks!

By: Alexa

Alexa — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:19:23 +0000

Oh, and I agree, a. and f. don’t make any sense! I’m assuming you meant close your aperture.

By: Alexa

Alexa — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:17:15 +0000

Great post. Although, a bit discouraging… I suppose I truly do need a full frame to shoot low light without flash. It is doable with a 50d, but not in extremely low light. I need to keep saving for the 5d!!

By: Cindi

Cindi — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:36:18 +0000

I am with Brendan, confused about several points in the a to f section. Increasing your aperture (lower number) gives you more light, so I thought you could then use a lower ISO, plus increasing light automatically makes you need a higher/faster shutterspeed. Isn’t it when you want a smaller aperture but still want a fairly high shutterspeed to handhold or stop movement that the need arises for higher ISOs?
I get so easily confused about all of the options when changing ISO, I haven’t shot that way enough yet. I just got a full frame sensor camera and am really looking forward to shooting in low light situations so this is a very timely post.

By: Jeannine

Jeannine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:10:26 +0000

Great subject to cover so close to Christmas and during this time in General. Thank you.

By: Kelly Green

Kelly Green — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:51:11 +0000

great post, I am about to shoot an afternoon wedding on Saturday. It’s the middle of winter here in England and the light starts to fade around 3pm. I hate using flash, so these tips have come just at the right time.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:52:32 +0000

What are you talking about in point f ?

“f. To open up your aperture you need to do one or both of the following – increase your ISO and/or decrease your shutter speed.”

If you open your aperture, you are letting in more light, so you don’t need to increase your ISO (which would make your sensor more light sensitive) or decrease you shutter speed (which will let in more light)

All three of the proposed steps will increase light.

By: Tips for Shooting in Low Light, No Flash

Tips for Shooting in Low Light, No Flash — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:25:04 +0000

[...] 1 votes vote Tips for Shooting in Low Light, No Flash Thank you to Julie McCullough of M Studios Photography for this Guest Post on Shooting in Low [...]

By: Jillian Roe

Jillian Roe — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:44:00 +0000

This is great information but tough to acheive with a canon rebel….the iso is just not strong enough:( good to know when I upgrade soon