Most photographers, novice and professional tend to shy away from low light photography. But you can learn to take amazing pictures in low light conditions if you stick with a few tried and true methods that have worked for many people through the years. I won’t bog you down with a lot of instructions, just some simple and to the point steps that I hope will be beneficial to you when taking low light, no flash photos.
I have been a photographer for over 15 years and as a beginner I only wanted to take pictures outside on sunny, beautiful days. We all know that will only take you so far, so I did a few things that helped me take great pictures in low light conditions. First, I went back to what I was taught in my photography classes on lighting, I also studied my camera and learned how to use the settings in different lighting situations.
This list is not all-inclusive, just a few that have worked for me and hopefully they will work for you too. The most important piece of information I can give you is to know your camera and the features that are available to you, and practice, practice, practice. Here goes.
Flip the switch
This may seem like a no brainier, but lots of people forget to just flip the light switch on. Low light photography doesn’t mean no light photography. If the lights are just turned down low, and if possible turn the lights to full power. To get the sharpest images possible, try to incorporate as much light as you can. Never position your primary light source behind your subject, unless your are trying to create a silhouette photograph. Use whatever alternative light source available.
Slow shutter speeds
A long exposure time will allow more light in. When using a slower shutter speed, make sure you keep the camera as still as possible to avoid camera shake. Everyone has had a blurry picture or two. Using a tripod or mono pod along with your camera’s image stabilization feature should help eliminate this problem so that you can concentrate on taking beautiful indoors low light pictures.
ISO
Adjusting the ISO on your camera determines how sensitive your camera’s image sensor is to light. Increase ISO to 400 or 800, this will allow more light to reach the camera’s sensor.
Balance
Photos taken in low light can result in your images lacking detail and color, having a yellow, orange, or blue shade to them or looking washed out. That’s where adjusting the white balance comes into play. Customize your camera’s white balance and your camera will capture colors as accurately as possible.
Aperture
Aperture determines how much light your camera’s image sensor allows in. A wide aperture, which is indicated by a small f-stop number, can aid you greatly in capturing images in low light situations.
RAW or JPG
Shoot in RAW. This will create high quality, very sharp images. Shooting in RAW takes more time to process, but the end result will be stunning images that everyone will love.
Faster lens
Use a fast lens. Fast lenses are crucial for low light photography. A fast lens has a small f-stop number (wide aperture), typically f/1.4, f/1.8, or f/2.8, which is helpful because it allows a camera to take in more light; slower lenses typically have a maximum aperture of f/3.5 or f/4.5. A wider aperture also allows for a faster shutter speed, which results in minimal camera shake and sharper images.
Using a good photo editing software is another tool that will help to enhance photos taken in low light conditions. Which software you choose is up to you. There are plenty of great photo-editing software on the market today. Do a little research to find what works best for you. That’s all I have to say about that.
Practice makes perfect and taking low light photos is no exception. Experiment in different low light situations and with the different settings on your camera.
Photography is an art that can be mastered over time. As stated in the beginning, knowing how your camera operates in the first step in taking great low light, no flash images.
I told you I would not bog you down with a lot of instructions. I know you have things to do, like taking low light, no flash photos. So what are you waiting for? Grab your camera and turn the lights down.
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