Beginner Best settings advice for poor light and set up speed ..??

[shannensdaddy]

I recently went to a family christening and took a few picture that I was not completely happy with.
The location was badly lit , with a lot of shadow areas.
I am looking for advice on what mode and aperture setting are best advicable.
If I took a picture in manual and took the time to adjust the images were ok but
I did not really have time to do this . I am looking for best work practise may it be aperature mode and a
certain aparture. Advice on iso and white balance or auto white balance also.




regards

Shannensdaddy

 

[PaulButler]

No doubt you will get a variety of responses ... pick which suits

The way I approach this is to use aperture priority as usually I'm more concerned with controlling the DoF. I set the aperture and if the shutter speed is too low I'll increase the ISO until the shutter speed is acceptable. Some use Auto ISO and there is no doubt it works well and with later Nikon bodies it has some neat options. But for me I find I'm happier just tweaking it as needed and I've done it enough to be really quite quick at it. Also you usually only need to adjust it the once in the situation you were in. Of course if conditions change then adjust again. Auto ISO is probably best when the light varies dramatically and often.

What WB setting you use will to a large extent depend on whether you are shooting raw or jpeg. You have far less latitude to adjust WB with JPEG. I usually shoot raw for that reason, as WB can be adjusted in post without penalty in raw. If shooting WB you can set a custom WB by using a grey card - but be warned not all grey cards are created equal (some aren't neutral grey @ 18%). The other advantage to raw is that you will have more data to play with when using noise reduction techniques on high ISO images. Needless to say I'd advise using raw in these situations

It is a bit of a cliche but it is better to get a well focused noisy shot than a blurred noise free one - in other words use whatever ISO you need to get the shutter speed you need! I will only open the aperture if even with stupid high iso I still can't get the shutter speed I want, but this is rare in my case (don't shoot much action stuff).

Shooting technique, as in how steady you are, can help too - provided the subject allows slower speeds (as does VR/IS ...).

 

[shannensdaddy]

Thanks Paul..

 

[Phil V]

I agree with all of what Paul said.

I'd ask about your kit, because some kit is better than others for these conditions. For instance, I'd use auto ISO on my 6d, and be happy with the results from a fixed lower SS of 1/250. I also have a selection of fast lenses.

Getting clean shots is quite easy with a newer camera, high ISO and fast lenses, getting the WB right (even in post) can be tricky with some church lighting. That'll take patience in post, but hopefully you'll be able to batch process once you've got it right once.

The other issue of course is learning to see the crap light, shooting in the good stuff. But sometimes you have to deal with what you're faced with, and not having control, and not being allowed flash means sometimes we need to PP carefully, (lifting shadows, dropping highlights to clean the image)