HELP!!! Shooting in dark/low light without the flash

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DGN1984

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I am new to this forum and making my first ever post so first of all hello to everyone.

I have just purchased a Canon 450d xsi which I have only just started using in the last week or so. At this stage I am just getting familiar with the basics however, I am out and about in London tonight with the camera and would like some advice on shooting in the dark/low light without a flash.

How can I get decent pictures in dark/low light situations without a flash?

Any tips or advice would be really appreciated

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Danny
 
Hi Danny:wave:

Well depending on what you are shooting, if you are in low light you are going to need a tripod. This will enable you to use longer shutter speeds.

Or if you dont want to carry one about you need to look at ramping up the ISO though remember the higher you go the more "grainy" your pic will be.....

London however is full of light, even at night, so just try and pic what you are shooting accordingly......

Hope this helps :suspect:

S
 
Not much hope unless you use a tripod and shoot a still subject.

Turn the ISO up as high as it goes and bring the F stop down as much as possible, i.e ISO1000+ and F4.0. Not ideal as depth of field will be shallow and images will be a bit noisey (grainy) due to the high ISO.

If you can use a tripod then you can use long exposures, but this won't work if shooting people - unless they can stay VERY still!

You need to tell us waht you are shooting and where exactly.

Basically darker = harder = have to spend serious money to shoot flash-free, i.e top quality fast lenses and a top camera with great performance at high ISO levels.
 
Be creative. You don't need flash to take good shots in low light. Knowing what you're taking photos of would help as already said, but you can either slow the shutter speed down, increase the ISO or increase the aperture to get more light onto the sensor.

That said, you don't necessarily need a tripod either. Try resting the camera on a solid surface (wall etc), and press/hold the shutter release instead of stabbing it.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the responses, I don't have a tripod with me so I will take on board your advice and play around with things. I am just planning a bit of street photography, whatever I find interesting on my way around London although I'm primarily interested in photgraphing people.

Thanks again for the advice

Cheers

Danny

P.S Any London locations recommended for street/night photography?
 
You can still shoot people at night with a slow shutter speed and tripod in the right cicumstances. This is a shot at Canary Wharf, where i wanted to give the feeling of the Bankers rushing home on a Friday.

33xkilu.jpg
 
Also bare in mind if you don't carry a tripod you can some times improvise one. Look for walls, traffic bollards, fences. Remember to use the self timer so you don't jog the camera while it's exposing (especially if it's on something soft). And if you can take the shot a few times, helps to make sure you get a sharp one.
 
Merc said:
You can still shoot people at night with a slow shutter speed and tripod in the right cicumstances. This is a shot at Canary Wharf, where i wanted to give the feeling of the Bankers rushing home on a Friday.

33xkilu.jpg
Click to expand...

nice shot :), didnt you get security come out and try and tackle you down? lol


S:wave:
 
I do a bit of night stuff in London, I have a mini tripod thats about 20cm high, and can easily carry it attached to my camera in a shoulder bag or by hand. Also London it full of walls/bins/post boxes and other surface's to rest a camera on.

Saying that I was experimenting with hand held shots using an ISO of 800 the other night and the photo's wasn't that bad, not good enough to show but good enough for record shots.
 
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