Low light conditions

[just_dave]

I am sorry if this has been asked a million time before but the search function doe not appear to be working?

I am going to a Christmas carol service tonight at the other halfs yoga club (different I know) and want to take my camera but have not done a massive amount of low light photography it is more than likely going to be outdoors and round a camp fire so please could someone give me some tips on getting dome good shots.

If it helps I have a Canon 350d, an 18-55mm kit lens and a good ol' Nifty Fifty.

Thanks in advance

 

[Anorakus]

Good man.. I'm really into available light photography. I used to do a fair bit when I used film, but digital has made it much easier to get good results.

You'll want a really wide aperture - f/2.8 or bigger - so use the nifty fifty. Shoot wide open, set the ISO as high as it will go without making the pics unusably noisy, and use manual mode as metering will be all over the place with naked flames and point light sources. Do a few test shots to get the right exposure.

You should be able to go down to around 1/40 sec handheld if you're careful.

Shoot in RAW, and sort out the white balance in post-production. You need to dial in at least a tungsten setting, but don't overdo it as you'll want a bit of warmth in the light from the flames.

Post the results!!

A.

 

[AliB]

Spot on what I would do technically. The only thing I can add to that is shooting technique. You can shoot some quite low shutter speeds hand held with a bit of practice so get the right hold on the camera with left hand under the lens supporting the camera and lens. Elbows in and try to time your breathing so you can shoot at the end of an exhale. It quite remarkable what a stable platform you can be

Don't neglect depth of field considerations in terms of subject distance. The closer you are to your subject the less depth of field you have so maintain a reasonable DOF by changing your camera to subject distance, i.e step back a bit

Have fun and keep warm

 

[just_dave]

Thanks guys, I will post the results tomorrow sometime!

 

[Arkady]

This was taken a couple of weeks ago in just the conditions you describe - to be honest I probably wouldn't have bothered with this last year when I was using the D2x bodies...
Another example of better equipment making a greater range of subjects possible...