HowTo > Introduction to Photographing in low light

[jaylward]

If you can see it, you can photograph it. As long as there is enough light to illuminate your subject — even if it’s very dim — you’ll be able to get your shot.

Here is a lovely twilight setting, let's look at ways to capture the best images and take advantage of available light.

Don't necessarily use a flash
An electronic flash provides plenty of light but the result (below) can look unnatural with hard shadows. The evening light is rendered much too dark.

Increase the light getting into your photo

Compared  to taking photos in a well-lit scene, there are three ways of compensating in low-light situations.  You may need to take your camera out of automatic mode in order to control these settings.  Although each will help you get a great low-light photo, each has other potential effects so it's best to balance their use. 

• Increase the exposure time/ slow down shutter speed: the longer the shutter is open, the more light can get in. A longer exposure can result in blurry photos, so you may want to use a tripod or support your arms on a table, tree, lamp-post etc. Steady the camera against the object and press the button gently to take the photo. Sometimes it helps to hold your breath until the photo is taken. Sony cameras have a feature called Steady Shot Inside to help keep photos sharp.

• Use a wider aperture:  If possible, use a wide-angle setting or open the aperture of the lens when taking the photo. Compared  to a telephoto setting, much more light will be able to come through the lens.  This will affect how much of the photo can be in focus.

• Increase the ISO: Use High Sensitivity mode (on Cyber-Shot cameras) or increase the ISO setting to 400, 800 etc (on manual cameras). This setting controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor of the camera and is recorded in the photo.  On some cameras this can increase the amount of noise--coloured speckles where there shouldn't be any.  Sony cameras have extra sensitive sensors  so you can increase the ISO more than on other cameras without a noticeable effect.

Try combining these setting changes and techniques to improve your low-light photography.