Capturing the image of a local landmark by night or the smiling face of a child under a Christmas tree is not just the privilege of professional photographers. Beginning photographers, too, can learn the techniques for using basic equipment to create beautiful photos in low light situations.
A child blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, a brilliant burst of fireworks, a goal scored at an evening soccer match—all of these are perfect moments for available light photography. By learning the essential techniques for photographing in low light, even beginning photographers can capture these images using basic photography equipment.
Camera and Settings
Because low light photography requires settings not programmed into most consumer cameras, a camera with manual settings is preferable. Point-and-shoot cameras and automatic-only settings won’t allow you the control needed for unusual lighting conditions. For convenience, preset your camera settings before you go out on the shoot. If your camera offers automatic white balance, turn this function off to avoid washing out the rich hues that low-light settings naturally create. If possible, take the first photo before dark using auto-focus. You can then switch to manual focus, yet you’ll still have a focus setting to return to if your camera becomes confused by the lack of light.
Even if you have a light meter, unless you already have a good sense of how it reacts in a variety of lighting conditions, it’s better to ignore what the meter advises. In most low light scenes, there will be a high degree of contrast between the bright and the dark areas, which can mislead the meter into suggesting inaccurate exposures.
In available light photography, exposure times will be longer than in common daylight photography. These long exposure times are achieved by using the B setting, marked by the letter "B" after the longest fixed exposure time on your camera. This setting allows the shutter to stay open as long as the shutter button is pressed.
Lenses
Faster lenses—those with very wide maximum apertures such as F2.8 or F1.8—are preferable for low light photography because they allow the use of a faster shutter speed with a smaller aperture. If you’ll be photographing anything that moves, this faster shutter speed will prevent blur. In addition, with digital cameras, the shorter the exposure time, the less electronic image noise the camera will create and the sharper the image will be.
Fast lenses aren’t cheap, though, so if your budget won’t allow you to buy or rent one, image-stabilizers are another option. These systems compensate for camera shake and allow hand-held shots at several shutter speeds slower than would otherwise be possible. Unless you’re working with a digital camera that has a built-in image stabilization system, you’ll need an image stabilizer lens. Canon stabilization lenses are marked with "IS" (image stabilizer), Nikon stabilization lenses are marked with "VR" (vibration reduction), and other manufactures also produce lenses with stabilization systems. If neither of these solutions is an option for you, just remember that if you’re holding the camera in your hand, you can avoid getting a blurred image by using a shutter speed that’s at least the inverse of the focal length of the lens. For example, with a 50mm lens, you’ll need a shutter speed of at least 1/50 to get a clear hand-held shot. With any shutter speed slower than this, you’ll need a tripod or other camera support.
Film
Although using a fast-speed film might sound logical, medium- and slow-speed films are preferred because, even though fast films have improved over the years, slower films still produce sharper images. As a rule, use the slowest speed you can use with the light and the lens you have. If you don’t have a fast lens to compensate for the slow film speed, use a tripod and even longer exposure times.
In normal daylight conditions, the rule is that the less light there is available, the longer the exposure time you’ll need. By this logic, if you want a smaller aperture that will increase the depth of field but let in less light, you’d need a longer exposure time. With most films, this rule holds true down to 1/4th of a second. With any exposure longer than that, especially those longer than 1 or 2 seconds, film’s sensitivity to light changes. This change is known as reciprocity failure.
With black and white film, reciprocity failure typically causes underexposed, low-contrast images. With color films, however, reciprocity failure usually appears as a color shift. To compensate for reciprocity failure, you can use a wider lens aperture or, if a particular lens aperture is critital to the success of the photo, a longer exposure time than the reciprocity law would normally require. Each manufacture’s line of film reacts differently, but the films within one manufacture’s line usually react the same as others in that line. This means that some brands of film might render warmer tones, while others will render cooler tones. Information about how reciprocity failure will affect a certain brand of film can be found on the film’s package or the manufacture’s Web site.
Using flash
In a low light setting, using flash effectively can be tricky. Flash will dilute the appearance of light sources such as candles or Christmas lights. On-camera flash units don’t reach very far in front of the camera and may only serve to overexpose the foreground while casting people and objects in the background as nothing but silhouettes.
However, flash can be useful when the available light isn’t sufficient to illuminate the subject of your picture. For example, the candles on a birthday cake are not going to be enough to light the smiling face of the birthday boy or girl. In this case, flash can be used, but should be aimed to reflect off the walls or ceiling instead of directly at the subject.
Photographing a subject in front of bright lights can also be difficult. Using flash will illuminate the subject in the foreground, but wash out the lights. If you don’t use flash, the lights will show up, but the foreground will be underexposed. Some point-and-shoot cameras provide a special setting, typically marked by a figure of a person in front of a star, designed for this situation. This setting fires the flash while also holding the shutter open long enough to record the lights behind the subject. If your camera lacks this setting, try to take your outdoor low light shots while there’s still some light left in the sky.
Accessories
Human hands cannot hold still for longer than 1/30th of a second, yet many low light shots require exposure times of several seconds. Because of this, for any exposure time longer than 1/30th of a second, a camera support is essential to prevent the camera from shaking and recording blurry images. While a tripod is the common solution, a monopod—a one-legged camera support—is another option. If you haven’t got a tripod or monopod, the camera can be nestled into a small beanbag to hold the camera steady. As an added bonus, a beanbag is easier to carry and set up than a tripod or monopod. If you haven’t got either, place the camera on any stable surface where it won’t move. Keep in mind, though, that in urban areas, traffic and machinery can make walls and even buildings vibrate in a way that’s invisible to the eye, but that will nonetheless affect the quality of the photograph.
Pressing the shutter button with your finger can also cause the camera to shake. This problem can be solved by using a cable release that can hold the shutter open. A cable release is a cord that, on one end, can be screwed into the shutter button and, on the other end, has a trigger that fires the shutter when pressed. Alternatively, some cameras come equipped with remote control shutters or allow the user to program a series of exposures.
Tips for Low Light Occasions
Here are some guidelines for creating clear, richly colored images in some common low light situations.
Indoor (tungsten) lighting A light bulb produces a different type of light than the sun does. For this reason, tungsten-balanced film has been created for use indoors when light bulbs are the main source of illumination. In addition, many digital cameras provide a setting for tungsten/fluorescent lighting and using this setting will also improve the way colors are rendered by the camera.
Candlelight While you can more clearly illuminate a candlelit subject by reflecting flash off a wall or ceiling, the light from the flash will have a cooler tone than the candlelight. To avoid a possible clash between the two types of light, place a group of lit candles in front of a mirror and aim the light from these candles onto the subject using the mirror.
Stars and moonlight "Night photography" is a bit of a misnomer because most outdoor photographs that appear to have been shot at night were actually shot at dawn or dusk. For best results, try to do your outdoor low light photography half an hour before dusk or half an hour after dawn. It is possible to take photographs by moonlight only, but unless you work by a full or nearly full moon, you’ll be measuring exposure times in hours rather than minutes.
Urban areas If you’re shooting by the light of street lamps or buildings, tungsten-balanced film will provide better results than daylight-balanced film. Film exposed for long periods can also capture streaks of light caused by stars moving across the sky. The only way to avoid these is to avoid including the sky in the frame. When photographing along a road, if cars come near enough to shine their lights directly into the lens, simply hold the lens cap over the lens until the car has passed.
Sporting events and candid shots Even more than in well-lit conditions, capturing just the right moment in low light is a matter of predicting when that moment will come. Rather than trying to physically follow the action, it’s often easier to stay in one area and follow the action visually so that you’re prepared when something interesting happens.
Artist effects Low lighting provides the opportunity to play with the blur created by long exposure times. For example, you can take your camera onto a pedestrian overpass and photograph the cars below at an exposure time that lets the headlights and taillights blend into one long streak. Also, flash units, flashlights, light sticks, sparklers, or any other colorfully lit object can be moved around in front of the camera to create swirls and patterns of light. However, be careful not to aim any light source directly into the camera lens.
Keep practicing
Most people require a fair amount of practice before producing low light photos they’re happy with. The human eye is much better at perceiving images in dim light than a camera is, so photographing in low light isn’t intuitive. It takes some time to learn how your preferred camera, lenses, and film will react. Shooting several images of the same scene will help you check how well you can estimate the best exposure times. Shoot one photo at the exposure you think will provide the best results, then shoot others at somewhat longer exposures. Remember to keep notes on which settings you used, so you’ll be able to compare the photos after they’ve been developed.
Some of life’s most beautiful moments happen in low light. With basic knowledge of available light photography techniques and a little practice, you can capture these moments on film even without professional equipment.
Betty Sederquist Photography - Provides basic information as well as tips for taking photos of the stars and moon, lightening, and for photographing in caves.