Low Light

While completing my photo assignment I had difficulty getting good shots in low light. I was lucky to get any thing to show up at all. I later found that, though I reduced my shutter speed , I didn't slow it down enough.

To further understand how to work with low light I read some articles on Google. One article elaborates about how, the flash is the biggest solution to low light digital photography. However the problem with this is that not all situations can benefit from using the flash. Not only does it interfere with your “moment” socially and artistically, but the flash can flatten out your digital images.

I personally experienced the disadvantages of my flash during my project. The flash completely took any contrast out of the composition, which really flattened the photo.

Next the author explains and lists some methods he uses to work with low light, when a flash in not useful. He breaks it down in one clear and helpful list.

" 1. Crank ISO as high as it will go
2. Shoot RAW if possible
3. Use aperature-priority with the lowest f-stop on the fastest lens I have (f1.8 or lower if you can).
4. If that still caases my shutter speeds to be too low to hand-hold, then I might even set exposure compoensation down a stop, which will increase the speed a little, and then I’ll push the exposure in post (preferablly in RAW).
5. Lastly, I’ll use various forms of noise reduction to help on the grain/noise front.

Shooting Raw didn't really occur to me before reading this article, by doing so you can easily use photo editing software to enhance you image and reduce noise.

This is just one more tidbit of info I will utilize while taking future photos.