Better Available Light Digital Photography : How to Make the Most of Your Night and Low-light Shots

Fast lenses 113

in daylight, this type of assignment is in the dark, giving the phrase

“difference between night and day” additional credence.

To successfully photograph in these low-light environments,

you’ll need to make good use of the aperture-to-shutter-speed

relationships, and also bring into play the third part of the expo-

sure equation. In the not-so-distant past, these low-light situa-

tions were nightmarish for fi lm photographers. Film choices may

have been abundant for use outdoors in sunlight, but the choices

for dimly lit interiors was quite limited, both for sensitivity to

the level of light as well as for the different color temperature

of the light. Digital capture, with its ability to increase the sen-

sitivity in low light and correct the Color Balance, makes indoor

photography so much easier. In fact, by using fast lenses, these

indoor scenes become a “piece of cake.”

Once we evaluate the interior lighting—by eyeballing it if we’re

experienced, by taking a handheld meter reading, or by noting the

camera’s suggested meter settings (as we point the camera in

several directions within the scene)—we can decide how high to

set the ISO speed. When it comes to higher ISO quality, digital

capture is superior to fi lm but is certainly not perfect. The digital

equivalent of high-speed fi lm “grain” is “digital noise.” (See

Chapter 3.) It’s always possible to set the ISO lower and choose

a long shutter speed to obtain proper exposure. After all, the pio-

neers in the fi eld did this. Remember them? Their portraits show

stiff, stoic, nonmoving folks. If you look close, it’s possible to see

blur that resulted when people couldn’t sit still for the longer

exposures. Stopping athletic action, an animated speaker, or even

wedding reception dancing just wasn’t possible. In low-light situ-

ations, you can’t rely on shutter speed alone to capture the action

of a ball game or the gesturing speaker or the graceful moves on

the dance fl oor. To get acceptable photographs, you must also be

Sir Edward Elgar’s Pomp and
Circumstance immediately comes
to mind whenever we see the caps
and gowns, excited students, and
proud parents at graduations.
Indoor ceremonies present several
problems for photography. One, of
course, is the low light in gym-
nasiums and auditoriums, and
another can be the logistics of
capturing your graduate when
they’re handed their shingle.
Most schools hire a photography
company to photograph each
graduate as they cross the stage,
making it possible for everyone to
have good, clear, well-lit images
of their graduate. Why not con-
centrate on the candid moments
surrounding this grand event?
Barry used a Canon 70–200 mm
f/2.8 IS lens on a 30D body
to photograph speakers at this
university graduation. The image-
stabilization feature on this lens
allows for a good solid photograph
shot at 1/50 of a second at f/3.2.
The loose cropping was intentional
to include the school logo on the
podium and the banners in the
background. The shallow depth of
fi eld keeps the speaker in sharp
focus while the background
banners and the foreground deaf
signer are blurred. These add to
the “information” in the photo-
graph, telling us it’s a graduation
ceremony. © 2006 Barry Staver.