Taking good digital photos in low light... | FerrariChat

Taking good digital photos in low light...

Discussion in 'Creative Arts' started by rob lay, Jan 23, 2005.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    #1 rob lay, Jan 23, 2005
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I've always had a problem getting good pics from digital cameras in low light conditions.

    Right now I have a Sony DSC-T1. The flash is bright and works, but I wonder if the timing is off because the pics all come out dark.

    Last night we had an event and I took pics outside of the cars. They all came out poor and I tried every flash setting. Even the inside pic came out poor trying several different settings.

    What can be done? I was wondering if there was a setting for the pic or flash speed so that it can be timed better.

    Below are the "best" of the photos that came out...
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. Brianjonesphoto

    Brianjonesphoto Formula Junior

    Dec 2, 2003
    268
    Seattle Wa
    Full Name:
    Brian Jones
    Rob does you camera have a manual mode? If it does you need to use it. First thing you need to do is increase the ISO setting 400 or 800 if you can. Second Use a shutter speed around 1/15th. If you steady your self agains something you should be able to get pretty sharp shots this slow. You may have to turn the flash down some also.

    What is happening now is the flass is what is exposing the image and most on camera flashes suck which is why you have some very dark images. With what I just descibed you will let more available light in and using the flash to add light not as the only light.
     
  3. jimpo1

    jimpo1 Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jul 30, 2001
    24,510
    Dallas, TX
    Full Name:
    Jim E
    Rob, haven't you been able to get some good pics at night before? I seem to recall events from Carsons when you got good shots. I wonder what changed with your camera? Did you let a girl use it?
     
  4. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    I really never have been able to take good pics at night. Serveral years ago I had another Sony, the past year I've had the T1.
     
  5. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

    Jul 13, 2004
    5,559
    TX
    Full Name:
    Sameer
    Rob, I'm certainly no expert but I found that while taking pics in low light I rarely ever use the flash.

    The problem with digital cameras is that theor flashes have a very short range. Also when the flash setting is chosen the exposure time is very short. Both these factors result in underexposed pics.

    What I do is switch off the flash and use the poor light setting in the camera. You have to hold the camera very steady as the exposure time is much longer. A tripod will be great here. The picture should come out pretty good and might need some light touch-up in Photoshop or MS Photo editor.
     
  6. ronr

    ronr Formula Junior

    Oct 30, 2002
    813
    DFW, TX
    Full Name:
    Ron
    I don't think those digi camera flashes reach very far, seems like only out to 10-15 feet. I've been thinking about getting a separate bolt-on flash for mine (Canon G2). Just need to start doing a little research. I've tried doing it with no flash, but without a tripod it's really tough to get it sharp, and when you're shooting people, they move too much for a long exposure.
     
  7. FarmerDave

    FarmerDave F1 World Champ
    Consultant

    Jul 26, 2004
    15,774
    Full Name:
    IgnoranteWest
    #7 FarmerDave, Jan 23, 2005
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here's a little adjustment made in photoshop, like speedysam suggested. Looks like there is alot of the optical information actually existing in your .jpg's, but they're so dark it's had to see with the naked eye. so I opened it up in pshop, and went to the file bar and picked "image" "adjustments" "levels" and played with that, to get this:
    (the outside pics didn't make much improvement.)
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  8. TimN88

    TimN88 F1 Veteran

    Jun 12, 2001
    5,045
    Northeast
    Full Name:
    Tim
    #8 TimN88, Jan 23, 2005
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Read your camera's manual. Thats how i learned to use my camera in low light situations and was able to take some awesome pictures.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  9. SilverF20C

    SilverF20C Formula 3

    Jun 22, 2004
    1,126
    The trick I like to use on my Canon G5 (if I have to use flash) is to use shutter priority and set it exposed down low enough to capture enough "warm" color and light but use a bit of fill flash to "freeze" the shot so I don't get much blur. Not sure what adjustments you can make on your cam but this seems to work for me.

    Also, like another member said above, the flash can only go so far. In most night shots, you want to use a tripod if you can and set the exposure down low meaning you let the shutter open for a longer time to bring in more light.

    The method I mentioned earlier that I use (still experimenting with it) is typically for those moments when I don't want or can't use a tripod.

    Here's a sample of a tripod shot though.
    http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNzE1MTY2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg

    Here's one with the adjusted shutter and a little bit of flash fill at the LA auto show.
    http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNzM1MjU2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg
     

Share This Page