Tips for Low Light Photography

by Mom-to-Mom

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The best light is the light you have

The best light is the light you have

Around this time of year we all have occasions coming up that are sure to be beautiful memories that you'll want to capture through your lens! The only issue may be the lack of light. When shooting manually with no flash, I always suggest upping your ISO and lowering your aperture. I will take grain over blur any day and as long as you are able to keep your shutter speed up, you should be able to get quality photos, maybe with some grain, but that's okay with me! Amanda: Tamron 18-270 Di II VC PZD
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

When trying to capture a moment in low light conditions, it’s important to steady your camera – a tripod or monopod is ideal but you can also use objects you find while in that moment. Grab a chair or try a table top. If nothing is around try and brace yourself against a wall to balance and reduce camera shake. Stephanie: Tamron SP 28-75mm F/2.8 Di
Light with candles

Light with candles

The lighting of the menorah each night can be easily captured with a boost of your ISO to about 1000, putting your camera on a tripd, and making sure your subjects hold as still as possible. Get your subjects close to the candles, while keeping a safe distance, and let the warm glow of the candles light your subject. be sure to set you white balance to the indoor bulb setting (incandescent) to compensate for too much orange cast. Ken Hubbard: Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di
Edit Your Settings

Edit Your Settings

Set your camera to the lowest f-stop possible and boost up your ISO. Stephanie: Tamron SP 28-75mm F/2.8 Di
Bring Your Own Light

Bring Your Own Light

An off-camera flash is great to use in low light settings but try and diffuse the light and be sure to adjust the strength of the flash to avoid the harsh camera flash look. Stephanie: Tamron SP 28-75mm F/2.8 Di
Contrast

Contrast

For my snowflake pictures, I changed the shutter speed until I got the nice dark blue color I liked in the sky. Jeanne: Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC
Capture exactly what you see

Capture exactly what you see

I like the warm glow provided by lights versus a flash. Here, I had the subject face outdoor holiday lights in order to obtain the reflection on her face. I played with my settings until I got what I am looking for. I increased the ISO, opened up the aperture and adjusted the shutter speed as needed. Jeanne: Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC
Go Towards the Light

Go Towards the Light

Lastly, I try to get my subject close to any available light. In this photo, I lit my subject with the with lights scattered on the floor. Jeanne: Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC
Flash Prohibited

Flash Prohibited

My children participate in many school events where a flash is prohibited. That of course makes it challenging to capture your child on stage. When I can't use my flash I raise my ISO to 3200. This makes your camera more light-sensitive and helps to freeze the action. Janet: Tamron 18-270 Di II VC PZD
Use the Stage Lighting

Use the Stage Lighting

This photo was taken with an ISO of 1600 under stage lights. Boosting the ISO allowed me to get a fairly clear and bright picture that I otherwise would not have been able to capture with a normal ISO setting. Janet: Tamron 18-270 Di II VC PZD
Shoot at dusk with your flash

Shoot at dusk with your flash

The lighting at dusk is so beautiful, and in order for me to get a great exposure on my subject and keep the lights in the background, I used my flash on the nighttime flash mode. This mode slows down the shutter and the shutter stays open a fraction of a second longer after the flash goes off, giving you a great exposure in the foreground and background. My 1000 ISO helped to stop any blur from camera shake or subject movement. Stacie: Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II
Bounce your flash

Bounce your flash

If you are opening gifts before the sun comes up, using a flash to freeze the gift-opening action is necessary. Avoid harsh shadows in the background by bouncing your flash off the ceiling. Additionally, place a white card on your flash to bounce some of the light back into your subjects face. Stacie: Tamron 18-200mm Di II

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Hello. Welcome to Mom-to-Mom, a series of photo exhibits that feature non-technical tips and artistic inspiration from image-making moms. The exhibits, which focus on a new theme each month, are designed to encourage other moms like you to experiment with your cameras, lenses, a…

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Capturing images in low light during the holidays is inevitable. We are together for festive dinners; we're indoors while the weather outside is frightful; and the short winter days leave us with less of the sunshine we love for our outdoor images. So take advantage of the light you do have to make some great photo memories this season. Whether your lighting is holiday lights, stage lights, flash or candle light, the moms have a few tips for you on how to capture low light holiday festivities. Happy Holidays! Amanda, Hollie, Janet, Jeanne, Liz, Lynda, Stacie and Stephanie.
Tamron Exhibits
  • The best light is the light you have
  • Steady Eddy
  • Light with candles
  • Edit Your Settings
  • Bring Your Own Light
  • Contrast
  • Capture exactly what you see
  • Go Towards the Light
  • Flash Prohibited
  • Use the Stage Lighting
  • Shoot at dusk with your flash
  • Bounce your flash

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Guestbook for “Tips for Low Light Photography”

Name/Note Date

05/07/13

chhun.bunnawath

Good job

 

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