The majority of photographers today utilize a sophisticated point-and shoot camera for all their photography needs. And, like most, it is probably manufactured by Canon, Samsung and Sony and features many technical advances including a high megapixel count.
With all this technology at your disposal, you may well be puzzled and disappointed when you try to take a photo in low light conditions, like at night or indoors away from windows. You may have found that photos you take at night come out either blurry, horribly washed out by the flash, grainy/noisy, lacking in color, or all of the above.
Why is this? The fact is that almost without exception, any camera will take sharp, clear, photos in good light " such as the light outside during the middle of the day. It is much more difficult for your camera to take a photo that approximates what your eyes see when the light is dim. The primary reason for this is that in order to gather enough light to expose a bright enough photo your cameras shutter has to stay open a lot longer when the light isnt good. Because it is impossible to hold a camera completely steady with your hands alone, your photos will therefore be blurry. To get around this, you could use flash (which often looks unnatural and gives people a nasty-looking complexion) or a high ISO (which will add ugly digital noise), but these methods have their own problems.
So this is the problem...but what is the solution? Here are a couple of tips to improve your low-light photography:
1) When purchasing a brand new camera, make certain it offers an 'optical image stabilization' feature. This unique technology can compensate for any movements made by the person holding the camera and correct them, ensuring a quality photo.
2) Consider turning off the flash (tell your subjects to remain very still), turning the power of it down in your cameras menu, or moving your subjects nearer to better light before you take people photos indoors. Alternatively, experiment with your cameras Night Mode (you will have to hold the camera very still).
3) If you are taking a photo of something thats not moving (a building for example), turn the flash off and brace the camera against something. A little table-top tripod is perfect for this (and small enough to carry around everywhere you go), but in a pinch you could use anything " the crook of a tree, a table, or a lamppost with a flat side (hold the camera firmly against it in the portrait position). Now your photo wont be affected by camera shake and you can snap away.
With all this technology at your disposal, you may well be puzzled and disappointed when you try to take a photo in low light conditions, like at night or indoors away from windows. You may have found that photos you take at night come out either blurry, horribly washed out by the flash, grainy/noisy, lacking in color, or all of the above.
Why is this? The fact is that almost without exception, any camera will take sharp, clear, photos in good light " such as the light outside during the middle of the day. It is much more difficult for your camera to take a photo that approximates what your eyes see when the light is dim. The primary reason for this is that in order to gather enough light to expose a bright enough photo your cameras shutter has to stay open a lot longer when the light isnt good. Because it is impossible to hold a camera completely steady with your hands alone, your photos will therefore be blurry. To get around this, you could use flash (which often looks unnatural and gives people a nasty-looking complexion) or a high ISO (which will add ugly digital noise), but these methods have their own problems.
So this is the problem...but what is the solution? Here are a couple of tips to improve your low-light photography:
1) When purchasing a brand new camera, make certain it offers an 'optical image stabilization' feature. This unique technology can compensate for any movements made by the person holding the camera and correct them, ensuring a quality photo.
2) Consider turning off the flash (tell your subjects to remain very still), turning the power of it down in your cameras menu, or moving your subjects nearer to better light before you take people photos indoors. Alternatively, experiment with your cameras Night Mode (you will have to hold the camera very still).
3) If you are taking a photo of something thats not moving (a building for example), turn the flash off and brace the camera against something. A little table-top tripod is perfect for this (and small enough to carry around everywhere you go), but in a pinch you could use anything " the crook of a tree, a table, or a lamppost with a flat side (hold the camera firmly against it in the portrait position). Now your photo wont be affected by camera shake and you can snap away.
About the Author:
Tobias Sterling is an experience photographer who is passionate about sharing his knowledge with fellow photograpgy enthusiast. His articles including Sensual Fine Art Photography and Portrait and People Photography can be found on Clivir.com - the free learning community.
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