Taking pictures in dark rooms: Please help. The last two events I photographed were held in rooms that were all wood - walls, floors, ceiling and furniture. I had a terrible time...

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

Please help. The last two events I photographed were held in rooms that were all wood - walls, floors, ceiling and furniture. I had a terrible time getting any photos to work out. There was nothing to bounce my external flash off of so pictures turned out too dark. My ISO was at 1600/3200 and metered my camera but still the colors were all off. I spent way too much time in post processing. Any suggestions?

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Post samples

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Starr wrote:

Please help. The last two events I photographed were held in rooms that were all wood - walls, floors, ceiling and furniture. I had a terrible time getting any photos to work out. There was nothing to bounce my external flash off of so pictures turned out too dark. My ISO was at 1600/3200 and metered my camera but still the colors were all off. I spent way too much time in post processing. Any suggestions?

Hi Starr, some locations just don't offer ideal conditions, do they? Did you adjust your white balance before shooting? (For the existing light situation?).

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Use one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=811488&is=REG&A=details&Q=
and drag the shutter as much as you can to get something in the background to show up.
http://digital-photography-school.com/dragging-the-shutter-balancing-fill-flash-with-ambient-light

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

If you were at 3200 and could not go above that and get decent images, then accept that fact that you cannot get good images there. there is no magic.

For $6000 you can get a Nikon D4 that would get you to about 12,800, I think a new Canon can do the same, but image quality does tend to decrease pretty rapidly and I KNOW buying a new camera is hardly a great fix. Just accept that this is beyond your equipment. The noise reduction in CS5 and 6 and Lightroom is pretty good - MUCH better than just a few years ago and there are some good NR programs out there, but like I said...no real magic.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Instead of higher iso why are you not shooting slower say 1 second

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Starr wrote:

Please help. The last two events I photographed were held in rooms that were all wood - walls, floors, ceiling and furniture. I had a terrible time getting any photos to work out. There was nothing to bounce my external flash off of so pictures turned out too dark. My ISO was at 1600/3200 and metered my camera but still the colors were all off. I spent way too much time in post processing. Any suggestions?

You need an external flash with a bounce attachment.

If you don't already have an external flash get the most powerful one you can afford. Stick with your camera brand. Other brands will work fine if you know what your doing but usually you don't get the full features of the camera/flash.

Check out B&H Photo. They have every thing you can image and more. They are as reliable as death & taxes and have a hassle free return policy. No I don't work for them.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

In low light events, I don't use my flash in the bounce mode. Most of the venues I have attended haven't been conducive for effective bounce.

I take it off camera and shoot hand held, usually on an extended arm to get it higher and closer to a 45 degree from the camera. I have different diffusers that I put on the flash to soften the light, depending on the look I am after.

Sometimes wired and sometimes I use the Pocket Wizard flex units, either maintains ETTL so I can dial in compensation on camera.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

jdubu wrote:

In low light events, I don't use my flash in the b... (show quote)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

joer wrote:

You need an external flash with a bounce attachment.

If you don't already have an external flash get the most powerful one you can afford. Stick with your camera brand. Other brands will work fine if you know what your doing but usually you don't get the full features of the camera/flash.

Check out B&H Photo. They have every thing you can image and more. They are as reliable as death & taxes and have a hassle free return policy. No I don't work for them.

I was using an external flash but there was nothing to bounce the light off of. I just purchased a Vivitar flash but now I know I need to stick with my camera brand, Pentax.

I love B&H.

Thank you...

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

Here are two of the pictures that I believe are too dark. Thank all of you for your suggestions and help. Captain C, I think you are right...... Sometimes it just can't be done.

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

GoofyNewfie wrote:

Use one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=811488&is=REG&A=details&Q=
and drag the shutter as much as you can to get something in the background to show up.
http://digital-photography-school.com/dragging-the-shutter-balancing-fill-flash-with-ambient-light

Thank you for the links.

bioteacher Loc: Brooklyn, NY

I might be old school, but I thought dark rooms were for developing film and not taking pictures.

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

Papa Joe wrote:

Hi Starr, some locations just don't offer ideal conditions, do they? Did you adjust your white balance before shooting? (For the existing light situation?).

No they don't Papa Joe. Did an outside wedding in May that had to be moved inside a lodge at the last minute because of rain. Wooden walls, high ceilings and low light. It was certainly a challenge.

Starr Loc: St. Louis, MO

bioteacher wrote:

I might be old school, but I thought dark rooms were for developing film and not taking pictures.

Oh ha!