AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

I recently had an opportunity to shoot a landmark theatre. I arrived early and got my outside shots just fine and then went inside for the tour. I brought my external flash along "just in case" but it turns out it's a good thing I did. Inside, the old theatre was very poorly lit. I put on my flash and set my programing to "P". In post processing I found that some shots were very dark and needed about 3,4 or 5 stops of exposure added. So, my question is: what could I have done better? Should I have gone to "A" priority and cranked up the ISO? As a beginner I know I need to spend some serious time on low-light shooting situations, but any words of advice to get me started would be appreciated. I shoot Nikon D5200, Sigma 18-250mm, and SB-700.

firebear6 Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida

A good tripod' "A" priority Is correct, F11, ISO 1600 and a long exposure. 15 to 30 seconds. There are some good videos for low light shooting on Youtube.

wayne-03 Loc: Minnesota

Yes, increase the ISO and / or increase the flash conpensation.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

A theater is a large area to light with just one speedlight. I would bump up the ISO as far as you dare and see if the speedlight could handle it. The best situation would be to use a tripod and do some long exposures. I assume you were using the largest aperture you lens could afford, (smallest number)

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Agreed. ;)

MarkD Loc: NYC

Ideally you would use a tripod with such low light, but on a tour that would not be possible. Another alternative is to use a faster lens like a 35mm f1.8G. The last choice is to raise the iso until you get a high enough shutter speed. Your 18-250 OS HSM is stabilized so you can shoot at slow shutter speeds. Your lens is f/3.5 at 18mm but drops to f/6.3 at 250mm, so shoot at the faster wider settings.

CTTonymm Loc: Connecticut

My guess is your subject to camera distance was beyond your flash coverage range. Not knowing your specific flash unit, can't say exact range, likely ~12 feet ?

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

If you can't use a tripod, and a slow shutter speed is required, perhaps a bean bag can be used instead. A piece of Styrofoam could be cut to fit over a seat back and the bean bag placed on it.