How best to take pictures in low light where people are moving around so pictures are not dark? Kids playing, some folks dancing.
High to very high ISO and fast lenses, and possibly noise reduction when post processsing.
Dynamics5 wrote:
How best to take pictures in low light where people are moving around so pictures are not dark? Kids playing, some folks dancing.
Full frame camera, fast lens ( mostly for AF) and bounced flash or bare bulb.
I agree with the bounced flash. If you can't do that, low light action photograph really is a situation where low end equipment is a severe limitation. You need high end full frame cameras with outstanding high ISO performance, and very fast lenses, and a lot of practice and skill.
All of the above plus a tripod.
zzzynick wrote:
All of the above plus a tripod.
What good does a tripod do with moving subjects?
I did not have a flash with me. Tried shutter speed priority at 200. Auto aperture was 4, max ISO, +2 exposure compensation, but picture was still dark.
Suggestions for better camera settings?
f4 is not a fast lens (for this application it is a slow lens) - think f1.4 or f2.
Shoot aperture priority, lens wide open (or there abouts), maximum ISO (if need be, even extended) and take what ever shutter speed you can get.
Dynamics5 wrote:
I did not have a flash with me. Tried shutter speed priority at 200. Auto aperture was 4, max ISO, +2 exposure compensation, but picture was still dark.
Suggestions for better camera settings?
Is that an F4 lens, or can you open more? You don't say what max ISO is for your camera, but maybe your camera and lens are just not capable of getting enough exposure for the situation.
One other thought;
If your shutter speed is too slow the freeze the action then just shoot the action at it peak or get creative (arty?) with subject movement.
It will take a lot of experimenting.
Artsy. Now that’s a thought!
Camera is Canon 6D. Max aperture 4, iso was 25,600. Perhaps there is not much else that can be done without flash.
JohnSwanda wrote:
What good does a tripod do with moving subjects?
In every case, moving or not, there are TWO components to subject blur. One is camera movement. I know I am prone to stabbing my shutter when in the moment AND trying to capture it. As you say, the tripod won't add to freezing subject motion, it will help eliminate camera motion, which IS relevant. It also can help the photographer apply an old school technique of "zone focusing" by setting up a shot for a predicted place where the moving subject will (or is thought to) be. A tougher trick with the necessarily wider aperture and shallow depth of field. But a stable fixed platform makes it easier--if less flexible.
This is one of those situations were more expensive equipment increases the odds for success.
C
imagemeister wrote:
Full frame camera, fast lens ( mostly for AF) and bounced flash or bare bulb.
FF for low light ?
No. Not if your low light conditions are challenging your focusing, in which
case you want a much smaller format, cuz more DoF ! Extra DoF is quite
useful with such subjects as mentioned by the OP cuz they're not confined
to a shallow zone or a plane ... and often they run amuck.
But I certainly agree about faster lenses as an aid to focusing in dimmer
conditions. Avoid shooting at f/1.8 or 2.8, but you'll focus best wide open.
Also agree about bounce flash, cuz it doesn't fall of very noticeably from
your nearest person to a person several feet further away ... once again
the of type scenario suggested by the OP.
.
User ID wrote:
FF for low light ?
No. Not if your low light conditions are challenging your focusing, in which
case you want a much smaller format, cuz more DoF ! Extra DoF is quite
useful with such subjects as mentioned by the OP cuz they're not confined
to a shallow zone or a plane ... and often they run amuck.
.
Pick your poison, shallow DOF or noise .....
Photocraig wrote:
In every case, moving or not, there are TWO components to subject blur. One is camera movement. I know I am prone to stabbing my shutter when in the moment AND trying to capture it. As you say, the tripod won't add to freezing subject motion, it will help eliminate camera motion, which IS relevant. It also can help the photographer apply an old school technique of "zone focusing" by setting up a shot for a predicted place where the moving subject will (or is thought to) be. A tougher trick with the necessarily wider aperture and shallow depth of field. But a stable fixed platform makes it easier--if less flexible.
This is one of those situations were more expensive equipment increases the odds for success.
C
In every case, moving or not, there are TWO compon... (
show quote)
For me, when I am shooting moving subjects like the OP describes, children playing or people dancing, I need to move the camera to continually compose shots as they move. I just try to use a shutter speed high enough to stop both camera and subject motion.
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