Christmas Portraits in Manual Mode...ugh

[stsinner]

I'm struggling to take good no-flash pictures in manual mode, but I have three that I think turned out pretty good. I'm having trouble, though, getting enough light without taking the shutter speed down too low. I took about 80 pictures today, but about 65 of them were blurred by movement, even though the kids were sitting fairly still. I was at ISO 1600, which is the limit of my camera, so what now?

Is it anything I'm doing wrong or just the nature of the beast in low-light situations?

Thanks for the info.

 

[dxqcanada]

If you are using the Xmas tree lights to illuminate the scene ... then you are going to run into a very low light situation.

Try to add another light source element into the image.

A very fast lens (ex. 50mm f1.4 ) would help a lot.

 

[tirediron]

Your shutter speed is too low. 1/13 of a second is not hand-holdable. Use 1/60 as a minimum, and even at that you may get some motion blur from subject movement. You've got two choices. As mentioned above either more light (Add supplmentary lighting/faster lens) or use a tripod and hope the child doesn't move. Good luck!

 

[redtippmann]

i would also make sure my color balance is corrected looks a bit red/orange.

 

[stsinner]

Thanks for the advice.. I do have a 50 f1.8, but when I last tried it, I had trouble with composition because of the size of my living room. I think I'll try again, because I like the results so far, sans the movement blur. I'll be sure to keep the shutter at 1/60 or above.. Sorry about the probably amatuerish questions, but I'm one of those annoying people who has never taken a photography class (can't afford it) but wants good pictures.. That's why I come here.. I'm basically starting from the bottom and have literally just played with Manual in the last month due to suggestions here that I should.. I'm going to ask some dumb questions, so just let me apologize in advance.

Thanks.

 

[stsinner]

i would also make sure my color balance is corrected looks a bit red/orange.

Another thing I did for the first time today is shoot in RAW, so I should be able to correct that.

Thanks

 

[RyanLilly]

Sigma makes a very nice 30mm 1.4, if you are in the market for a lens. Your kit lens has a variable max aperture, so at the 18mm end it should be faster, f/3.5 I think, its also easier to hold longer shutter speeds with a wider lens.

Its easy to correct to correct white balance and make color adjustments in RAW. It opens up a lot of flexibility.

 

[stsinner]

I'll check on that lens.. Thanks.

 

[MelodySoul]

I use my 50mm 1.8 a lot in low light but it is a little difficult if you don't have the space to move around. A tripod would help a lot too. You can always just add some more light sources as well, move a lamp over closer etc.

 

[tsaraleksi]

These shots would be a great place to make use of your SB-600 as a bounced flash. You can't go wrong with the following:

Manual mode.
ISO: 100/200/400-- this one is just a matter of saving a bit of battery if you want, at the cost of a smidge more noise.
Shutter speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash mode: i-TTL, pointed up.


This will give you nice, bright, clean images, which is exactly what you are looking for, I imagine.

Every day situations which are often the most difficult to photograph in terms of the light. Don't feel bad that you are having trouble or are having to ask a lot of questions, everyone was a beginner sometime.

 

[stsinner]

I'm trying to capture the warmth of the room, but it looks like I may not be able to do that as pleasingly as I thought I could.

 

[ANDS!]

Yea, the color issues are just far too distracting, even if this were a tripod mounted shot and your daughters didn't move. If you can afford it, I would invest in an SB-600 - even one can dramatically alter your ability to control light like this.

 

[stsinner]

Yea, the color issues are just far too distracting, even if this were a tripod mounted shot and your daughters didn't move. If you can afford it, I would invest in an SB-600 - even one can dramatically alter your ability to control light like this.

I have the SB600.. I was just trying to get good shots with rich lighting from the tree. I'm uploading pics I just took using the advice from the previous poster 1/125/ISO 200 and f/5.6.

 

[stsinner]

tsaraleksi, I mounted the SB600 and put everything at your recommended settings but, unfortunately, it did just what I feared it would-took all the warmth out of the shot, and even made the Christmas tree appear to not even be lit. The lights are on if you look closely. Maybe this particular situation is a lost cause with my D50 and only 1600 ISO.

Here's what I got:

Compare those cold looking images to the one I posted earlier:

I'm going to play some more, don't worry. I really want to get a nice picture for a card.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Kendo]

I was trying to do the same thing and had the same problem. Finally I set the flash power very low and then a 1/60 or 1/30 shutter speed. It worked for me. Good lighting in the front and you could see the tree lights very clearly and bright. Set white balance so you don't have to do it in post. It worked for me.

P.S. The only dumb question is the one not asked!