help please! black backdrop low light Canon xti/400

momof2girls07 · Sep 12, 2007

So I'm trying to take pictures of my girls w/ a black backdrop and low light- no lights- very little natural light either...
I have a canon rebel xti and using my 50mm 1.8 II

I cannot seem to get the right ISO, SS, or f/stop right.
any rec.?

Sideburns · Sep 12, 2007

Can you not get some more light in there? If you have a backdrop that means you're inside and should be able to get some type of lighting...as long as you keep it light and get the proper whitebalance you shouldn't have too much problem with it looking unnatural. Because I know that lens loves low light.
Open it up to 1.8, and leave the ISO at 100. Get some type of lighting and you'll be fine.

Big Mike · Sep 12, 2007

What is the problem you are getting? Can you show us an example?

Firstly, if the light level is too low, you will need long shutter speeds to get an exposure...and long shutter speeds will lead to blur. When you say, low light, no lights and little natural light...then what light to you have? Photography needs light.

Also, you need to consider your metering. If the camera is metering the whole scene, with the dark backdrop...it won't know that you want a dark background. All the camera knows is that the scene is dark and so it wants to give you settings to make it brighter...which of course, doesn't make your backdrop black (more of a grey) and the girls will probably be too bright.

You can try a few different things. Get close and fill the frame with your subject's face. Half press the button and note the settings. (must be in an auto mode; P, Av, Tv...just not M). You can either hold the button halfway, back up and shoot...or you can change the camera to M, input those settings, back up and shoot. Or, you can stay in position and adjust the EC (exposure compensation). For a mostly dark image, you would adjust it in the negative direction, to compensate for the camera trying to make the image brighter. Either way, you will still need enough light.