How to take a picture of a child blowing out birthday candles

[Josh66]

If you're not comfortable with manual settings (I don't think I would try auto mode for this) Aperture Priority (Av) would probably be best.

Dial it in to the largest aperture you can (smallest number), and crank the ISO up. 1600, maybe higher if it still looks clean. That will give you the fastest possible shutter speed.

If you have a UV filter on your lens - take it off.
This is a situation where it will ruin the photo. You'll get reflections of the flames on it, and it won't look good.

 

[shaunly]

Put it in Shutter mode and try: ISO800, spot meter, shutter speed at 1/100th. Use your kit lens at 18mm to get the max aperture. If it's not bright enough, lower your shutter speed one step at a time. Just play with it ahead of time so you'll be ready.

Also, try not to have your shutter speed lower than 1/30 if your taking pictures handheld. If you need more light, try raising the ISO.

 

[RegRoy]

Thank you for all of these tips. I guess what makes photography so awesome is all of the different methods to try to get the "right" shot. One with aperture priority, one with shutter priority. I don't expect the room to be ask dark in the picture that was posted above, but it will be a little dark.

But I'll play around with these settings (maybe with a SAFE bathroom candle) and see what comes out best.

 

[RegRoy]

Here are the settings that worked. The room was DARK and I didn't use flash.

18mm, 1/60, f4.0, iso800

I got exactly what I wanted (kind of by accident but I did cycle through the ISOs quickly to see what worked) -- I have a picture where the child is in the middle and the picture is lit up only by the candles -- the rest of the image is dark but it's a good level of dark. You can still see the other kids but the glow from the candles clearly is lighting up in the correct place.

And just for kicks I tried one with flash -- and it lit up the room waaay to much.

Now only if that bleeping party hat and juice boxes didn't mess up my composition. Though it's easy to blame the party hat, right :mrgreen:?

Thanks again to everyone who helped me out.

 

[Josh66]

Well - let's see it!

 

[RegRoy]

I'm not comfortable posting a picture of the kid -- but there's a warm glow that's nice. Maybe I'll get the styrofoam and candles and recreate the picture with a stuffed animal (and a large bucket of water and a fire extinguisher on the side just in case).

 

[fokker]

Booooo just put the pic, there's no rapists on here!

 

[KmH]

I'm not comfortable posting a picture of the kid -- but there's a warm glow that's nice. Maybe I'll get the styrofoam and candles and recreate the picture with a stuffed animal (and a large bucket of water and a fire extinguisher on the side just in case).

I'm scared by many things that are happening in this country.