Photographing Indoor Theater

PhotoMom13 · Feb 23, 2011

My daughter will be performing in a school play in a few weeks. Any advice on how to get really good shots in the low light? I am not sure weather we will be able to use a flash or not.
Thanks.
Joann

tirediron · Feb 23, 2011

High ISO and fast glass. It's not normally about the gear, but in this case it really depends on how your camera deals with higher ISOs and what sort of lenses you have. If you can produce usable images at ISO 3200 and have some 2.8 or better glass, you'll be fine.

gsgary · Feb 23, 2011

What camera and lenses have you got ?

PhotoMom13 · Feb 23, 2011

I also thought about the high ISO (3200) but last time I took indoor pictures with that ISO I did notice a lot of noise in my pictures when I zoom in...although if anything I would only be getting 4x6 prints of them and not zooming too much.
I have a Canon Rebel t2i with the 18-55 kit lens as well as the 55-250 zoom lens

Lambo77 · Feb 23, 2011

With that set-up, your only option is to raise the ISO. Neither of those lenses are fast enough for low-light.

Ginu · Feb 23, 2011

Unfortunately the gear will limit you since its not really meant for low light indoor conditions where a flash can not be used.
My suggestion is to go a cheap route and pick up a prime lens 50mm 1.8 for quite cheap 110$ or so, and a half decent monopod(50-60$) or tripod, and try to sit in the front stage when taking pictures.

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Feb 23, 2011

I too would advise going for a cheap 50mm 1.8. You could stop it down a little to f/2 or f/2.8 and shoot at 1600-3200. Noise can be reduced in post processing. Just try to get your exposures right to help minimize noise. Also I would recommend using spot metering since most likely the subjects you are shooting will be the most brightly lit objects with darker surroundings. This may allow you to drop from ISO 3200-1600 and have better exposures. Just my opinion though...

PhotoMom13 · Feb 24, 2011

Thank you all for your suggestions! You have all been very helpful. I am very new to photography and am eager to learn as much as possible, so sorry if I am asking questions that sound really obvious or silly.
With the 50mm 1.8 lens I would be able to reduce the ISO because I would be increasing the aperture right?

KmH · Feb 24, 2011

Yes.

Let me introduce you to a photography concept know as a 'stop'.

A stop is a doubleing or a halving.

A one stop change of ISO is from 3200 to 1600. At 1600 ISO the image sensor is 1/2 as sensitive to light as it was at ISO 3200.

If your lens aperture was at f/4, the change in ISO would allow you to open the aperture one stop and have the same exposure, but a slight shallower depth-of-field (DOF).
Lens aperture refers to the area of the lens opening, not to the diameter of the opening, so we can't just x or / by 2, we have to use the square root of 2 (1.414), so one stop of aperture would be f/2.8.

Shutter speed can also be used in 'stops'. If we change the ISO to 1600 and leave the lens aperture at f/4, we can increase the shutter speed by a stop, say from 1/30 to 1/60 (x2), and improve the stopping of motion somewhat.

Going from a kit lens that has a max aperture of f/3.5 to a lens that has a max aperture of f/1.8 is a 2 stop improvement (3.5 / 1.414 = f/2.5 and 2.5 / 1.414 = f/1.8).

So you would be able to reduce the ISO 2 stops and then change either the lens aperture or the shutter speed 2 stops, and have the same exposure but with less image noise because of the lower ISO and shallower DOF from 2 more stops of aperture, or better motion stopping ability by changing the shutter speed 2 stops.

The way the exposure triad works you could also elect to change the lens aperture just one stop and also change the shutter speed one stop, for a total 2 stop change that gets you a bit less DOF change, but also some motion stopping improvement to.

PhotoMom13 · Feb 28, 2011

Thanks Keith fort that info!! That was perfect. One more silly questions I am sure you will be able to answer. If I used the 50mm f/1.8 lens won't the depth of field be very small so I won't get sharp images? Or it will be sharp enough to get good photos?

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Feb 28, 2011

You are correct. Thats why I said stop it down to 2.0 or 2.8 which is generally going to be sharper regardless of DOF but still allow a bit more speed and lower ISO. If you need DOF for some deep stage set or something, then your only option aside from flash, will be raising ISO.