Photography in Low light

[arnab_n]

Hi,
I am new to photography ( in the sense of using SLRs)

Below is my Query
======================
Say I wanna shoot in low light.....available source of light is street light/low light bulb....and I dont wanna use harsh Flash lights.
My subjects are group of people ( say 4)
I wanna shoot in low light without flash.
My problem is : I cant use a Low F-stop becaz for covering 4 people I would need bigger depth of Field
and if I lower the Shutter speed to gain light...I will get blurred picture...cause my subjects cant remain motionless for long duration...
So basically my exposure requires both medium F-stop and lower shutter speed to gain light....How Do I achieve it?? And yes I dont wanna use ISO above 400 cause I wanna have a crisp Picture....
My Exposure expectation is that I get a picture a shade more brighter than the available source of Light...

How do I achieve it?? ( given that am using a tripod)

I am using Canon 550D with 18-55 lens.......

 

[robbie_vlad]

So you don't want to use a higher ISO, larger aperture, or slower shutter speed....then low light is impossible. Better get better at lighting your subjects if you won't compromise anywhere else...

 

[DerekSalem]

Hi,
I am new to photography ( in the sense of using SLRs)

Below is my Query
======================
Say I wanna shoot in low light.....available source of light is street light/low light bulb....and I dont wanna use harsh Flash lights.
My subjects are group of people ( say 4)
I wanna shoot in low light without flash.
My problem is : I cant use a Low F-stop becaz for covering 4 people I would need bigger depth of Field
and if I lower the Shutter speed to gain light...I will get blurred picture...cause my subjects cant remain motionless for long duration...
So basically my exposure requires both medium F-stop and lower shutter speed to gain light....How Do I achieve it?? And yes I dont wanna use ISO above 400 cause I wanna have a crisp Picture....
My Exposure expectation is that I get a picture a shade more brighter than the available source of Light...

How do I achieve it?? ( given that am using a tripod)

I am using Canon 550D with 18-55 lens.......

With a 550d/T2i you should be able to go to 1600 without too much noise. 800 would have almost no noise what so ever. Up the ISO because it's the only thing you can do. Photography isn't magical - it requires light.

 

[arnab_n]

Thanks Robbie and derek for ur Quick replies

I will try to bump up the ISO....and see If using a high shutter Speed Help to avoid movement by subjects....without getting much noise....

 

[fokker]

As above, you can't have it all. Open the aperture right up on that lens, it's not that big anyways so your depth of field will still be fine unless hlaf the group is standing like 20 feet behind the rest of them. You should be able to get away with around 1/20th a second if the people stay still, maybe more or maybe less. Upping the ISO to 800 or even 1600 shouldn't be a problem - you'll get a 'crisper' photo with a high ISO and faster shutter speed than the other way around.

Of course, your best option is to get some proper light on the subjects...

 

[AlexColeman]

Possibly gel the strobes? Otherwise you physically can't without compromising your expectations in some manner.

 

[fokker]

Possibly gel the strobes? Otherwise you physically can't without compromising your expectations in some manner.

What strobes? He's talking about using ambient light.

 

[AlexColeman]

Of course, your best option is to get some proper light on the subjects...

If he was to use strobes, as recommended, he could maintain the effect with gels, so as to not change color temperature.

 

[fokker]

I think you may be getting a bit ahead of the OP there, he quite possibly doesn't even know what a strobe is, and using it off camera with a modifier is a higher priority then using gels.

 

[arnab_n]

Thanks Fokker....
I will try out that today.....am tinkering with F8-F11 and anything more than 1'' is very low light for ISO400 ....I will bump the ISO and see what effect I can get.

Since Am still learning with SLR in Manual Mode....And I love Night/Street photography
And basically experimenting with what can be achieved in Low light

Thanks everyone!!

 

[AlexColeman]

Why F8? I am sure you can get away with a lower aperture, unless the distance discrepancy is great.

 

[fokker]

Forget f/8, that's strictly for good lighting! Go to f3.5 or similar.

1 second is far too slow for anything but a still life with the camera on a tripod (unless you're trying to capture motion somehow).

Try and keep the shutter speed up around 1/60 or more for shooting people.

 

[robbie_vlad]

If you are serious about night/low light photography, you better get used to large apertures.

 

[arnab_n]

Thanks Everyone!

yes I think my problem is the way am shooting which is Dumb

As I am shooting from my balcony( 20ft above the ground without any light in the balcony)....the subjects are on the street....facing me....Street Light falling on them...enough to illuminate the face and body...( the yellowish tungsten shade)....
My reason for doing this from distance ( 50 feet) is I wanna Capture Their house too which they have decorated.......

I will try in better lighting condition and higher ISO settings and see what I get

 

[D-B-J]

You are making this really difficult. You need a wide aperture, within reason, a high iso, probably about 1000, and a 60th of a second shutter speed. Youre already stacking the deck against you. Lol