What's Better To Improve My Low Light Shoots? A Lighter Lens Or A Speedlite?

[Designer]

i would like you to help me with something. I think i can begin making some profit as a photographer by improving my low light photography...

Some of the posts are saying speedlight, but if I take your statement at face value, I would say "low light" photography means LOW LIGHT so I think you need a fast lens.

On the other hand, if what you intend is to get correct exposure in low light conditions, then you need a speedlight.

Perhaps you should clarify your original statement.

 

[TCampbell]

I'm going to side with everyone who responded that you shouldn't be trying to make money on photography if you don't already know the answer to the question.

Basically the rules which influence the quality of the shots are:

1) YOU... you knowledge and your skill. Your mastery of the fundamentals of exposure and your talent for more intermediate and advanced topics.

2) Lighting

3) Lenses

4) Camera

I deliberately left out all comments about #2-4 because you're ignoring #1. You must NOT ignore #1.

There are books - entire volumes - dedicated to #1. It wouldn't be reasonable to expect that you can bypass learning the fundamentals and the nuances which control exposure by simply reading a short reply to what you perceive to be a simple question.

The answer is, we can improve our ability to shoot in low light in lots of ways. There is no single answer that says "this is how".

We can shoot a photo in extremely low light without any supplemental lighting and while using a lens with a high-focal ratio and a low ISO. All we need to do is make sure that neither the camera or the subject are move while we take the shot. If the subject is moving then you need to control the shot so that the subject is captured without blurring. A flash does this... but light follows the "inverse square" law. That means things up close are really bright and each time the distance increases by the square root of 2, the lighting is cut in half. This can leave you with a really really dark background and you may not like the results. You can "lag the shutter" to get around this. You can use a faster lens, but the really fast lenses are primes (not zooms). Using a low focal ratio means that you narrow the depth of field and there are still limits to how low the lighting can be before it's requires you to drive the ISO to the point that you'll have high levels of "noise" in the image and/or still have blur from camera movement while getting the shot.

In other words... every possible solution is a trade-off with advantages and disadvantages to each. You have to learn all of the possible options and you have to learn what these trade-offs are.

Before you go down the path of buying some lenses or flash units, I highly suggest you buy some books first (and read them.) You can ignore the advice and just go right for the gear, but without a solid understanding of how this works, it's unlikely to improve your photography. I can buy a really nice piano... but if I never took piano lessons, having better gear is unlikely to improve my results.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Wait... your other posts say you don't even have a DSLR yet. So, you intend to be a Best Buy Photographer? As In I buy a camera today and tomorrow I am a professional?
Yeah, NO. Doesn't work that way.

 

[pixmedic]

Wait... your other posts say you don't even have a DSLR yet. So, you intend to be a Best Buy Photographer? As In I buy a camera today and tomorrow I am a professional?
Yeah, NO. Doesn't work that way.

I WOULD say that best buy DSLR sales say otherwise.....
but... the HUGE market of USED DSLR's with "low shutter counts" seem to favor your statement.

 

[Buckster]

Wait... your other posts say you don't even have a DSLR yet. So, you intend to be a Best Buy Photographer? As In I buy a camera today and tomorrow I am a professional?
Yeah, NO. Doesn't work that way.

I WOULD say that best buy DSLR sales say otherwise.....

Interesting. I've been to Best Buy stores probably hundreds of times over the years, and all over the country for various reasons, but I've never, not once, not ever, seen or heard a claim like that in one of their stores.

Or is that what the Best Buy salesman told your wife when she went in to pick out a camera to start her wedding photography business?

 

[amolitor]

The OP doesn't give enough information. I am astonished that anyone is even attempting to answer this question. Well, ok, I am not, really, this is TPF after all.

What kind of "low light" photography are you talking about, here? Are you doing nighttime photographs of nocturnal insects? Evening weddings? Cityscapes? I have no idea what lenses you might need, whether a flash will help you or not, and whether or not you need any help with your business plan, because I haven't the foggiest idea what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[Patrice]

For Pete's sake, give the guy a break! (Who is Pete anyway?) At the end of August he was shopping for a dSLR on the cheap and now at the beginning of November he is already doing 'shoots', and in the dark no less. He must be a pretty fast learner!

 

[Buckster]

For Pete's sake, give the guy a break! (Who is Pete anyway?) At the end of August he was shopping for a dSLR on the cheap and now at the beginning of November he is already doing 'shoots', and in the dark no less. He must be a pretty fast learner!

Actually, it was August of 2011, which is more than a year ago. Not that it matters, I guess, even though we've seen a few folks come through here and go from total noob to business shooter in 14 months. Heck, some even go from total noob to internet photography expert in less than 3 months, and start ripping up other noobs as though they've been experts for decades.

Again though, none of that should matter when bashing noobs for having the audacity to mention they'd like to shoot professionally. Those NOOBS MUST BE STOPPED before they get on Facebook with their Best Buy cameras and big, snobby watermarks plastered all over sub-mediocre snapshots!!!!!!

 

[tirediron]

...And at least like 2-3k in glass to shoot with...

Just one lens?

 

[tirediron]

...Again though, none of that should matter when bashing noobs for having the audacity to mention they'd like to shoot professionally. Those NOOBS MUST BE STOPPED before they get on Facebook with their Best Buy cameras and big, snobby watermarks plastered all over sub-mediocre snapshots!!!!!!

Educated. Not stopped, but educated!

 

[Buckster]

...Again though, none of that should matter when bashing noobs for having the audacity to mention they'd like to shoot professionally. Those NOOBS MUST BE STOPPED before they get on Facebook with their Best Buy cameras and big, snobby watermarks plastered all over sub-mediocre snapshots!!!!!!

Educated. Not stopped, but educated!

AKA: Discouraged. Bashed. Made fun of.

Again, not that it matters. After all, they're just clueless noobs. If they can't take the harsh taste of reality, they'll never make it anyway, amirite?!! Why answer the actual noob question if we can instead concentrate on kicking their butts for mentioning the word "pro" when they're not anywhere near qualified to even utter such a thing yet? Oh, and if we can work in some Best Buy or Facebook fauxtographer snide remarks while we're at it, why, all the better!

Now THAT's a PARTY, TPF style, baby!!! WOOT!!! :heart:

 

[Mully]

One $25 job does not mean that you are in business.

 

[Buckster]

One $25 job does not mean that you are in business.

That's what the hooker's lawyer said too... lol

 

[tirediron]

AKA: Discouraged. Bashed. Made fun of.
Again, not that it matters. After all, they're just clueless noobs. If they can't take the harsh taste of reality, they'll never make it anyway, amirite?!! Why answer the actual noob question if we can instead concentrate on kicking their butts for mentioning the word "pro" when they're not anywhere near qualified to even utter such a thing yet? Oh, and if we can work in some Best Buy or Facebook fauxtographer snide remarks while we're at it, why, all the better!
Now THAT's a PARTY, TPF style, baby!!! WOOT!!!

No. AKA Educated. Say it with me, slowly: "Ed-yoo-kated", as in: To be taught, to have knowlege imparted upon one. The OP asked a question for which (based on the limited information he/she provided) no 'Yes or no' answer can be given. A number of people put forth their recommendations, which I would submit constitutes as near an answer as it's possible to provide.

I think that this thread does an excellent job of providing the OP with several differnt points of view, each of which answer his question in a slightly different manner. Why do you infer (in such a snide fashion I might add) that [the collective] we have been less than helpful?

Having read through the thread carefully, I can find no 'bashing' of any sort. There are several who express concern about the possibility of yet another person picking up a camera and thinking that qualifies them as a professional, and I will grant you that the OP again provided very limited information on how he was proceeding down the professional path, BUT, in light of the huge number of people we have seen posting here who apparently thought that there was nothing more to becoming a highly paid professional photographer (Boy, there's an Ox E. Moron if ever I've seen one) than buying an inexpensive consumer-grade DSLR and kit lens, I would say those expressions are fully justified.

 

[Buckster]

AKA: Discouraged. Bashed. Made fun of.
Again, not that it matters. After all, they're just clueless noobs. If they can't take the harsh taste of reality, they'll never make it anyway, amirite?!! Why answer the actual noob question if we can instead concentrate on kicking their butts for mentioning the word "pro" when they're not anywhere near qualified to even utter such a thing yet? Oh, and if we can work in some Best Buy or Facebook fauxtographer snide remarks while we're at it, why, all the better!
Now THAT's a PARTY, TPF style, baby!!! WOOT!!!

No. AKA Educated. Say it with me, slowly: "Ed-yoo-kated", as in: To be taught, to have knowlege imparted upon one. The OP asked a question for which (based on the limited information he/she provided) no 'Yes or no' answer can be given. A number of people put forth their recommendations, which I would submit constitutes as near an answer as it's possible to provide.

I think that this thread does an excellent job of providing the OP with several differnt points of view, each of which answer his question in a slightly different manner. Why do you infer (in such a snide fashion I might add) that [the collective] we have been less than helpful?

Having read through the thread carefully, I can find no 'bashing' of any sort. There are several who express concern about the possibility of yet another person picking up a camera and thinking that qualifies them as a professional, and I will grant you that the OP again provided very limited information on how he was proceeding down the professional path, BUT, in light of the huge number of people we have seen posting here who apparently thought that there was nothing more to becoming a highly paid professional photographer (Boy, there's an Ox E. Moron if ever I've seen one) than buying an inexpensive consumer-grade DSLR and kit lens, I would say those expressions are fully justified.

I suppose it's really just a differing point of view that we have on this.

Mine comes from a general overall sense of how these folks are treated when they come here looking for information on one thing, and usually get a face full of "Oh, no you DI-INT!!!" if they mention as a part of that inquiry that they'd like to go "pro". Enter the "Best Buy Pro" derision and the "Facebook Fauxtographer" spit, etc.

Yes, there are some who do what they can to help these OP's with their actual question, then there are others who would prefer to concentrate on the "pro" comment, hitting them in the face with the e-hammer of reality and "education" on the matter. And, of course, some do both, sometimes in a way that seems to use the guise of answering the question with a way to also address the "pro" comment in a way that drives home the point that they're clueless noobs who really have no business even mentioning the word "pro" at this point, if only inferred, so as not to be too obvious about their condescension and derision.

You disagree? That's entirely your right. I, on the other hand, think it's obvious that it's a common theme around here, no matter how it's painted; as bashing or as education. It's probably some of both.

But in the end, does it matter? I can't see that it does. The forum and its personality via the member participation is what it is. I don't think that's good or bad - it simply is what it is. Many others over time have weighed in on this subject, also saying that it's easily recognized and giving their opinions that it's anything from simply impolite to downright wrong and inexcusable to carry on like that with noobs who just don't know any better yet, and they usually get run over by a ton of members weighing in with the "we're educating them" bus, even if it appears to some, or even many, like it's educating with an e-baseball bat to the face.

As for me, I only mentioned it as a passing recognition. It means less to me than musings over how many blades of grass might be in my backyard. So, meh... It is what it is, like I said. No sweat off my brow over it, and I've no intent on becoming the next martyr over it in any case.

As for this thread in particular, it's actually been pretty light on the bashing side of it, but the implications via the beginnings of the "Best Buy Pro" comments are there, ready to seed what I'm talking about and what we've all seen plenty of times around here. I made mention of it, so sue me (or bash me, flame me, "educate" me - whatever you think it takes - it's all cool with me).

:hug::