Too often, low light shots are completely useless. Almost all digital cameras have a “night mode” setting. Generally this setting slows down your shutter speed to about 1/2 second. As the photograph below shows, that setting does not let nearly enough light into the camera’s lens to take a decent picture.
How, then, can we take a good photograph in a low light situation? The optimal settings depend on whether or not the subject is moving. In this article we will prepare to take a picture with no movement, so we are only concerned with getting enough light to the lens. In Part 2, we will try to catch a moving subject, which will shift some of our focus to ISO settings.
In this article from Ritz Camera, we can get a great deal of detailed information on various factors to consider when taking low light photos.
The following photo was taken late at night, looking out of a window onto the street. Unlike the dark photograph, this picture was taken with a 16 second exposure.
Obviously, taking a picture of a moving object, or even a breathing person, is not feasible with such a long exposure, but works very well for a shot like this. For high resolution copies of this photo, click here for full size, or here for wide screen. See you next time with Part 2!
