Lowlight Photography with and without flash

[jcuknz]

I missed my connecting flight so spent a night at SFO airport where I found this cleaner ....



He was rather high up



6400 ISO G3 MFT wide open ... 280mm at f/5.8 1/125 and 28mm at f/4 1/500 Lumix 14-140

[nimitzbenedicto]

.


late afternoon.
Nikon D3100. kit lens:18-55mm @18mm. landscape mode: f/10, 1/400, ISO1600. 0.3Exp comp. matrix metering. pp/viewNX2

[Shadowman]

I missed my connecting flight so spent a night at SFO airport where I found this cleaner ....



He was rather high up

Nice attempts, that second shot has plenty of dynamic range to give any sensor a workout.



6400 ISO G3 MFT wide open ... 280mm at f/5.8 1/125 and 28mm at f/4 1/500 Lumix 14-140

[Shadowman]

.


late afternoon.
Nikon D3100. kit lens:18-55mm @18mm. landscape mode: f/10, 1/400, ISO1600. 0.3Exp comp. matrix metering. pp/viewNX2

Victor,

Nice shot.

[Shadowman]

.


late afternoon.
Nikon D3100. kit lens:18-55mm @18mm. landscape mode: f/10, 1/400, ISO1600. 0.3Exp comp. matrix metering. pp/viewNX2

Victor,

Nice shot.

[AB26]

Hi John,

This thread has been a tutorial and inspiration for me. I hope it keeps going.

In my efforts to better understand flash and ambient light I did this experiment.
All four shots were captured in mixed lighting. There was an overhead power saver globe, daylight from a window on the right hand side and I added flash as well.

Shot no1:

This was shot in mixed “available” light. Reflected daylight from the right trough a window and an overhead power saver bulb. Exposure 1/1sec, F5.6, ISO 100, Manual WB at 4200K. (note the shadows)

Shot no2:

The same mixed lighting with fill flash added, dragging the shutter (1/1sec, F5.6 ISO 100). I set WB at 2950K to see how much the flash will affect light temperature. A clear blue tint. Shooting in RAW the WB could have been adjusted in post.

Shot no3:

The same mixed lighting with fill flash added and WB set to 4300K. (1/1sec, f5.6, ISO 100) Again, dragging the shutter.

Shot no4:

Shot like I would when using flash as only lighting. 1/60sec, f5.6, ISO 100, WB set to Flash.


The colours in No3 are most accurate for when the room is well lit. Depending on the light, colours will change.

Setting WB to 2950K in no1 renders the image very close to the colours in no3. Switching off the overhead light (using only the reflected daylight) with WB of 4300K renders the colours very close to no3 as well.
Using flash only: the BG is way to dark and the foreground can easily be overexposed. All settings were full Manual settings.

[nimitzbenedicto]

Andre,

Are you sure these pictures weren't for your wife's perusal at how good you sealed your floors?

kidding jz kidding ..... hehehe..

[Shadowman]

Hi John,

This thread has been a tutorial and inspiration for me. I hope it keeps going.

In my efforts to better understand flash and ambient light I did this experiment.
All four shots were captured in mixed lighting. There was an overhead power saver globe, daylight from a window on the right hand side and I added flash as well.

Shot no1:

This was shot in mixed “available” light. Reflected daylight from the right trough a window and an overhead power saver bulb. Exposure 1/1sec, F5.6, ISO 100, Manual WB at 4200K. (note the shadows)

Shot no2:

The same mixed lighting with fill flash added, dragging the shutter (1/1sec, F5.6 ISO 100). I set WB at 2950K to see how much the flash will affect light temperature. A clear blue tint. Shooting in RAW the WB could have been adjusted in post.

Shot no3:

The same mixed lighting with fill flash added and WB set to 4300K. (1/1sec, f5.6, ISO 100) Again, dragging the shutter.

Shot no4:

Shot like I would when using flash as only lighting. 1/60sec, f5.6, ISO 100, WB set to Flash.


The colours in No3 are most accurate for when the room is well lit. Depending on the light, colours will change.

Setting WB to 2950K in no1 renders the image very close to the colours in no3. Switching off the overhead light (using only the reflected daylight) with WB of 4300K renders the colours very close to no3 as well.
Using flash only: the BG is way to dark and the foreground can easily be overexposed. All settings were full Manual settings.

Andre,

Very nice exercise. Starting with #4, this approach is suitable for some subjects especially if you are going for a low key image, however the fill flash (foreground) in this particular image would be a bit too strong if low key were your intention. #1 and 3 are good renditions, with selection #1 being very warm in tones and a bit too much shadow. #2 looks good and you could get away with the flooring color shift if no one had seen the original. For some reason I like the fourth image best, followed by the 3rd.

Very nice.

[AB26]

For some reason I like the fourth image best,

John interesting that you should like no 4 best. It is the warmer feeling in the image that I like better. No 3 may be “clinically” more correct but 4 is probably more pleasing to the eye.

Another lesson for me on how to use artificial light more creatively. We need more than a single skill to “create” pleasing images.

Thank you.

[AB26]

Andre,

Are you sure these pictures weren't for your wife's perusal at how good you sealed your floors?

kidding jz kidding ..... hehehe..

No Victor, you are SOOO wrong. It is actually for my wife’s perusal at how much I need to spend more on Photography.

hehehe!

[Shadowman]

It's been awhile since I had an opportunity to practice the flash.

With Flash: 1/200s, ISO 200,48mm, f/7.1, 1ev

Without Flash: 1/800s, ISO 200, 48mm, f/7.1, 1ev

[Shadowman]

Without a tripod, this shot was impossible without flash.



Underpass no flash

Both shot at 1/125sec, ISO 200, f/5

[Nomadr]

I shoot a lot of low light performances and whilst some shows do allow flash i prefer not to use it for various reasons.if there is movement i try to shoot over 1/125th, shows with brilliant stage lighting usually means i can use a much lower iso (800 in this pic) , f.2.8 1/125th,quite lucky to get all the feet off the ground. been experimenting recently shooting roller derby, i was using 500th sec to freeze the action but found i got the same results at 1/250th sec.cheers martyn

[Shadowman]

I shoot a lot of low light performances and whilst some shows do allow flash i prefer not to use it for various reasons.if there is movement i try to shoot over 1/125th, shows with brilliant stage lighting usually means i can use a much lower iso (800 in this pic) , f.2.8 1/125th,quite lucky to get all the feet off the ground. been experimenting recently shooting roller derby, i was using 500th sec to freeze the action but found i got the same results at 1/250th sec.cheers martyn

Nice, it really helps when you can use the house lights as a source.

[akurcan]

For my personal work I'll use natural/available light - sometimes punctuating with a strobe or spotlight if that's the effect I'm going for:

Sometimes it's just natural light:

For "work", if you're reluctant to use lighting, you're really selling yourself short: - shot with a single strobe, hidden inside the piano.

[Shadowman]

Andrew,

Nice selections. The last shot, was this done for a client or for your personal portfolio?

[tao2]

In reply to the OP. Ah think he's asked tae discuss 2 separate, self-explanatory categories. Ah don't believe that flash is part of low-light photography. It's, by definition...flash photography. Ah rarely use flash so bias may creep in.

Ah tend tae use my rangefinders/SLRs, fast film, A-Prio, lens wide open, or hopefully, only one stop up...

Zenit 3M+Helios 44 - f2/58mm@ f2 (Ilford XP2 400).



Yashica35 GSN F1.7 - @ f1.7 A Prio (XP2 400)



My trusty Finepix s1500 bridge - f3.6@1/50th, ISO800. Macro mode



The vast majority of my low-light is from 2 cameras - the Yashica GSN and the wee Olympus 35RC (Zuiko f2.8/42mm.).

[Shadowman]

In reply to the OP. Ah think he's asked tae discuss 2 separate, self-explanatory categories. Ah don't believe that flash is part of low-light photography. It's, by definition...flash photography. Ah rarely use flash so bias may creep in.

Ah tend tae use my rangefinders/SLRs, fast film, A-Prio, lens wide open, or hopefully, only one stop up...

Zenit 3M+Helios 44 - f2/58mm@ f2 (Ilford XP2 400).



Yashica35 GSN F1.7 - @ f1.7 A Prio (XP2 400)



My trusty Finepix s1500 bridge - f3.6@1/50th, ISO800. Macro mode



The vast majority of my low-light is from 2 cameras - the Yashica GSN and the wee Olympus 35RC (Zuiko f2.8/42mm.).

Hi Robert,

Any method used for low light photography is useful for the discussion, whether it is light leaking from another room, use of flash as a secondary source, or long exposure. Subject movement in a low light setting was the dominant theme of this thread but any ideas are worth exploring.

In your first example, is the bench also lit perhaps by a lamppost?

[tao2]

Hi John,

Natural light only, strong, setting sun on a very frosty day, giving the very bright, slanting light - around 3.30 pm. It was dark, 20 mins later. Took a mean of incident (on the bench) and reflective metering (bench area), Weston Master V. Minimum PP, removing dead twigs/branches in the background.

PS the bench was in my local park, in a small copse, with only one, small opening, off tae the right of the photo.

[JR1]

Can you have "LOW light" photography with flash, surely it defeats the object as flash is not a low light