Low light does not have to equal bad photos.
Jami Edman shares tips to work around tough indoor conditions, and take better photos.
Low Light Lens- Often the “kit” lens that comes with your camera does not allow a wide enough aperture (opening in the lens) to let in enough light for an indoor photo. For around $100 you can buy a 50mm lens that allows for a very large opening of a 1.8, which is perfect for indoor photography. You do need to be careful with that wide of opening as it will cause you to have a shallow depth of field, so this is good if your are photographing only one subject.
White Balance- White balance refers to the temperature of the light and how it is recorded on our camera sensor. Each type of light source has a different t color temperature. For instance a light bulb from a lamp gives off a yellowish warm color temperature, while a gym using fluorescent light gives off a cooler temperature. There are different settings on our cameras to give us a correct white balance so the skin tones look correct. Usually the Auto White Balance setting will work, but if the photo seems to yellow or too blue, it is good to set your setting to “shade” white balance, because shooting indoors using window light is like shooting in the shade. Do not mix your source of light, for instance don’t have the lights on your house on while you are also using window light, this will confuse your camera and you will get a yellowish or green tone in your photo.
Direction of light- This is very important in indoor photography. What direction is the light coming from through our windows? We want it to be indirect light. If it is direct it will blind our subject and give us hot spots on faces. If the light is in direct it will be a much softer light and be more flattering on your subject.
Open your doors- Sometimes our windows do not give us enough light. But if we open our doors they can flood a space with extra light giving your photos that extra punch of light you might need.
Clear the Clutter- In order to achieve a nice clean look in our photos it is often necessary to clear any clutter out of the background. Piles of laundry, books, and general clutter don’t make for that perfect photo.
My next photography class is January 25th and for studio 5 viewers there is an early bird discount if they sign up for the class before January 15th. Visit ImagesbyJami.com and click on the photography classes link!
For more information, visit www.imagesbyjami.com.
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