Problems of shooting indoor

[Jay.Yang]

Happy New Year, forum members!

I am amateur photographer, and a loyal listener of the podcast that Marko did, but not so active in forum activity (posted in Critique section once and felt quite bad of how bad my picture was. Anyways...)

I have a question regarding shooting indoor photography. If any of the experts can give me some comments, I would be very appreciated.

Many times when I am shooting indoor, I always find that the lighting is never enough for my Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens (especially if the subjects are moving people). So I am not too sure what's the best solution to this problem. Is it either to get an external flash, or to get a wide angle, low f/stop lens lens (like 24mm f/1.4 or 17-55mm f/2.8)?

Thanks,
Jay

[Marko]

Hi jay,

Don't feel bad about posting pix, and getting critiques - that's how we all learn

To answer your question, The light indoors is sometimes too low to catch STILL people without flash. You'll need a shutter speed of at least 1/60 on most lenses if you are handholding your camera. If the light is too low, you might not get that 1/60. If you have a newer DSLR, you might be able to raise the ISO so that you do get a shutter speed of 1/60. You can do this to a point and then the shot might look noisy. If the people are moving, that shutter speed will need to be increased. The faster they move the more it will need to be increased.
Or you can use a portable flash which will generally work well for small groups in closer quarters.
But it definitely sounds like you need to play with shutter speeds and moving people so that you can discover for yourself what the limits of your camera are. Of course please feel free to ask more specific questions if anything here is unclear.

Hope that helps - Marko

[Jay.Yang]

Hi jay,

Don't feel bad about posting pix, and getting critiques - that's how we all learn

To answer your question, The light indoors is sometimes too low to catch STILL people without flash. You'll need a shutter speed of at least 1/60 on most lenses if you are handholding your camera. If the light is too low, you might not get that 1/60. If you have a newer DSLR, you might be able to raise the ISO so that you do get a shutter speed of 1/60. You can do this to a point and then the shot might look noisy. If the people are moving, that shutter speed will need to be increased. The faster they move the more it will need to be increased.
Or you can use a portable flash which will generally work well for small groups in closer quarters.
But it definitely sounds like you need to play with shutter speeds and moving people so that you can discover for yourself what the limits of your camera are. Of course please feel free to ask more specific questions if anything here is unclear.

Hope that helps - Marko

Hi Marko,

I am a loyal listener of you podcast, so I do understand the basics of photography like shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. I am shooting with Canon 30D and the lens I have is EFS 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. So whenever I am shooting indoor, I find that I need to set the ISO at least 1000 or above, so I get get shutter speed ~1/100 when the aperture is wide open. However, I find that my pictures appears to be yellow-ish and are quite noisy at such a high ISO (actually, just remember from your latest podcast about noise in the picture. I usually have to under-expose my shots a bit to get a faster shutter speed. And this, as you said in the podcast, will also introduce noise).

So, to solve the problem, either I create more light (flash), or I get a faster lens (lens with bigger aperture). But I am not sure which one is a better solution.

Actually, since you are from Montreal, have you been to the Ice Hotel (Hotel de Glace) in Quebec City? I will be staying there 1 night at the end of January and would like to capture as many amazing pictures as possible. So if you have any recommendations as to how to take good pictures in those settings, it would be nice.

Thanks,
Jay

[aubintbay]

Hey Jay..........

I am an amateur photographer like yourself. I bought a Canon Rebel about a year and a half ago with the thought of portrait/indoor shooting for the most part. I soon realized like yourself that I needed something more. I picked up the Canon 430ex flash and what a difference! Shutter speeds are up, iso is down and pics have improved immensely. This has turn out out to be a very good purchase. I highly recommend it. For xmas the wife bought me the 50mm f1.4.... again things have improved. If I had to make a choice though I would definitely say GET THE FLASH. I noticed an immediate improvement.
Hope this helps.

[Iguanasan]

I would highly recommend flash as well as I believe it would be more beneficial to have more light than to try and and build/buy camera gear to get acceptable results in low light situations. Make sure you get something that can either be taken off camera or at the very least has a diffuser of some sort to reduce the harshness of a flash. Also, spend a little time practicing with the flash understand what you can do with it.

Also, sorry to hear you felt bad about your first results. I remember those photos and they were pretty good. The thing to remember is that as photographers we tend to pick them apart a lot more than the average person. Also, it's all done to help you get better.

[Marko]

Hi jay!

First off thanks for being a loyal listener and giving me a better idea of your knowledge level

So, to solve the problem, either I create more light (flash), or I get a faster lens (lens with bigger aperture). But I am not sure which one is a better solution.

Go with the flash. It will come in way more handy more often, and there is no lens on the planet that will be good for people shots when it is extremely dark. Only more light can defeat the darkness

I've not been to that hotel in QC city but I'd love to go one day soon. It's still about 2.5 hours from mtl. I'd highly suggest a tripod for some outdoor shots at sunrise or sunset - highly. and I'd also suggest the flash to defeat the potential darkness inside.

best!
marko

[Jay.Yang]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, guys. I went and get myself a canon 430ex. I will sure post some pictures from Quebec city in a week or so. Getting excited =)

Iggy, you do remember the pictures I posted? Very touched. I will sure post more often in the critique section. Thanks =)

Jay