If you are like a lot of other keen camera users, you probably have a sophisticated compact point-and-shoot camera that you use for most of your photography. Maybe it's from a big manufacturer of cameras like Canon, or one of the electronics giants like Sony or Samsung. If it is relatively new, it most likely has a high megapixel count, not to mention a host of other features. Lastly, it probably looks pretty slim and sexy to boot!
Although you have all these fabulous features, you may be puzzled, disappointed or frustrated at your inability to take a quality photo at night or in low-light such as indoors away from a window. You may have found that photos you take at night come out either blurry, horribly washed out by the flash, grainy/noisy, lacking in color, or all of the above.
So what is the reason? Every camera is capable of taking clear, concise photos during optimum lighting such as outdoors in the middle of the day. However, it is very difficult for a camera to determine what you see in low light conditions. The main reason or this is that a cameras shutter must stay open longer in order to ensure a bright enough light to take the photo. In addition, it is nearly impossible to hold a camera completely steady therefore causing your photos to be blurry. To compensate for this, you could use flash, although this tends to give people an unnatural complexion or use ISO which unfortunately can add 'digital noise' to your photos.
Listed below are three tips to help improve your low-light photography:
1) When you purchase a camera, ensure it is equipped with an 'optical image stabilization' feature. This technology refers to a sensor inside the camera that will compensate for any movement from the person holding the camera and correct it to make sure you have a quality photo.
2) Turn off the flash feature on your camera and ask your subjects to remain very still. In addition, you can try moving your subjects to better light or experiment with the Night Mode setting on your camera. This should be in the menu.
3) If the subject of your low-light photo is non- moving such as a building, try bracing the camera against something. A small tabletop triPod is easy to carry and works great, however, in a pinch, a tree or light post can serve the same purpose.
More Information:
Tobias Sterling is an experience photographer who is passionate about sharing his knowledge with fellow photograpgy enthusiast. His articles including
Sensual Fine Art Photography and
Portrait Photography Tips can be found on Clivir.com - the free learning community.
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