How to I shoot manually when the lighting is low?

[Aroberts212]

Hi all! I am a new photographer and am learning more every day. I notice when
I'm taking pictures and the lighting is not great (i.e. indoors or outside before the sun sets),
my pictures turn out blurry. I always, always try to shoot in manual mode but I find when I do in bad lighting situations, my pictures are blurred. What is the best way to compensate for low lighting without using a flash? It seems like flash depletes the picture of its natural emotion. And also, what is the best way to use a flash without blowing the subject out?

Thank you in advance to those willing to help my newbee self

[RichardTaylor]

Are you using a tripod or shooting hand held?
Are static subjects blurred?
If shooting hand held what shutter speeds are you using?
What camera & lens are you using?

Blur is caused by
(1) subject movement. ie the shutter speed is to slow to "freeze" the subject
and/or
(2) Camera movement. If hand holding the shutter speed is too slow.
The shutter speed needed depends on the camera/lens and the photographer.
and/or
(3)Subject not in focus.

Re the flash.
Use an external flash, preferably diffused or bounced off a ceiling or wall.
See the flash photography techniques here.
http://neilvn.com/tangents/

[RecurrentNerve]

You need to open the aperture as wide as possible (small f number) and increase the ISO. This will allow you to increase your shutter speed which will reduce blur. Google 'The Exposure Triangle' for more information. Don't feel you have to always shoot in Manual mode incidentally - Aperture Priority is fine and dandy for most shots.

As for using the flash, your camera should have Flash Compensation which will allow you to dial down the power. A diffuser is also useful; there are various kinds, but they all work in a similar way. They soften the light and reduce harsh shadows and blowouts. You can buy one or make your own to try; loads of videos on YouTube for that.

[Mr Guy]

Low light shooting is one of those nooks where sometimes the answer really IS the equipment. Fortunately, that doesn't always mean buying expensive new gear. Sometimes it means knowing the limitation of your stuff, and figuring out how best to use it and when to not even bother.

I apologize in advance, but the research scientist in me needs to take over for a second:

To figure out your root cause, you need to do the best you can to divide out your sources of error. RichardTaylor did a good job, but I'm going to delve a little deeper. What you have to do is figure out what the part that's bugging you is, figure out the root cause, and then figure out what you can control to improve the situation in the future. Sometimes that's buying something, sometimes it's making people move slightly, or trying a slightly different angle, or even just bringing a mini tripod for table tops.

Sources of Softness / Blur

1. Subject movement - Subject movement is the simplest. To freeze movement, you need enough light coming in quickly enough to lock the image. You can do that two ways. Using a flash lets you expose for movement and ambiance, or using a fast shutter speed to prevent exposure in multiple places on the sensor.

CAUSE: Insufficient light FIX: Increase ISO, Increase Aperture, Increase available light
CAUSE: Insufficient shutter speed FIX: Increase Shutter Speed, Increase available light

2. Camera movement - Camera movement is harder to pinpoint. It happens when your subject is relatively still, but the camera itself causes the blur. It results entirely from movement while the shutter is open, but can be harder to control.

CAUSE: Hand shake FIX: Hand holding technique, bracing against walls, tripods
CAUSE: Slow shutter speed FIX: Increase shutter speed, increase available light

3. Subject Focus - In dark light, your autofocus system is strained anyway. Most autofocus systems aren't even well designed for focusing with the lens wide open, so they can "miss" to begin with in dark lights. Then you have to have enough light for the autofocus system to work, then due to the nature of the aperture necessary for low lights even slight misses can ruin the picture, and finally, in low light, the AF system and tight depth of field make it so even slight movement by you or your subjects can completely shift them out of the depth of field, even if it IS locked correctly.

CAUSE: Missed focus FIX: Manual focus if possible, largest aperture possible
CAUSE: Movement FIX: Hand holding technique, largest aperture possible


You can see the mess low light causes. It's such a hassle, that despite being a relatively uncommon scenario, it's probably got the most discussed about on all photography websites. People buy cameras and equipment that are WAAAAAAY overkill for their 95% use case just to address how big of a pain in the rump getting good pictures in crap lighting is.

Frankly, you can work around almost all bad lighting problems with creativity and technique. Most people seem to prefer to go the "buy your way out of your problems" road, but that way, in my opinion, you'll never really learn what's going on and how you can control it. Then, when an emergency does come, and you'll be able to think your way through it.

That way, in an emergency, you can do whatever everyone else does. You can push AND pull the RAW, bracket the focus to make sure you get exactly what you want, cheat by pushing the raw in black and white, or do what artists have done for years. Declare the flaws to be "artistic" and use hubris to cover it.