Help: taking photos in a dark restaurant

[me4sunny]

Hi all!
I am new to digital photography:-) I will be going to my husband's 40th birthday which will take place in a Moroccan restaurant. I've been there already so I know it will be dark on one side but also that they use beautiful colours in their interior design - deep reds gold and brown... a lot of candles (but that will NOT be the only source of light and yet, I think for photos it will be quite tricky)

I am really keen to get nice shots... Any ideas what I should use on my camera?
I presume the ISO would need to be quite high 400, aperture "f" as low (high as I can get...I think I can get up to 3.4) but I presume the shutter speed will be quite low and without a tipod I won't get any good pictures? (I can't imagine using tripod it's a birthday dinner and I am hosting it... I can't get engrossed in photo taking all the time... may be 5 minutes here-10 minutes there...

Also - do you have any suggestions for the topics (poses?) I should try to cover to get a nice story?

THANKS!!!!

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by me4sunny

Hi all!
I am new to digital photography:-) I will be going to my husband's 40th birthday which will take place in a Moroccan restaurant. I've been there already so I know it will be dark on one side but also that they use beautiful colours in their interior design - deep reds gold and brown... a lot of candles (but that will NOT be the only source of light and yet, I think for photos it will be quite tricky)

I am really keen to get nice shots... Any ideas what I should use on my camera?
I presume the ISO would need to be quite high 400, aperture "f" as low (high as I can get...I think I can get up to 3.4) but I presume the shutter speed will be quite low and without a tipod I won't get any good pictures? (I can't imagine using tripod it's a birthday dinner and I am hosting it... I can't get engrossed in photo taking all the time... may be 5 minutes here-10 minutes there...

Also - do you have any suggestions for the topics (poses?) I should try to cover to get a nice story?

THANKS!!!!

It will help to know what kind of equipment you have...camera, lenses, shoe flash, etc. Maybe we can make some suggestions once we know that

[i speak in math]

ISO is probably going to have to be closer to 3200 and aperture less than f/4 in order for you to get a shutter speed that avoids subject blur. This is why people train for years in photography. Its not something where one just picks up a camera and is able to nail shots. Your best bet is bouncing a flash to light the main subject but using a longer shutter to allow the ambient to soak in the background. The camera should "smartly" do this if you have it in some sort of auto or semi-auto mode.

[hciere]

Your ISO will have to be way up as others have indicated so you'll need to embrace the grain. Personally, with nighttime party shots, I tend to lean towards a black and white conversion, as I think the subject matter + ISO noise looks cooler and more moody in black and white.

To mitigate the camera shake effect that comes with slower shutter speeds, you can try to lean against things, rest your elbows on a table surface etc. to get a steadier hand.

As for poses, a mix of candids and shots where you ask people to look at the camera, as well as some of the small details - shots of the food, a menu, a wine bottle etc. can help to tell the story of the evening.

Good luck!

[me4sunny]

Originally Posted by autofocus

It will help to know what kind of equipment you have...camera, lenses, shoe flash, etc. Maybe we can make some suggestions once we know that

i have cannon 1000D and was thinking of using the simple 50mm lens...with this lens I only can get f 4.5. My max ISO is 1600

thanks for the idea with BW photos!
I didn't want to use flash as it would make me with a camera so much present in the room (ok, that's my personal problem, probably)

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by me4sunny

i have cannon 1000D and was thinking of using the simple 50mm lens...with this lens I only can get f 4.5. My max ISO is 1600

thanks for the idea with BW photos!
I didn't want to use flash as it would make me with a camera so much present in the room (ok, that's my personal problem, probably)

under the circumstances maybe leave the camera at home and just enjoy the party - other wise really dark room+ no flash+ f4.5+no high iso = epic fail.

[rmizuphotography]

Originally Posted by zona5101

under the circumstances maybe leave the camera at home and just enjoy the party - other wise really dark room+ no flash+ f4.5+no high iso = epic fail.

He does have a point, based on these facts the odds look somewhat tough.

The only other thing I could suggest is to shoot using your cameras RAW setting. Only do this of course if you have a program like photoshop or lightroom to process the photos later. Shooting RAW will allow you a lot more flexibility in terms of brightening your picture several stops later in post.

good luck

[RichardTaylor]

Another option is to invest in a fast lens (f1.4-F2). The 50mm F1.8 would be the cheapest starting point, and may do the trick..

[gs.davies]

I also recommend the 50/1.8 approach. I picked one up for £80 earlier this year just to shoot bands in a club with. Treat yourself, it's nearly Christmas!
Turns out to be the lens I use most of the time now. That fixed length really made me think about composition too.