first post - photo of my 8 mo old daughter

[Heathrob]

I am new to DPS so I hope I am posting this correctly!! I recently got my first DSLR camera for Christmas and have been obsessed with learning how to take decent photos of my baby. My main obstacle has been dealing with poor lighting. Because I refuse to use the flash on my camera, I am trying to take natural lighting photos. It seems like all of my photos are usually underexposed unless I slow my shutter speed down and then my photos are usually blurry (camera shake?). I have tried increasing the ISO but I then end up with grainy photos. So, can anyone suggest a way that I can get vivid, sharp photos when I am shooting in low lighting situations? I have a tripod but it is unrealistic to use it while trying to shoot a crawling baby!! The photo below was taken in the mid afternoon.



Camera: Canon EOS 30D
Lens: Canon 50 mm 1.8
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 125
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[lputman]

If you are not attempting to do posed shots and you are chasing the baby, you will need to increase your ISO to get a faster shutter speed. You can do a NR in post if the noise is too bothersome for you. You've a little cutie there.

[DEBBIE BROCK]

Beautiful eyes so blue. I love to see close-ups of the eyes and detail this you did achieve....lovely baby girl

[Heathrob]

Originally Posted by lputman

If you are not attempting to do posed shots and you are chasing the baby, you will need to increase your ISO to get a faster shutter speed. You can do a NR in post if the noise is too bothersome for you. You've a little cutie there.

I have been contemplating whether or not to purchase a used Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash. Do you think it would be a good investment to purchase an external flash to use in low light situations? Or would I be better off just cranking up the ISO like you suggested?

[Heathrob]

Originally Posted by DEBBIE BROCK

Beautiful eyes so blue. I love to see close-ups of the eyes and detail this you did achieve....lovely baby girl

Thank you!! It is very easy to feel inspired to capture the moments with her!

[Murtasma]

You should experiment with off camera flash, or at least on camera while bouncing. Your only options in low light are to use an aperture like F2.8 F1.8 or F1.4. Depending on the focal length and aperture setting the depth of field will be minimal which makes focus much more critical. Taking pictures of a child that moves around will become even harder at wider apertures for the auto focus system to deal with. Even if you shoot wide open this still may not be enough to obtain a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the child so blur is not present.

Using a flash will making freezing the child while at the same time having enough light to properly expose the image possible.

I suggest a Canon 430EX II. Bumping your ISO up I feel is not ideal when dealing with babies. They have very smooth skin and any grain introduced by a high ISO tends to take away from the image. Post processing the grain out will help but it's another step you need to do and the results will not be as good as a photo where it was done right in camera to begin with.

Working with flash is not as hard as it seems. With todays advanced metering, ease of setting changes and seeing what your getting instantly makes the whole process much easier then working with film when you are just starting.

[Heathrob]

Murtasma,

Thank you for the advice on the Canon 430EX II. I definitely do not want to compromise my ability to capture my daughter's smooth skin by adding extra grain at high ISOs. I have a birthday coming up in two weeks. I have been dropping a ridiculous amount of hints to my husband with regard to how much I would love a flash. So we will see if he has been paying attention ! In the meantime while I do not have a Speedlite, what is the best way of going about post processing the grain? Should I use photoshop for this?

Thanks!

[arsifferlen]

this is a really nice shot. i love the pink outfit and curious look on her face. too sweet!