Just had to share & have a question too

[debbie.pearson]

Took my granddaughter to the park last night for a photo shoot (more like grandma chasing her around like paparazzi while she ran from slide to slide!).

It was late evening (almost dusk) when we were taking the pictures with the fairy wings. Too dark to get good photos without flash and the flash just makes everything harsh looking. Are there any camera settings I can adjust to get photos at dusk in manual mode without having to use the flash? (I use a Nikon D70).

(ok, I've tried inserting picture and it won't work for whatever reason tonight, so if someone will take a peek you'll see what I'm talking about). Pics 103, 105 and 109 are the ones I took at dusk and really struggled with lighting. My favorite is 074a.

http://debpearson.blogs.com/photos/aria/index.html

[keget135]

Do you ever shoot in manual (M)? Or even Aperature priority (A) mode? I have the Nikon D70s. I can't tell what your ISO was when you were shooting those, but my first suggestion would be to increase the ISO. That will allow for you to use a faster shutter speed (which means you need less light). I'm not sure if you can shoot in a program mode (which are all the modes except M, A, S, or P) and change the ISO, or if the program mode does that for you. The D70 has a good brain, but you have a better one. ;)

If you don't shoot manual, then you might try the night portrait mode. You can force the flash off (press the flash button down and turn the dial until you get the no flash symbol). I'm not sure how the pictures would turn out though.

Picture 109 is an awesome shot, with great composition. It would turn out great with a color pop action run on it.

[Theresa Hernandez]

I can't answer your question, but wow!! You have talent, lady! Those pictures are amazing!

[debbie.pearson]

I normally use the manual P mode 99% of the time. I've never changed my ISO setting before, so I'll get my manual out and see how to go about doing that. I know that if you use any of the pre-programmed modes, it doesn't appear you can adjust ISO (or I just don't know how to completely operate my camera yet).

Color-pop action? Is that like the Optikverve filters or some other new toy you are tempting me with :)

[keget135]

I will not tempt you with any new toys. ;) I'm not sure if Optikverve has any filters like that, but I do know that Adobe has the new Lightroom beta version on free trial right now (until January), and they have a "direct positive" option you can play with. They have a lot of options on there.

To change the ISO on my camera, I hold down the ISO button next to the LCD, and turn the back dial. I have been able to get some decent shots during dusk. For me, the D70s does quite well with higher ISO's. Maybe not pictures to be blown up to 11x14 or bigger, but most definitely decent 8x10's or scrap page pictures. Might have more noise with macro shots.

[Hollie]

So were you using flash on these shots? Are they PP or just straight out of cam (cropped only)?? They really look good to me. I wasn't sure which ones were the ones in question and I didn't see any numbers. I think you could easily PP some of them to make them look even better. But I am a total amateur and I haven't even gotten my dSLR yet (which I just ordered).

I really do think these are some beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing!!!

[debbie.pearson]

Theresa you are so sweet, thank you for saying such nice things.

Ok, I figured out how to manually change my ISO (wonder how much better all my pictures in the last year would have been had I known how to do this); however, I'm totally dumb when it comes to this so please be patient with me. How do I know whether to increase or decrease my ISO number and by how much? Is there some rule of thumb?

Holly the one photo of Aria in a profile with her wings on was taken with flash...and the background looks almost black. The others with her wings were taken within the same few minutes but in P mode, no flash.

I assume if I were to use my macro lens, I'd just change the ISO levels back to my original numbers. I can tell I need to read up on ISO settings now...and go checkout the Adobe Lightroom.

Thanks you guys for helping to educate me a bit.

[debbie.pearson]

Oh PS Holly, no photoshop manipulation other than running the Nik Sharpener Pro on them and adjusting contrast on a few to compensate for the low lighting. Other than that they are straight out of the can. Some are less than great photos but perfect for sharing with family members :)

[keget135]

I don't believe I have ever shot in P mode, but in A or M, my rule of thumb for ISO, is to have it high enough that my shutter speed doesn't go below 1/100 or 1/150. I'm not completely clear on this, but I think I've read somewhere with kids you want to keep your shutter speed above 1/150, since they are spunky subjects. :lol: If my shutter is having to stay open a long time, I usually get some sort of camera shake. That's when I know a higher ISO would be helpful.

My suggestion would be go out and play a bit and test it out seeing what different ISO's do for the overall picture.

You really do have a great photos already. This will help when your on the verge of needing a flash, but would prefer not to use it.

[Lauren]

Quick guide for ISO...

ISO 100: Good for sunny, outdoor conditions
ISO 200: Good for overcast outdoor conditions (also long exposures at night)
ISO 400: Good compromise for indoor/outdoor use
ISO 800 & up: Good for indoor use, low light conditions, or action shots

I usually have my ISO set at 400 and then increase/decrease when required. The only reason I'd change ISO when changing lenses is if one was significantly faster/slower than the other as the ISO is more to do with the available light than the lens but if you're comparing a 1.2 lens to a 5.6 lens (for example) you won't need as high an ISO on the former to use the same shutter setting as you can increase the aperture to let in a lot more light. This will decrease your depth of field though.

I'm assuming P mode on the Nikon is similar to the Canon, where it still selects your shutter/aperture but you have more control over the other settings? The problem with this is that if it selects a narrower aperture, the shutter speed also gets slower which can result in camera shake and motion blur.

Here's an example of how changing the aperture affects shutter speed. All of the below will technically give you the same exposure, however they may look drastically different due to how long the shutter is left open (light bursts, motion blur, etc). The actual shutter speed will completely be determined by the available light (so don't use these exact settings unless the light happens to match them) but these are just some general speeds to show you the time differences.

A 2 - T 1/500
A 2.8 - T 1/250
A 4 - T 1/125
A 5.6 - T 1/60
A 8 - T 1/30

Also the effects of the ISO... I'll assume the above was set at ISO 100 so without changing the aperture (I'll use f/8 as the example) this is how your shutter will be affected just by changing the ISO.

ISO 100 - T 1/30
ISO 200 - T 1/60
ISO 400 - T 1/125
ISO 800 - T 1/250
ISO 1600 - T 1/500

Assuming your camera has selected f/8 at ISO 100 which will give you a 1/30 exposure (too low for most things)... to get a 1/250 exposure, you either need to increase the aperture to f/2.8 OR increase the ISO to 800. You could also do a combination of the two, such as only increasing the ISO to 400, but also opening the aperture to 5.6. This is a good compromise if you need more depth of field than 2.8 will provide and/or want to reduce the amount of noise by not using a high ISO.

So, what this means is... with a combination of a wide aperture (ideally a fast lens) and high ISO, you'll be able to take shots in much lower light without having to use the flash.

Hope that made sense and helps. :)

[debbie.pearson]

Lauren, that has certainly helps and gives me a lot to chew on. I need to take this cheat sheet and go out and just try changing modes, if for no other reason to get familiar with how to change them so I can do it without having to get my manual out every time. You gals are great. Thanks so much for all the help.

[PeggyC]

Good morning Deb... just wanted to tell you that your granddaughter is absolutely adorable!

[debbie.pearson]

Ah Peggy, thank you! I think so, but then again I'm a bit partial :D