{"id":48390,"date":"2019-09-20T22:40:31","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T02:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=48390"},"modified":"2019-09-21T00:58:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T04:58:15","slug":"event-photography-in-low-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/event-photography-in-low-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Event photography in low light"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Event photography in low light<\/h1>\n

Event photography where you are photographing speakers at the event, can be challenging in its own way. The problem with taking photos of presenters, especially if they are animated, is that you have to take a LOT of photos to get a few where they look good. You don’t want to give your client any photos with awkward expressions. This means you have to take so many photos just to get a few keepers. But shooting a ton of photos with flash becomes intrusive after a very short while. I therefore prefer to do the majority of photos of speakers at events, using the available light only … with the silent shutter. However, the lighting might not be ideal. So I might do a few sequences with flash, just to have that in my pocket. Ideally, a camera that has a silent shutter is the best choice – you can take hundreds of photos without anyone being aware of the camera shutter.<\/p>\n

I recently photographed\u00a0Cory Booker<\/a> at a fundraiser event last night. The venue was pretty dark, with wooden ceilings, as you can see in the photo below. Wooden ceilings are not ideal for flash photography, but I did some photos with flash, bouncing flash off that wooden ceiling. Then I used the Profoto A1 at full power, with the flash bouncing to the side (and to the front of me), using a Black Foamy Thing to flag the flash. For these photos I was at f\/2 and 3200 ISO. The very warm White Balance is then corrected as part of the usual RAW workflow.<\/p>\n

I brought along my new favorite lens for this event – the Sony FE 135mm f\/1.8 GM lens<\/a>\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a> \/ Amazon<\/em><\/a>) – just in case I had to deal with such challenges as a venue with low light levels. This lens is incredibly sharp wide open, which is exactly where you will be using it most of the time. The autofocusing is also fast and sure.<\/p>\n

Along with Sony’s eye-focus ability, it helps track the person as they move. It can be a challenge when you have a presenter who walks to and fro on the stage. But with the eye-focus of the Sony (and the Nikon Z6 and Z7 cameras), this stress is reduced for the photographer. The camera tracks the person’s eye so well that the majority of photos will be in focus. The camera I used here was the Sony A7 iii camera<\/a> (B&H<\/a> \/ Amazon<\/a><\/em>), which also handled the high ISO settings like a champ.<\/p>\n

The fast aperture allowed me to bounce flash, using an f\/2 aperture at 3200 ISO. But\u00a0I also did a larger number of photos with the silent shutter, shooting at f\/1.8 @ 6400 ISO @ 1\/125th to get a decently exposed photo. (I still had to bump the exposure in post by about 1\/2 stop for most of the available light photos.)<\/p>\n

What I am trying to get to here is that this would have been really really tough without the 135mm f\/1.8 … an f\/2.8 zoom wouldn’t have been a workable option with the available light. And even bouncing flash off the ceiling like that would have been tough without pushing the ISO up higher.<\/p>\n

I now bring the Nikon 70-200mm f\/2.8 and<\/strong> the Sony 135mm f1\/.8 to weddings. I still love zooms for their versatility, but there are times where you need that extra bump in exposure with the wider aperture.\u00a0For this event I only brought the 135mm because I knew it would be a more controlled environment than a church wedding.<\/p>\n

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I do prefer the shot with flash because the light is more controlled, and the photo looks more crisp. But I shot over 200 photos just available light, using the silent shutter.\u00a0I would have been a nuisance if I did that with flash.\u00a0So I gave the client about 10 photos that I selected from the photos with flash, and then added the available light photos for more variety. This gave them enough options.<\/p>\n

The flash that I used for the photo below, is the\u00a0Profoto A1x flash (for Sony)<\/a> \u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a> \/ Amazon<\/em><\/a>). I love it for the power, and the fast recycling. But also for the ease of switching between TTL and manual flash, and how quickly I can adjust manual power. Perfect for quick decisions.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings & photo gear used for this photo<\/h2>\n