Candle Light Group

[jayarch2001]

Hi, a Noob here..

I have one case and need an advice for fellow cs..

This photo i take at Jewel box cafe..
the condition is low light, very dim.. the light source is only candle at table,
then we want to take pict as groups,
the problem is i didnt bring tripod, flash and the only lens i hv that time is 35-135mm f.4, as i only prepare for walk around at day light condition.

so i take the pict with ISO 1600 f.4 1/20, pop up flash (with tissue as diffuser ;p)
the result -of course- is dark, so i did touch up at PS and this is the final result,
the noise very distracting...

So any tips or trick for taking photo with above condition?
or how to do the optimal touch up at PS?

Thanks

 

[wildsoyabean]

i dun think u need to pump iso to 1600 when u are using pop up flash....

eh since its noisy...add more noise la...make it artisitic =p

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

imho... this pic is very ghastly...

its like some old group fotos taken long ago, then you bring it out and say... when u're about 80 years old then talk about some mishap (horror movie scenario)

like wildsoya said, no need to bump iso... your settings, iso 1600, f4 (its f4, not f.4, if .4, u no need to use flash already, and the DOF darn nice, 1st row nose sharp, the rest all blur), 1/20s, notice that the face have little or almost no flash? cos you're actually using the ambient light to light up the picture... or your ps skill is too good that you clean up the catchlights if any.

some pictures, at some places... no need to expose to see entire face, shadows, harsh flash, still works...

 

[denniskee]

to add on to what others had suggested, shoot in raw or tiff format for difficult situations, it helps alot during editing.

 

[night86mare]

so i take the pict with ISO 1600 f.4 1/20, pop up flash (with tissue as diffuser ;p)
the result -of course- is dark, so i did touch up at PS and this is the final result,
the noise very distracting...

what camera model are you using? i will not go so far as to say that you shouldn't bump it up to 1600iso, since the shutter speed here is 1/20, and you risk handshake if you keep it at 800iso.

the trouble is exposure, if you want minimal noise, noise is always in the shadow areas, so if you make sure the picture is properly exposed, noise will be minimised. in this case it looks as if your picture was underexposed before you processed it, resulting in this pretty unsightly result.

other than that, the treatment here is very unflattering.

from 35-135, to be honest, with popup flash, diffuser not really needed. direct flash might be better.

 

[casio]

1. Improve on your shooting stance. I can handhold shots at 1/15 with no IS.
2. I have no issues with ISO1600 noise if you really need the shot. I'd rather have the shot than to miss it because I was too mindful about the noise.
3. Putting a diffuser on the pop-up flash does nothing but eat up flash power. Diffusing light means making your light source bigger.

 

[night86mare]

1. Improve on your shooting stance. I can handhold shots at 1/15 with no IS.

everyone is different,

and it is better to state what focal length this is, because i would think it quite applaudable if you can do this with a 500mm lens with 2x TC. :bsmilie:

 

[dingzyangz]

strange... if u had used pop up flash, it shouldn't be tat dim even if you diffused it with a tissue. since it is digital and a posed shot, review ur shot and increase ur flash compensation should help I guess.

not sure if u switched on ur rear curtain sync. it will help u prevent blurry photos @ 1/20 (assuming u are using 35mm... which u should la... logically).

 

[casio]

everyone is different,

and it is better to state what focal length this is, because i would think it quite applaudable if you can do this with a 500mm lens with 2x TC. :bsmilie:

I know.. but he wasn't shooting at 500m with 2x TC, right? Of course, it's difficult to shoot at 1/15 at 135mm.

In the end, shooting stance is still something we should all work on.

 

[jayarch2001]

Hi all, thanks for all feed back and input.

@ wildsoyabean : yeahh..i will try to add more noise or use old photo effect.

I use Rebel Xti,
for this photo, my position and the object is separated with long table, and i stand around 1 m away from table, so total distance me from subject is around 4-5 m.

i cannot remember correctly what focal lenght i use, i guess is 50mm

actually for second tried, i used 1/10s and the result is better, but the composition, expression and position i prefer this one, thats why i still try to process it.

for RAW.. im not familiar for editing this format.. thats why i not shoot use RAW format. but i will try next time.

3. Putting a diffuser on the pop-up flash does nothing but eat up flash power. Diffusing light means making your light source bigger.
when i`m use diffuser, the skin color is more natural..but i dunno is it correct i use it in this situation.

 

[casio]

3. Putting a diffuser on the pop-up flash does nothing but eat up flash power. Diffusing light means making your light source bigger.
when i`m use diffuser, the skin color is more natural..but i dunno is it correct i use it in this situation.

Flash is usually white (depending on your White Balance setting). I guess using the tissue helped make skin tones look natural, but at the expense of flash power.

If you really need to use the tissue, at Flash Exposure Compensation maybe +1. Adjust accordingly.

I'm not sure if it works, but some of my friends say that using Sunlight WB will make flash a bit warmer. Not by much but still better. You can try this too.

 

[calebk]

The colour temperature of a candle, or indoor tungsten lighting would make a flash look blue. If you are using AWB, it will usually result in a very yellow colour cast, because the camera will opt to match the white balance of the flash, which is close to daylight.

 

[cabbySHE]

Hi, a Noob here..

I have one case and need an advice for fellow cs..

This photo i take at Jewel box cafe..
the condition is low light, very dim.. the light source is only candle at table,



From my observation, the light source is from the top, can't detect any flash, candle light's ambience is not there.
Observing point...
the cheek, the nose bridge, the forehead above the eyebrow, the shoulder. and some hairlite from the lady at the top right.(viewer's point)

 

[cy_j]

I'm more troubled by the way the lower mid tones are stretched, giving strange tonal values to the colors.

 

[cabbySHE]

The result is quite scary to say, if its not for the smile that everyone has put on.
More like a photo of those Korean horror movie.

No offend intended, just personal.

 

[fabianaino]

IMO... 4-5m is too far for pop up flash to work well ( if not at all ) with especially with the tissue as a diffuser. I am not sure but at ISO 1600 ...mm .. maybe. If it does work you shouldn't be PS-ing that much to push up the brightness.

Anyway, what i will suggest is, to try to move in closer. Pop-up flash has limited distance of effectiveness. Also try something which Joe McNally had done .. go natural... move the faces closer to the candle. Use the candle as the main source of light. It's there, why not use it. Hehe ... Idealy a flash mounted on the camera will be preferred; Or if u can moved the flash off camera, better ! Set the flash to TTL, flash exposure compensation by maybe .. errmm ... -1 or - 1.5. We just want the flash as a fill light. Gel the flash to tungsten. Set the flash to fire at rear sync.

Try it at 1/20 ISO 800 and let me know ya.

And maybe try to have the 3 girls in front and the guys at the back rather than mixing them like that .. ;p

 

[benleekc]

what about converting it to black and white since it look so noisy..