question

[imKevin]

yesterday i attended a gathering at a chalet.
so was around the evening time with the sun being kinda dim.
so i took a few shots and was commented by a friend, whom i presume is pro?

he got quite a few lens, and a external flash.
so like giving me some comments of me like "where got ppl take photos like that?".

cos i was trying to get a clear shot by reducing the shutter speed and increasing the ISO.
just some trial & error as im quite new to SLR.
i was like...."oh ok, thanks"

he added and told me that ppl usually take with the ISO as low as possible with the help of flash. but as i was thinking, for some places, using flash would kinda spoil the picture...as i wanted natural light.

so was it wrong for me to take a shot in tat way, to adjust to my preference and shoot??
pls advise.

 

[satan_18349]

You taking shots of people or place? What are you capturing when you said you want a clear shot?

 

[ortega]

there is no right and no wrong, only the resulting image matters

if the image is nice, then it cannot be wrong

 

[Rashkae]

so i took a few shots and was commented by a friend, whom i presume is pro?

Never presume. Who says he's a pro? and a pro in what?

he got quite a few lens, and a external flash.

Yeah, so? Still doesn't make you pro.

he added and told me that ppl usually take with the ISO as low as possible with the help of flash.

Maybe true for him. Not necessarily true for others.

so was it wrong for me to take a shot in tat way, to adjust to my preference and shoot??
pls advise.

Nope. Your camera, your pictures. Shoot any way you want to.

 

[catchlights]

yesterday i attended a gathering at a chalet.
so was around the evening time with the sun being kinda dim.
so i took a few shots and was commented by a friend, whom i presume is pro?

he got quite a few lens, and a external flash.
so like giving me some comments of me like "where got ppl take photos like that?".

cos i was trying to get a clear shot by reducing the shutter speed and increasing the ISO.
just some trial & error as im quite new to SLR.
i was like...."oh ok, thanks"

he added and told me that ppl usually take with the ISO as low as possible with the help of flash. but as i was thinking, for some places, using flash would kinda spoil the picture...as i wanted natural light.

so was it wrong for me to take a shot in tat way, to adjust to my preference and shoot??
pls advise.

nothing right, nothing wrong...

using high ISO, low shutter speed, big aperture will get the shot the way you want.

using low ISO, plus flash will get the shot the way he want.

it is only the images matter.

 

[imKevin]

hmmm ok thanks guys.
i wanted to just take a shot of ppl BBQ-ing...oh well.
least the answers from you guys has cleared my doubts.

Thanks!

 

[KissDigitalX]

Like you, imKevin, I used to avoid flash to "preserve" the ambience (at least that was what I thought).
Then I found out that without a decent fast lens, it's kinda hard to get certain images I want.
So stumbling into Fill Flash discussions, I realise that using the flash appropriately can actually "preserve" the ambience.

High ISO might have grainy images.

Slow shutter might capture motion blur.

Anyway like what others have said, it's not the amount of gear that determines who is a Pro.
It is your camera so as long as the pictures turn out fine, it really doesn't matter how you actually took it.
Besides there are a lot of resources and friendly "Pros" in this forum to help you improve your skills.

 

[Reportage]

there is photography to make people happy, there is photography to make yourself happy..very rare to have both. My opinion, try your way and try his way since digital camera mah. That way dont lose anything.

later see him again then can comment on it like why his setting the picture overexposed or why your photo the focus is off and so on. You learn more.

 

[thenomad]

I'm also one of those who prefer to have natural light rather than flash light.
But for that, you will need to have a fast lens.
Even then, sometimes when the light is quite bad, you will still need to bump up the ISO.
Normally we use an ISO setting that is as low as possible, while at the same time having a shutter speed fast enough to prevent motion blur - just to maximise image quality.

Number of lenses does not equal pro or not.
A pro is just someone who makes a living from photography, and normally they have to be quite good in order to do so.

 

[ortega]

actually you can control the flash to look like and in fact enhance the ambient light

 

[Octarine]

he added and told me that ppl usually take with the ISO as low as possible with the help of flash. but as i was thinking, for some places, using flash would kinda spoil the picture...as i wanted natural light.
so was it wrong for me to take a shot in tat way, to adjust to my preference and shoot?? pls advise.

No, it wasn't wrong at all. If the result is terrible than you will learn that it didn't work that way. If the result is what you wanted then your settings were correct in that moment. But maybe there are other ways to achieve the same? First of all: analyze your scene. Is it static (nature), do you have objects moving? This tells you what shutter speed is possible and in return you know which other parameters have to follow. Keep the basics in mind about the 3 key parameters and you can adjust the camera accordingly.

 

[liarliar]

Did your pro friend ask you to ask for permission from the "tor di kong (land deity)" before shooting anything? Must ask permission also pro like dat 1 :bsmilie:

 

[zac08]

With low ISO and flash contributing to the scene only, the result would be a DARK BG and BRIGHT subject which is what the PnS shooters already can achieve... so why would you want to get such a result??

I go for high ISO and use the flash to fill in the scene's dark shadow areas on the subjects and this is what a seasoned user would want to achieve to make your picture stand out against the other shooters.

 

[valentinik]

With low ISO and flash contributing to the scene only, the result would be a DARK BG and BRIGHT subject which is what the PnS shooters already can achieve... so why would you want to get such a result??

I go for high ISO and use the flash to fill in the scene's dark shadow areas on the subjects and this is what a seasoned user would want to achieve to make your picture stand out against the other shooters.

Hi,
Just throwing something on the table. Would second curtain sync work in this scenario?
Maybe bring up the background exposure and freeze the foreground.
Anyone?

 

[zac08]

Hi,
Just throwing something on the table. Would second curtain sync work in this scenario?
Maybe bring up the background exposure and freeze the foreground.
Anyone?

Yes... but you'd need to expose the BG for a long period of time, it may not be feasible if you are handholding it and the shutter speed drags to 1 sec or more...

More if you have a tripod on hand and you get your subjects to freeze...

 

[boyboy]

high iso will reduce the details in ur pix, but there's no right and wrong. depends on what u want to achieve.

there are times where u really need to use flash instead of bumping up the ISO. but if u are using built-in flash, then not so ideal cos it looks harsher

 

[zac08]

high iso will reduce the details in ur pix, but there's no right and wrong. depends on what u want to achieve.

there are times where u really need to use flash instead of bumping up the ISO. but if u are using built-in flash, then not so ideal cos it looks harsher

These days, with the better sensors, you can really achieve wonders with the high ISO. And the details lost are really minor, mainly in the BG and is not easily discernable in our normal standards.

 

[AMediaLuz]

yesterday i attended a gathering at a chalet.
so i took a few shots and was commented by a friend, whom i presume is pro?

he got quite a few lens, and a external flash.
so like giving me some comments of me like "where got ppl take photos like that?".

so was it wrong for me to take a shot in tat way, to adjust to my preference and shoot??
pls advise.

Where got 'Pros' give this type of comments one: Where got ppl take photos like that?:sticktong

If everyone take photos the same way for a certain type of events, won't that make the look and feel of photos similar and in the long run - boring?

The correct thing for him to say would be : If you want this effect, then you can try changing the ISO/shutter speed/position etc etc to... because ultimately, its about how you want to get a certain effect that matters.

 

[boyboy]

These days, with the better sensors, you can really achieve wonders with the high ISO. And the details lost are really minor, mainly in the BG and is not easily discernable in our normal standards.

depends on what the images are used for also.

i don't really bother for my snaps, i'd go up to ISO3200 on my D300, and iso1600 on my previous camera. but if i submit to istock, must give them low iso :embrass:

even then, sometimes still get rejected (after i do some processing for curves, etc). however, i'm not very good at processing, and don't use standalone NR plugins like noise ninja or whatever. those seem to be quite good

looking back at some of my first pix with my first DSLR, i did get a few nice pix, but quite wasted that they are of too low quality...

 

[zac08]

Quite true....

mine are for online viewing only, so I won't bother even if there is noise on the image. I'm using a D200, so the highest I'd go is ISO 800 for usable pics...

And do try out the Noise Ninja... really :thumbsup: