Can anyone help? Natural Light Settings

Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 14

I love Natural Lighting, but inside my house if I take a pic, I have to use a flash.

Someone told me that it is all with my settings, but I'm totally lost on this! Can anyone help? I've upped my ISO as suggested, but get so much noise that I can't use the pic!

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:36 am

Unfortunately high noise levels at high ISO levels comes with the territory, yes some camera's are better at keeping it to minimum, but it's a reality we all have to deal with, even the film guys get film grain at higher ISO films.
As for using natural light indoors, well depends on what you're trying to shoot.
Moving objects will require a flash most times, the harshness of the flash can be somewhat reduced by using a defuser or bouncing the flash off a white ceiling or wall, other wise a tripod and a very still subject is an absolute necessity, so that you can use the slow shutter speeds required to expose correctly.

Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 63

Take the pics in Raw format using your high ISO and a wide aperture. Then download a trial RAW processor such as Bibble or Capture One and use the noise reduction. Bibble includes Noise Ninja which will make a huge difference.

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:06 am

If it is a posed portrait indoors, try shooting next to a north (yes, north gives a softer light) facing window and use a reflector (a pair is better one for the lighted and unlighted side) to bounce the light to the subject. The reflector needs to be as close as possible without being in the frame. The reflector can be something as simple as a piece of white cardboard or even cardboard covered with wrinkled aluminum foil smoothed out and glued or taped down to the cardboard with the dull side out.

Do not shoot into the window unless you are comfortable with working the metering to handle a backlit subject but do it parallel to the window so the light is coming from from the right or left of the frame.

A fast lens shot wide open (smallest aperture #) will keep the shutter speed up and soften the background. Be sure the focus point is on the eye(s). Shoot in AV and use exposure compensation to expose the shadows but watch you don't blow out the lit side. And be sure your background is free of clutter and otherwise distracting objects.

Hope this helps or gives you some direction to try.