Shooting in the Dark
Sometimes shooting in the dark can truly feel like you are shooting in the dark! You get off a few shot trying different setting combinations and you hope for the best.
But if that was how professionals worked they wouldn't be in business for long. There are techniques for shooting in the dark that will increase the likelihood that you get a good exposure. You will still need to experiment, and all professionals take more than one exposure because they can't be sure what will work best. But they don't shoot in the dark!
Obviously you can't shoot in actual darkness unless you are shooting with something that captures a wavelength other than visible light - say infrared. So you will need some light. Often candlelight is the minimum possible light.
To shoot in minimal light, as opposed to total darkness, you will need to figure out how to bring as much of that light through the lens and onto the film or digital receptors as possible.
But if that was how professionals worked they wouldn't be in business for long. There are techniques for shooting in the dark that will increase the likelihood that you get a good exposure. You will still need to experiment, and all professionals take more than one exposure because they can't be sure what will work best. But they don't shoot in the dark!
Obviously you can't shoot in actual darkness unless you are shooting with something that captures a wavelength other than visible light - say infrared. So you will need some light. Often candlelight is the minimum possible light.
To shoot in minimal light, as opposed to total darkness, you will need to figure out how to bring as much of that light through the lens and onto the film or digital receptors as possible.
There are several ways to achieve this. The most obvious is to open up the aperture as much as possible. A larger aperture means that more light can enter. The next option is to increase the time of exposure. The longer that the film/receptors are exposed the more light they can collect and thus the more picture you will get.
shooting in the dark continued...