Portraits in low light

[vale_surfer]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm going to shoot portraits in low light in the interiors of buildings.</p>

<p>I will get some basic tungsten light indoors (have the option to not use it) and will be using my Canon 400D, Tamron 17-50 f 2.8, Canon 10-22 and a Canon 580 II Speedlite.<br>

I will be shooting faces and full length pictures of people standing/ seated with some basic ambient light.<br>

Any suggestions and comments are welcome.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>You may be asking for trouble mixing tungsten and speedlight. The color temperatures won't be anywhere close, which will be difficult to correct even if you shoot RAW.<br>

You can gel the speedlight down to the color of the incandescent lamps, but that throws away a lot of light.<br>

And I think your lenses are too short for portraits, I'd use nothing shorter than a 60mm on a crop body for full-length portraits. Else there's a chance of distortion (big heads little feet).<br>

<Chas></p>

[vale_surfer]

<p>Thanks, Charles. I don't like the tungsten, either.<br>

The only other lens I currently have is the Canon 55-250. It doesn't work for full length pics, though.</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>Why won't your 55-250 work for full length pictures? It's a little slow, but with enough light, such as next to a window, or outdoors, or with adequate studio lights it should work fine.</p>

<p><Chas></p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Charles - what you are saying doesn't make sense. There is no way of knowing what focal length is required without knowing the maximum distance possible between photographer and subject, and the height of the subject. For example, a full length portrait of a person about 5'9" from 11' can't be done with a longer focal length than 38mm with the APS-C sensor in Vale's camera.</p>

<p>Also, "big heads little feet" is a result of camera placement, not focal length. If you shoot from approximately waist level at 40mm at 11 feet, you will not have "big heads little feet." </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Gelling a speedlight to match tungsten is not a problem. Yes you look some light. But if you're trying to balance with low levels of tungsten, you may be turning the power down on your flash anyhow.</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<blockquote>

<p>portrait of a person about 5'9" from 11'</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Huh? Where did 11' come from?</p>

 

[Spearhead]

<p>My point is that you have to know how far you can be from the subject. 11' is a decent distance from the subject and you can only shoot with 40mm for full-length. You are trying to give a solution to an insufficiently specified problem. If you have 15', you can have a longer lens. If you have 6', you will need a shorter lens. You can't say that she can do it with 60mm if she doesn't have the distance.</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>Yes, you do have to be in the same room. Sometimes 11' (or shorter) is what you're stuck with. 60mm or longer for full length portraits indoors -- On the crop? that's darn near crazy talk!</p>

<p>IMO, stick w/ the 17-50 & f2.8. In a pinch, if you've got a pale yellow sheet, (or gold umbrella) you can bounce the 580 to close enough to tungsten to make it easy to balance the difference shooting RAW, though dialing down the power will certainly help. Putting one of the yellow diffuser panels on a Fong lightsphere also puts you in the same range as incandescent (at least close enough to correct from RAW). I'd stick to ISO 400 on the XTi/400D, and overexpose a bit if you've got to go beyond. </p>

<p>Also, since you've got no spot metering on the XTi, be careful with your exposures, AV, Tv, and P are all out, I'd stick to M.</p>

[rob_h5]

<blockquote>

<p>...interiors of buildings.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No one except the OP could possibly know how much distance the OP has to work with so it would be impossible to say what lens would work. Any distance number mentioned here would be pure guess work. It could be 5ft or 50ft. We also dont know how tall the person is. Buildings interiors could be anything...a long hallway or a loft or an empty warehouse...it could be a ton of space...who knows? In any case here is a link with a dimensional FOV calculator (scroll to the near bottom of the page) and many other calculators used in photography are on this page. The OP or anyone interested can plug in the distance number for their camera/lens combo. Make sure FLM number is inputed for a accurate calculation.<br /><a href="http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm">http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm</a></p>

[michael_s10]

<p>The other day I tried out something that I had not done before when shooting natural light portraits....using a good quality tripod.</p>

<p>The improvement in image quality was really remarkable.</p>

 

[ruslan]

<p>Use your flash, but accuretely and reflected... </p><div></div>