High ISO Event Photography

sally_taylor · October 6, 2016

Hi there,

This is my first post so I hope I put all the relevant information down.

I have recently started to make my main income from photography. I usually shoot property and portraiture in the studio but have been asked to cover a couple of events. Every event I have covered so far, including theatre productions (no flash obviously but great focused lighting on the stage), have been fine and I have been pleased with the results. The most recent event however was a dinner shot in an art gallery where flash was not allowed and the only natural light in the venue was from a ceiling box (very high ceilings and in the evening so the light had started to fade). The 'artificial' lighting wasn't the best and was there to highlight the paintings on the walls, rather than any event. I was asked not to use a continuous light source as it would be distracting.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, as you can probably guess I am not pleased with the results. I shot at f5.6 most of the time and a 1/125th for most which given I was doing group shots (people chatting - reportage really) was as low as I wanted to risk going from a movement and sharpness point of view but as a result I was at an ISO of 10,000 (ouch!) and some of the photos were still slightly under exposed. The photos look sharp (under the grain) but as soon as I apply any noise reduction the majority go soft - there are one or two that are 'good' but it is mostly where people are standing still not talking or looking up at the ceiling so not what I would usually put forward as part of the submission.

I shot with a Nikon D750 and a 80-200 Nikon lens which I kept on just about the whole event as it is the fastest and sharpest lens I have.

For editing I have tried using the noise reduction in Photoshop Raw and in Photoshops editor - both of which produce slightly blotchy results and loose colour; Topaz DeNoise which is OK for the faces but still results in softer images than I would like (due to the amount of noise reduction) and also (I forgot to mention this bit) the gallery has deep red walls and the software produces bright prink / dark pixellation in some ares; Noiseware - same as Topaz; and Nik Collection and Photo Ninja - results were grainy and again seemed to loose some colour saturation. I have used a little bit of Topaz Clarity to try to rescue some of the colour.

I want to submit about 150 images at 12x8inch - I have not been asked for this size of image so I am wondering if I should reduce the size to 6x4inch; the photos look much better at this size.

I guess I have three questions (in addition to the one above! :-))- at the moment I am trying to use two or three techniques to 'help' the photos but give the number it is taking me an age. Does anyone have any suggestions as to any other way of editing the photos that would produce better results and take me less that 45 minutes a photo (and still not happy with it!). I hate putting my name on soft images, if not artistically intended (even slightly soft) - but for event photography in such an environment would this be acceptable. Last question, is there anything I could do differently in this environment as they have asked me to go back and at the moment I just want to turn down the job, which I hate doing, but I don't feel at the moment I have the skill set to take decent images in this environment; I hate submitting an invoice when I'm not happy with the results. I realise I am on a huge learning curve but this is a professional environment and I don't want to get a bad name because of less than satisfactory photos.

Many thanks for any help / suggestions!

Sally

DavidTriplett · October 6, 2016

Sally, I'm not the expert in this area. However P-Net has many experts who have written excellent tutorials. One that would be apropos to your question can be found <a href="/learn/wedding/equipment/?p=1">HERE</a>. This article includes excellent advice on lens selection and use. My own first impression is that you were trying to work at too small an aperture. You need fast, sharp lenses, and then you need to take advantage of them. Pick your shots so that the shallow DoF is not a problem. Bottom line is that you can't have everything. Poorly lit interiors will simply require a combination of high ISO, large apertures, and shallow DoF, particularly with moving subjects (like people).

bebu_lamar · October 6, 2016

If the main subjects are the paintings may be you can use a tripod? People will be blurred but may be acceptable. With a tripod you can get down to 1 or 1/2 second exposure.

Karim Ghantous · October 6, 2016

One tip that I always give about NR: always use chrominance NR, but never use luminance NR, especially if your ISO is high. There is no detail underneath the luminance noise, so if you remove it, you're going to end up with yucky textures.

sally_taylor · October 6, 2016

Hello,

Many thanks for your replies. I have had a look at the tutorial David, thank you, I'll have a look at others available. Unfortunately the lens that I would really like, with VR is £1400 and £200 to rent so wasn't an option for the event (the amount I am getting paid won't cover the rental cost) so I had to work with what I had for the event. I take your point about working with too small an aperture - I did go to a f2.8 but as there were often min 3 people in each photo and I was trying to catch them naturally (rather than placing them) I was only getting one of them in focus. In fact thats one of the conundrums I'm having with the photos - if one person is in focus but the other two are out is it worth submitting...in some of the photos it looks natural and like it was planned but in others it just looks odd and your eye is drawn to the person out of focus.

Thank you for your tip Karim - would you have a recommendation for the software I should use for the NR? As you can see from the list I'm getting a little lost with it all. I have reverted back to DeNoise, but having maxed out the colour correction sliders I am still having to correct luminance noise and it isn't having a very nice effect.

Thanks again!

paul_k1664875007 · October 6, 2016

Sally, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression you're shooting the people who are attending the event, and not, as suggested in one of the reactions, the artwork displayed.

If you are indeed shooting the people, why are you using such a long lens? I can understand that it's an excellent choice for shooting stage (I use a similar lens for catwalk), but it seems a tad long for shooting people at an event. The relative long focal length and closest focusing distance would force you to be standing further away, and also/consequently also have quite a challenge shooting small groups of people (in my experience people tend to huddle in small groups during such event while having a conversation, and kind of pose for a picture when asked, giving the kind of 'people during an event' sort of PJ like pictures you usually see) Also, f5.6 is closing down a lens pretty much, especially under bad light, while with an 80-200 that will still give you a relative small DoF.

So my suggestion would be to use (a) shorter lens(es), which most likely not only will be faster then 2.8 to begin with (unless you go for e.g. a 2.8/24-70m, which I have the impression is the lens you're hinting at in your second reaction) but also allow to be used wider open then 5.6 while still delivering a sharp (possibly even sharper) picture and more DoF then a long(er) focal lenght. E.g. a humble 1.8/28mm AFS or 1.8/35mm AFS could cost you somewhere between £400 to £500, and a 1.4/50mm AFS £400 which in total is quite a bit less then the you £1400 mentioned (prices mentioned are based on those listed by Greys of Westminster, which is a pretty expensive address, so with a bit of creative shopping you probably can find them a bit cheaper) Perhaps, since you'd have to change them to change focal length, rather then zoom in or out, not as efficient as a 24-70, but apart from the with an eye to possible future projects IMO practical added value of having quality primes, as you can see quite a more economical.

Of course using a shorter lens would mean shooting the people from much closer up (no more sniping away from a distance) and if you would decide for multiple focal lengths, also having, depending on the frame you're after without having to run around too much , to swap them during the shoot.

As far as your IQ problems are concerned, ISO 10000 should not really be an extreme challenge for the D750. I have the DF which has a similar high ISO ceiling as the D750, and have no issues going there (on e.g. my D3 and D800 however, ISO 10000 is indeed a bridge too far). My experience with Nikon, in particular FX, bodies (got a D3 shortly after it's introduction, ditto with my D800 and DF) and high ISO is that i can easily underexpose a stop (or more) and still regain much shadow detail (and sometimes even better then that) without loss of IQ/heavy grain. I have no experience with the several software programs you mention though, being a long time, very satisfied Nikon NX2 user (exactly for the above reason when shooting under bad light or using high ISO). Generally speaking though, in my experience any type of noise reduction (software) always comes with loss of IQ/sharpness (which is the reason I use it sparingly, if I do so).

My 2 cents, HTH

DavidTriplett · October 6, 2016

Sally, one less expensive option, and one you could likely find other good uses for, would be a Nikkor 85/1.8. These can be had used for very reasonable prices, or new at competitive prices. I'm hoping some of our resident experts will weigh-in with shooting techniques and ideas to best manage the necessarily shallow DoF.

Karim Ghantous · October 7, 2016

Sally, to answer your question about what software to use, you could try DxO Optics Pro. I'm not saying it's right for you, but it's right for me. And you can download a fully-featured trial version that lasts 30 days.

FWIW I agree with your lens choice. I would shoot wedding guests with something like a 70-200 zoom. It lets you keep a respectful distance, so you're not in people's faces.

Gary Naka · October 7, 2016

In an engagement, gratus or paid, make sure they understand, in the contract, that the constraints you work under (such as no flash) may/will affect the deliverable image quality. And that you will do your best given the constraints of environment and equipment.

Given a LOW light situation (and NO flash allowed), don't cripple yourself.

Give yourself as much advantage as you can.

Do what you have to do to get the shot.

- FAST glass; ie 35mm/f1.4, 50mm/f1.4. Both of these lenses are 2 stops faster than your 2.8 zoom. That is the difference between ISO 10,000 and 2,500. With primes, you zoom and frame with your feet, the old fashioned way.

- HIGH ISO. IMHO, it is shot with noise, or underexposed, or no shot at all. Crank up the ISO to what you need to get the shot.

- Steady the camera; tripod, monopod, chainpod, etc.

- Light. Be creative. Maybe an assistant holding a small battery lamp with a reflector or LED pannel, might work. A lamp is not a flash. Though this might take discussing with the organizers and the venue people.

Finally, do a dry run, if possible, to try to work out any kinks that will surely happen.

gud luk

Hector Javkin · October 7, 2016

I'm not an expert either, but I sometimes shoot events in low light where flash is prohibited, and maybe I can help.

Since you have the Nik collection, are you using the Raw pre-sharpener and output sharpener? I find that I can clean up noise reasonably well without losing sharpness if I use these two at the beginning and end of my processing. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to get the lighting "neutral" or daylight. Unless the lighting was ugly, you can set it at a color which will evoke the site. One more question about the event you already shot: have you considered, or do you think it would be acceptable to your clients, to convert to black-and-white?

The D750 is amazing in low light, and even though there is grain at high ISOs I'm surprised you had so much trouble with it. I agree with Paul and others above that you need to use larger apertures in this kind of photography, that fast prime lenses can do wonders for you, and particularly with his suggestion of the 28mm f/1.8 for the kind of event you were shooting. It's very versatile and, unless the images wound up grainy, you can crop in post to get a narrower angle of view. I try to put up a shot at f/1.8

It's not necessary for you to buy more lenses to shoot another event at the same venue--you can rent. I don't know what the rates where you are, but in the U.S. you can rent a 28mm f/2.8 for 6 days for $36. (This is from http://www.lensrentals.com/ but there are other reputable places) Having the equipment with you for several days before the event is important, because you want to practice with it. If you are returning to the same venue, you should practice at the same light levels to see how it works for you. You won't be able to replicate the same mixed lighting, but it will still be useful.

paul_k1664875007 · October 7, 2016

Hi Sally, I'm not a D750 user myself (did consider it when it was introduction, but despite the very tempting specs - and high praise in the reviews - went for a 2nd D800 instead) so can't speak from personal experience

I however would like to draw your attention to this review of the D750 http://www.rossharvey.com/reviews/nikon-d750-review by wedding photographer Ross Harvey who also uses it for shooting in low light conditions without flash, and with a.o. just a humble 1.8/35mm G lens.

In his review he gives examples of shots taken with ISO 9000 (so just a smidgen under the ISO 10000 you dread) and, IMO more importantly, of the amazing shadow/under exposure recovery (without significant, if any, loss of IQ) of modern Nikon DSLR sensors' and the D750 in particular (and he also uses Lightroom, which I assume for you as a Photoshop user is a viable option as well).

The reason I keep coming back on this is because in real world use boils that down to the below.

At the moment, I have the impression, you're exposing a picture 'correctly' by using an 'extreme' high ISO setting, which unfortunately also comes with the cost of the inevitable risk of grain, and loss of IQ when noise reduction software is used.

If however you go for a lower ISO (which of course won't risk heavy grain as much compared to a much higher ISO setting), and (somewhat) under expose (Ross shows an example of a 5 stops under exposed file), the Nikon sensors will allow, as illustrated in Ross Harvey's review, an excellent shadow recovery, while avoiding the 'extreme high ISO' grain and noise reduction software related loss of IQ

I assume you could make some kind of 'standard' profile in your standard (not noise reduction) software (I can do that even with my old and obsolete Nikon NX2 software) which you then could apply on each RAW (I assume you're using that format, IMO the only option to go when working under challenging conditions) file when you start processing it, and thus help you reduce your 'present 45 minute per picture' processing time considerably

William Michael · October 9, 2016

I have recently started to make my main income from photography. . . have been asked to cover a couple of events. . . a dinner shot in an art gallery . . . flash was not allowed . . . The 'artificial' lighting wasn't the best . . . I shot at f5.6 . . . a 1/125th . . . ISO of 10,000 (people chatting - reportage really) . . . Nikon D750 and a 80-200 Nikon lens which I kept on just about the whole event as it is the fastest and sharpest lens I have . . . I want to submit about 150 images at 12x8inch - I have not been asked for this size of image so I am wondering if I should reduce the size to 6x4inch; the photos look much better at this size . . . I take your point about working with too small an aperture - I did go to a f2.8 but as there were often min 3 people in each photo and I was trying to catch them naturally (rather than placing them) I was only getting one of them in focus . . . Many thanks for any help / suggestions!

</blockquote>

Not commenting on Post Processing.

I think you have to first address these issues by changing the way you make the images. I have several years professional experience shooting and delivering images to clients made under low level available light conditions and here are a few points that you might consider:

1. Even with a very good camera that has good High ISO Image Quality (such as your D750): if F/2.8 if the fastest lens that you have, I think that leaves your business quite vulnerable if you need to shoot Low-level Available Light. A faster (Prime) lens will allow you more options, additionally - what happens if, on the job your 80 to 200/2.8 fails? You have to use a SLOWER lens – that is a disaster in the corner just waiting to do your business damage because you have no SYSTEM REDUNDANCY. (The same logic applies to having back up cameras.)

Consider investing in one (I would suggest two) fast Prime Lenses: I find a fast 35 and a fast 85 a very suitable and flexible pair of lenses for Low Light reportage work on an “FX” Format Camera.

However that stated a lot can be achieved with a fast 50 – and the 50/1.8 in the Nikon Range will certainly not break the budget. These next two images were made with a 50mm Prime lens - the first on an EOS 5D ('FX' format) and the second on a EOS20D ('DX' format) -

***

2. Low level Light - F/5.6 @ 1/125s @ ISO10,000 is a scene at about EV = 6 and that translates to using around F/2.8 @ 1/125s @ ISO2500 . . . here is a ‘reportage’ style image made under low level available light at a function similar to what you described:

 <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/11241039-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="680" /> Note the exposure details – F/2.2 @ 1/60s @ ISO3200 – (and the exposure was correct) - so that means the light in this scene was about a couple of EV darker/less light, than in your scene.

Certainly, the man is out of the Depth of Field – but does that matter? – I don’t think so, because it is obvious that the Photographer captured his reaction. Sure the face on the women is a little blurred because of SUBJECT MOVEMENT - does that matter? – I think it does and I would have liked better, but back when ISO3200 was the fastest ISO that one could manage, one worked with the tools one had.

The point of this example is, reportage does not necessarily mean you need to have all the Subjects in focus – reportage is about recording the dynamic and how it was all happening at the time – “capturing the moment".

The reaction of people beyond (or in front of) the Plane of Sharp Focus, can add to the dynamic of the Photograph even if they are out of focus, here is the second example, F/2 @ 1/50s @ ISO 3200:

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/12031733-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="486" /> ***

3. Timing the shot - Note the dangerously slow shutter speeds at which those two examples were pulled: (1/60s and 1/50s) – if you want to successfully make low level ambient light reportage style images, then you should practice TIMING the shutter release to find the time of least Subject Movement.

***

4. Lens selection (apropos Focal Length): it is understood that you chose the 80 to 200 because it was the fastest lens that you have – but consider that using such a long Focal Length can really put you at a disadvantage in several areas:

> Firstly a longer lens inhibits the ability to move quickly and access the best Camera Viewpoint, the perimeter of the circle of movement that the Photographer has to traverse at any fluid event and/or when shooting reportage style should be appreciated.

For example – to loosely frame a Tight Half Shot of two people (the example of woman in green hat) with a 50mm on your D750 you’d be about 6~8 ft from the Main Subject. But to nail that same shot using FL = 70mm, you need to step back “a big step” (about 3'). To nail that same shot at FL = 135mm, you have to be about 18ft away.

The salient point of these examples is, that working at 6~8 ft one only needs to move one step sideways to dramatically change the Camera’s Viewpoint (about 30° Change of Viewpoint in one step sideways) and that can mean the difference between getting the best composition, framing and lighting for a good reaction and to make a good dynamic shot, or not.

Also, working with shorter FL Lenses means you can very quickly get around people who would otherwise spoil the shot as they walk through your Field of View. For example here, below, this was made with a 50mm lens on an "FX" format camera:

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/11241037-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="680" />

Consider that if you were to use a135mm lens instead of a 50mm lens, you need to take about three big steps sideways to get the same new camera angle or to move enough distance to avoid the same obstruction moving into your Filed of View.

Note that the example of moving one step to the side is for a Tight Half Shot of two people: (e.g. the image of the woman in the green hat), BUT if you are shooting Half Shots or ¾ Shots or Full Shots of a group of people (e.g. the two women standing) then I advise that you might need pull out your fast 35 Prime Lens to give yourself a wider Angle of View and thus less distance to traverse to get the angle on the shot to get the emotion and the reaction.

>Secondly, a longer lens inhibits the capacity to shoot wide and crop in post. The ability ot shoot wide and crop in post has two major advantages: firstly it allows quick decision making on site to grab the shot, with the ability to better crop it later and secondly it allows the capacity to attain a larger DoF than is possible with tight framing when using very large Apertures.. Obviously there is a limit to how much one can crop and this is especially a serious consideration when capturing at High ISO, but none the less shooting wide and cropping in post is technique that I think you should seriously consider for this type of reportage photography.

***

Yes I would seriously consider supplying 6x4 or 7x5 images rather than 12 x 8 – especially of you did not promise a particular size.

***

Another option to consider for any good shots that are soft-ish individually at a larger size, consider making them into collages at 12 x12 or 15 x 15: note how the individual image sizes are relatively small (not that these individual images were necessarily soft – just an example of the montage technique), here: <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17500829-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="680" />

***

In summary: these is no dispute that the D750 can work admirably at high ISO levels, but the point is the interior that you describe, whilst it was dim it was not the worst low level lighting that you might encounter and in any case the lower the ISO that you can use, then generally the better outcome you can attain - or alternatively - using very fast Prime Lenses allows you to maintain higher shutter speeds to keep you safe from getting soft images from Subject Motion: on that point you might have a re-look at your of images made at 1/125s and scrutinize them carefully – there just might be a few that have Subject Motion Blur and that is a contributing cause to the softness of the images.

Certainly if you choose to stick with a zoom lens for this type of work, then a 24 to 70/2.8 would do you much better service and would be much more flexible and versatile than any 70 to 200/2.8 lens - VR or not.

WW

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