Low Light Street Photography
Posted: Thu 17 Apr 2014, 12:35
The club’s next meeting on 23 April will be an evening street shoot in the Brick Lane area which should provide a number of photographic opportunities, but will also have its own challenges. (A formal announcement about time and meeting place will be made separately, and there is a contingency plan for inclement weather.) As with anything, some planning beforehand will allow you to make the most of the evening and this article goes through the main options which you need to consider. This post is not specific to this particular shoot and much of the advice is applicable to other circumstances.
What to Shoot
Brick Lane and its surroundings is a lively and busy area which is also well known for graffiti. You will be able to take general views and if you find somewhere to place you camera where it will remain still, there is potential for longer exposures to depict movement. There will also be lot of possibilities for photographing people, of course. This can either be candidly or by a direct approach to those concerned. Some will find the idea of engaging with a stranger disconcerting, but a smile and a nod can get you a long way. You might find that people are unsure or suspicious, but this can normally be overcome by talking to them for a few moments before taking a photograph. I also find it useful to show the result to the subject afterwards and this might allow you to engage with them with them further and take further shots.
A friend of mine is currently participating in the Bleeding London project, which has ambitions to depict every street in the A-Z atlas during the course of the spring and summer this year. When he tells people what he is doing, he finds that they become much more relaxed. Brick Lane is a well known haunt for photography, so the people will be used to seeing cameras, but you might find that saying you are with a club taking pictures of the area will help. It might also be useful to assure people that the images are for your personal use. As one example, when shooting in markets I sometimes get traders asking me if I am from HMRC, so be aware others’ sensitivities.
Shoot in Raw
Sunset is at 20:10 that day, which means that light levels will be low for much of the time. You could use flash, but this will overcome the ambient light which might well detract from the atmosphere of the scene. This will mean that for much of the time you will be shooting at higher ISOs, so you will need to know the highest setting which you are comfortable shooting with. If the sun is shining during the earlier part of the evening, you might also encounter scenes with areas encompassing both light and shade, which will make it difficult to get an accurate exposure.
When a camera is set to shoot JPEGs, a lot of the information captured by the sensor is discarded. Raw, on the other hand, retains everything recorded by the sensor and this makes it much easier to make adjustments post capture. With JPEGs, often the information just is not there to be able to do this. Most Raw converters will allow you to bring out details in the shadows while retaining the highlights and reduce noise caused by a high ISO setting. One thing which you do not want to do, of course, is over expose highlights as this will irretrievably blow the highlights and you will not be able to recover any detail afterwards.
If you normally shoot only in JPEG, why not set your camera to record both JPEG and Raw? That way, if the JPEG results are not satisfactory you will be able to go back to your shots at a later date when you have become familiar with Raw processing.
Use Auto ISO
Lighting conditions are likely to be quite varied during the evening, so it can be beneficial to use auto ISO. Most cameras allow an upper limit to be set, so that the noisiest ISO settings can be avoided. I used to distrust the camera’s capability to set a suitable ISO, but when I experimented I found it usually did a far better job than I could. It’s one less thing to worry about when shooting in a fast moving situation and means that you are less likely to lose a shot due to having a slow shutter speed.
Equipment
Essentially, there are three main choices of camera type:
The kind of camera you use might affect the type of shot which you are able to take. A DSLR is often very noticeable and the act of putting to your eye might alert your subject if you are trying to get a candid shot. More recent DSLRs have a live view facility and even flip out screens sometimes. You can use this to avoid drawing unwanted attention or shoot from a lower angle to get a different perspective. The autofocus mechanism of most DSLRs functions quite slowly in live view and might not even lock on at all in lower lighting levels, which is not really suitable to capture the fleeting moments which can occur on the street. One way to get around this is to focus manually. Since most DSLRs lack aids to assist achieving accurate manual focus, you could try setting the lens at around 8’ or 9’ (or whatever distance you think you will be shooting at). Depending on the aperture you are using, depth of field will help overcome some minor focussing errors.
Compact system cameras use a different focussing mechanism than DSLRs and will usually focus more quickly. This can vary both by make and model, but you will be aware whether or not the one you use will be fast enough. If not, use the manual focussing method previously described. CSCs also have the advantage of being smaller, which allows them to be used more unobtrusively.
A compact camera has the benefit of small size and ubiquity. People feel less intimidated compared to a larger camera as the user seems more like a casual snapper. There is a trade off as the zoom lenses on these cameras tend to be on the slow side, AF is usually slower and the smaller sensor means that digital noise will be more of an issue at higher ISO settings. Some more recent compacts do have zoom lenses with larger apertures, at the wider end especially, and there are even models with fast prime lenses and APS-C or even full frame sensors.
A fast prime lens can help with low light levels and if you are taking a DSLR, Canon and Nikon both have inexpensive f/1.8 50 mm lenses which are fully capable of producing good results wide open, improving when closed a stop or two. This will allow you to use a lower ISO and the wider aperture will give a reduced depth of field, which can be useful in reducing unwanted distractions in the background. They do not have built in image stabilisation, so either a sufficiently high shutter speed (1/80 or faster, I would suggest) or an effective holding technique to eliminate camera shake will be necessary. Given their low cost, these lenses are a handy complement to a slower zoom lens and can be used for portraiture on cameras with APS-C sized sensors.
What to Shoot
Brick Lane and its surroundings is a lively and busy area which is also well known for graffiti. You will be able to take general views and if you find somewhere to place you camera where it will remain still, there is potential for longer exposures to depict movement. There will also be lot of possibilities for photographing people, of course. This can either be candidly or by a direct approach to those concerned. Some will find the idea of engaging with a stranger disconcerting, but a smile and a nod can get you a long way. You might find that people are unsure or suspicious, but this can normally be overcome by talking to them for a few moments before taking a photograph. I also find it useful to show the result to the subject afterwards and this might allow you to engage with them with them further and take further shots.
A friend of mine is currently participating in the Bleeding London project, which has ambitions to depict every street in the A-Z atlas during the course of the spring and summer this year. When he tells people what he is doing, he finds that they become much more relaxed. Brick Lane is a well known haunt for photography, so the people will be used to seeing cameras, but you might find that saying you are with a club taking pictures of the area will help. It might also be useful to assure people that the images are for your personal use. As one example, when shooting in markets I sometimes get traders asking me if I am from HMRC, so be aware others’ sensitivities.
Shoot in Raw
Sunset is at 20:10 that day, which means that light levels will be low for much of the time. You could use flash, but this will overcome the ambient light which might well detract from the atmosphere of the scene. This will mean that for much of the time you will be shooting at higher ISOs, so you will need to know the highest setting which you are comfortable shooting with. If the sun is shining during the earlier part of the evening, you might also encounter scenes with areas encompassing both light and shade, which will make it difficult to get an accurate exposure.
When a camera is set to shoot JPEGs, a lot of the information captured by the sensor is discarded. Raw, on the other hand, retains everything recorded by the sensor and this makes it much easier to make adjustments post capture. With JPEGs, often the information just is not there to be able to do this. Most Raw converters will allow you to bring out details in the shadows while retaining the highlights and reduce noise caused by a high ISO setting. One thing which you do not want to do, of course, is over expose highlights as this will irretrievably blow the highlights and you will not be able to recover any detail afterwards.
If you normally shoot only in JPEG, why not set your camera to record both JPEG and Raw? That way, if the JPEG results are not satisfactory you will be able to go back to your shots at a later date when you have become familiar with Raw processing.
Use Auto ISO
Lighting conditions are likely to be quite varied during the evening, so it can be beneficial to use auto ISO. Most cameras allow an upper limit to be set, so that the noisiest ISO settings can be avoided. I used to distrust the camera’s capability to set a suitable ISO, but when I experimented I found it usually did a far better job than I could. It’s one less thing to worry about when shooting in a fast moving situation and means that you are less likely to lose a shot due to having a slow shutter speed.
Equipment
Essentially, there are three main choices of camera type:
- DSLR
- Compact system camera (CSC)
- Compact
The kind of camera you use might affect the type of shot which you are able to take. A DSLR is often very noticeable and the act of putting to your eye might alert your subject if you are trying to get a candid shot. More recent DSLRs have a live view facility and even flip out screens sometimes. You can use this to avoid drawing unwanted attention or shoot from a lower angle to get a different perspective. The autofocus mechanism of most DSLRs functions quite slowly in live view and might not even lock on at all in lower lighting levels, which is not really suitable to capture the fleeting moments which can occur on the street. One way to get around this is to focus manually. Since most DSLRs lack aids to assist achieving accurate manual focus, you could try setting the lens at around 8’ or 9’ (or whatever distance you think you will be shooting at). Depending on the aperture you are using, depth of field will help overcome some minor focussing errors.
Compact system cameras use a different focussing mechanism than DSLRs and will usually focus more quickly. This can vary both by make and model, but you will be aware whether or not the one you use will be fast enough. If not, use the manual focussing method previously described. CSCs also have the advantage of being smaller, which allows them to be used more unobtrusively.
A compact camera has the benefit of small size and ubiquity. People feel less intimidated compared to a larger camera as the user seems more like a casual snapper. There is a trade off as the zoom lenses on these cameras tend to be on the slow side, AF is usually slower and the smaller sensor means that digital noise will be more of an issue at higher ISO settings. Some more recent compacts do have zoom lenses with larger apertures, at the wider end especially, and there are even models with fast prime lenses and APS-C or even full frame sensors.
A fast prime lens can help with low light levels and if you are taking a DSLR, Canon and Nikon both have inexpensive f/1.8 50 mm lenses which are fully capable of producing good results wide open, improving when closed a stop or two. This will allow you to use a lower ISO and the wider aperture will give a reduced depth of field, which can be useful in reducing unwanted distractions in the background. They do not have built in image stabilisation, so either a sufficiently high shutter speed (1/80 or faster, I would suggest) or an effective holding technique to eliminate camera shake will be necessary. Given their low cost, these lenses are a handy complement to a slower zoom lens and can be used for portraiture on cameras with APS-C sized sensors.
Good to know that you found the post useful, Rose. Sorry to learn that you will not be able to make next Wednesday's event as I am sure that you would have some good advice of your own to pass on. I hope that the Lancaster House event goes well and that you get shots that you and everyone else are pleased with. Nick Clegg certainly seems to be getting a fair chunk of your time at present.