8. Mood Lighting
Shooting When the Lights Get Low
There’s no reason to put your camera away when the sun goes down. Your G11 or G10 has some great features that let you work with available light as well as the built-in flash. In this chapter, we’ll explore ways to push your camera’s technology to the limit in order to capture great photos in difficult lighting situations. We will also explore the use of flash and how best to utilize your built-in flash features to improve your photography. But let’s first look at working with low-level available light.
Poring Over the Picture
Raising the ISO: The Simple Solution
Let’s begin with the obvious ways to keep shooting when the lights get low.
One option is to use the flash, but that has a limited range (15–20 feet) that might not work for you. Also, the light from the built-in flash can too often be more harsh than what you’re looking for. You could be in a situation where flash is prohibited, or at least frowned upon, like at a wedding or in a museum.
What about using a tripod in combination with a long shutter speed? That is also an option, and we’ll cover it a little further into the chapter. The problem, though, is that it performs best when subjects aren’t moving. And tripods aren’t exactly discreet: just try to set up a tripod in a museum and see how quickly you grab the attention of the security guards.
That leaves us with raising the ISO (Figure 8.1). By now you know how to change the ISO: just turn the ISO dial on the top of the camera. In typical shooting situations, you should keep the ISO in the 100–400 range. This will keep your pictures nice and clean by keeping the digital noise to a minimum. But as the available light gets low, you might find yourself working in the higher ranges of the ISO scale, which could lead to more noise in your image.
The G11 performs better at higher ISOs, so you can probably get away with shots made at ISO 800 or 1600. Turn the dial to ISO 3200 for the most light sensitivity, although the amount of noise may be unacceptable. Shooting with the G11’s Low Light mode can crank the ISO above 3200 (such as 12800!), but again, the camera will introduce a lot of noise.
The G10’s ISO dial tops out at 1600, but you can shoot at 3200 by switching to the SCN mode and selecting the ISO 3200 scene. However, the image suffers in size: the camera automatically switches to the M3 image quality setting.
Stabilizing the Situation
Thanks to the image stabilizer (IS) in the G11 and G10, you can squeeze two stops of exposure out of your camera when shooting without a tripod (Figures 8.2 and 8.3). Typically, the average person can handhold their camera down to about 1/60 of a second before blurriness results due to hand shake. As the lens is zoomed, the ability to handhold at slow shutter speeds (1/60 and slower) and still get sharp images is further reduced. Keep in mind that IS compensates for camera shake; it won’t magically clarify moving objects in your scene.
FIGURE 8.1 A moderate or high ISO level enables you to shoot in low-light situations without incurring motion blur. [Photo: Simon Zino]
FIGURE 8.2 This image was handheld without the IS turned on. [Photo: Jeff Carlson]
FIGURE 8.3 Here is the same subject shot with the same settings, but this time with IS enabled. [Photo: Jeff Carlson]
1. Press the Menu button.
2. In the Shooting menu, scroll down to the IS Mode option.
3. Press the Right or Left button to select Continuous, which applies image stabilization whenever you’re shooting. You can also choose Shoot Only, which activates IS only when you press the shutter button halfway, or Panning, which corrects for vertical movement when you’re panning the camera horizontally (such as when you’re following a fast-moving object).
4. Press the Menu button again to exit the menu.
The G10 offers a feature to further help reduce camera shake. In the Shooting menu above, enable the Auto ISO Shift feature to increase the ISO to compensate for shake.
USING AUTO ISO SHIFT (G10 ONLY)
1. With the Auto ISO Shift option enabled, frame your shot and press the shutter button halfway.
2. If you see the flashing orange camera shake warning icon, press the Shortcut button (located just above the LCD on the left side) while still holding the shutter button halfway; the Shortcut button also lights up. The camera increases the ISO to a value it determines will help.
3. Press the shutter button to capture your shot.
Focusing in Low Light
Occasionally the light levels might be too low for the camera to achieve an accurate focus. There are a few things that you can do to overcome this obstacle.
First, you should know that the camera utilizes contrast in the viewfinder to establish a point of focus. This is why your camera will not be able to focus when you point it at a white wall or a cloudless sky. It simply can’t find any contrast in the scene to work with. Knowing this, you can try positioning the AF Frame over an area of contrast that is of the same distance as your subject. You can then hold that focus by holding down the shutter button halfway and recomposing your image.
Then there are those times when there isn’t anything to focus on. A perfect example is a fireworks display. If you point your lens to the night sky in any automatic focus (AF) mode, it will just keep searching for—and not finding—a focus point. On these occasions, simply enable the manual focus (MF) feature and manually focus the lens (Figure 8.4).
Don’t forget to put it back in AF mode at the end of your shoot.
FIGURE 8.4 Focusing on the night sky is best done in manual focus mode. [Photo: John Wayne Lucia III]
AF-Assist Beam
Another way to ensure good focus is to enable the AF-assist Beam. The built-in lamp shines some light on the scene, which assists the autofocus system in locating more detail. It won’t always flash; if the autofocus system finds enough contrast, the lamp stays off. The beam should be enabled by default, but you can check the menu just to make sure.
ENABLING OR DISABLING THE AF-ASSIST BEAM
1. Press the Menu button.
2. Use the Control dial to scroll down to the AF-assist Beam option.
3. Press the Right or Left button to turn the feature On or Off.
4. Press the Menu button to return to the Shooting mode.
Shooting Long Exposures
We have covered some of the techniques for shooting in low light, so let’s go through the process of capturing a night or low-light scene for maximum image quality. The first thing to consider is that in order to shoot in low light with a low ISO, you will need to use shutter speeds that are longer than you could possibly handhold (longer than 1/15 of a second). This requires the use of a tripod or stable surface for you to place your camera on. For maximum quality, the ISO should be low—somewhere below 200; you don’t need to rely on sensor sensitivity when you have plenty of time for the light to build up the image.
Set your camera to Aperture Priority (Av) mode so you can concentrate on the aperture that you believe is most appropriate and let the camera determine the best shutter speed. If it is too dark for the autofocus to function properly, manually focus the image. Finally, consider using a cable release to activate the shutter. If you don’t have one, check out the sidebar on using the self-timer earlier in this chapter.
Unlike shooting fast-moving objects or portraits, long-exposure photos allow you to take your time and see which settings work best for the shot. Your patience will be rewarded (Figure 8.5).
FIGURE 8.5 A fairly long exposure and a tripod were necessary to catch this nighttime view of a bridge. [Photo: Michaël Lemoine]
Using the Built-In Flash
There are going to be times when you have to turn to your camera’s built-in flash to get the shot. The flash on the G11 and G10 is not extremely powerful, but with the camera’s advanced metering system it does a pretty good job of lighting up the night…or just filling in the shadows.
The controls for the built-in flash are accessible in two ways, and differ slightly between the G11 and the G10. I’ll cover the how first, and then shortly move on to the why.
ACCESSING THE FLASH CONTROL, THE FAST AND EASY WAY
1. Press the Flash button.
2. Use the Control dial to select a flash setting. Depending on the current shooting mode, in addition to On and Off, you may see an icon for Automatic or (on the G11 only) Slow Synchro.
3. Press the Function/Set button to apply the setting.
1. Press the Flash button, and then press the Menu button to access the Built-in Flash Settings screen.
This menu is also accessible by first pressing the Menu button and then choosing Flash Control.
2. Use the Control dial to select a flash setting, which I’ll discuss more in this chapter.
3. Press the Menu button to return to the shooting mode.
The Slow Synchro option for the G10 appears only in the Built-in Flash Settings screen, but the feature works the same on both camera models. I’ll go into more detail about Slow Synchro later in this chapter.
Auto vs. Manual Power Output
In most cases, the On setting is the same as saying the flash is set to Auto: the camera determines how much power to give the flash to control its brightness. However, like so many features, you’re not locked into the automatic option. If you’re shooting in Manual (M) mode, you can choose three intensities for the flash. That option is also available when shooting in other modes.
SETTING AUTO OR MANUAL FLASH MODE
1. Press the Flash button, or navigate to the Built-in Flash Settings screen using the menus as described above.
2. Highlight the Flash Mode option. (Note that it doesn’t appear in the largely automatic Program mode.)
3. Press the Left or Right button to switch between Auto and Manual.
4. When Manual is enabled, the Flash Exp. Comp (exposure compensation) menu item becomes the Flash Output item; highlight it and use the Left or Right button to choose between Minimum, Medium, and Maximum.
5. Press Menu to return to the shooting mode.
You can easily change the Flash Output setting later without navigating all the menus by pressing the Function/Set button, highlighting the Flash Output icon (fourth from the top), and using the Left or Right button to adjust the level.
Shutter Speeds
The standard flash synchronization speed for your camera is between 1/60 and 1/2000 of a second. When you are working with the built-in flash using the Automatic modes, the camera typically uses a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. The exception to this is when you use the Night Snapshot mode, which fires the flash with a slower shutter speed so that some of the ambient light has time to record in the image.
The real key to using the flash to get great pictures is to control the shutter speed. The goal is to balance the light from the flash with the existing light so that everything in the picture has an even illumination. Let’s take a look at the shutter speeds for the Creative modes.
Program (P): The shutter speed stays at 1/60 of a second, unless you’re shooting into a bright environment (or the meter is evaluating a bright area) that would normally require an aperture higher than f/8.
Shutter Priority (Tv): You can adjust the shutter speed to as fast as 1/2000 of a second all the way down to 15 seconds. (Actually, you can set the shutter speed to the camera’s maximum 1/4000 setting, but the shot uses a maximum speed of 1/2000.) The aperture adjusts accordingly, but typically at long exposures the lens will be set to its smallest aperture.
Aperture Priority (Av): The whole point of this setting is to allow you to use the aperture of your choice while still getting good flash exposures. With the flash turned on, the shutter speed adjusts from 1/2000 all the way down to 15 seconds, depending on the available light. As the aperture gets smaller, the shutter speeds get longer.
Manual (M): Manual mode works the same as Tv mode, with a range of 1/2000 down to 15 seconds. The difference, of course, is that you must manually set the f-stop.
Generally speaking, I like to have my Mode dial set to the Shutter Priority (Tv) mode when shooting pictures with flash. This enables me to balance out the existing light with the flash, which sometimes requires longer shutter speeds.
FE Lock
If you have special metering needs, such as a background that is very light or dark, you might consider using the Flash Exposure (FE) Lock to meter off your subject and then recompose your image.
This feature works much like the Automatic Exposure (AE) Lock function that was discussed in Chapter 6.
USING THE FE LOCK FEATURE
1. Point the camera at the area that you want to base the flash exposure on. This is normally your subject.
2. Press the * AE/FE Lock button (near the top right on the back of the camera) to obtain the exposure setting. The flash fires a small burst to evaluate the exposure, and you will see the AE/FE Lock symbol (*) along with the recommended exposure settings.
3. Recompose the scene as you like, and press the shutter button to take the shot.
The FE Lock cancels after each exposure, so you have to repeat these steps each time you need to lock the flash exposure. (If you’re shooting several shots in that situation, make a note of the settings and switch to the Manual shooting mode.)
Using this metering mode might also require that you tweak the flash output by using Flash Exposure Compensation. This is because the camera will be metering the entire scene to set the exposure, so you might want to add or subtract flash power to balance out the scene.
Compensating for the Flash Exposure
Just as with exposure compensation, flash compensation allows you to dial in a change in the flash output in increments of 1/3 of a stop. You will probably use this most often to tone down the effects of your flash, especially when you are using the flash as a subtle fill light (Figures 8.6 and 8.7).
FIGURE 8.6 The built-in flash can be too aggressive when lighting a subject. [Photo: Jeff Carlson]
FIGURE 8.7 This image was taken with the same exposure settings. The difference is in the -1 stop of compensation set for the flash. [Photo: Jeff Carlson]
USING THE FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION FEATURE TO CHANGE THE FLASH OUTPUT
1. Press the Function/Set button to display the Function menu.
2. Use the Down button to highlight the Flash Exposure Compensation icon.
3. Rotate the Control dial to adjust the flash compensation in 1/3-stop increments (left to subtract and right to add) from –2 to +2.
4. Press the Function/Set button to apply the change, and then take the photo.
5. Review your image to see if more or less flash compensation is required, and repeat these steps as necessary.
The Flash Exposure Compensation feature does not reset itself when the camera is turned off, so whatever compensation you have set will remain in effect until you change it. Your only clue to knowing that the flash output is changed will be the presence of the Flash Exposure Compensation symbol on the LCD, so make sure you check it. (It disappears when the compensation is set to zero.)
Reducing Red-Eye
We’ve all seen the result of using on-camera flashes when shooting people: the dreaded red-eye! This demonic effect is the result of the light from the flash entering the pupil and then reflecting back as an eerie red glow. The closer the flash is to the lens, the greater the chance that you get red-eye. This is especially true when it is dark and the subject’s eyes are dilated. There are two ways to combat this problem. The first is to get the flash away from the lens. That’s not really an option if you’re using the built-in flash.
Turn to the Red-Eye Lamp. This is a simple feature that shines a light from the camera at the subject, causing their pupils to shrink, thus eliminating or reducing the effects of red-eye. The feature is set to Off by default and needs to be turned on in the shooting menu.
1. Press the Menu button and then use the Control dial to highlight the Flash Control item. Press the Function/Set button.
2. Scroll down to Red-Eye Lamp and use an arrow button to turn the feature On.
3. Press the Menu button twice to return to shooting mode.
Your camera also includes a Red-Eye Correction feature (found in the same Built-in Flash Settings screen), but I’m wary of it. The camera adjusts the image after it’s shot, and so other red areas of the photo could be also be “corrected.”
Truth be told, I rarely shoot with red-eye reduction turned on because of the time it takes before being able to take a picture. If I am after candid shots and have to use the flash, I will take my chances on red-eye and try to fix the problem in my image-processing software.
Slow Synchro
One problem when shooting with a flash in low light is that often there will be a large discrepancy between your subject, which is well lit from the flash, and the background, which sinks into black. The Slow Synchro feature provides a way to light the foreground and background in the same shot (Figure 8.8). The flash fires briefly at the start of the shot to get a better meter reading of the scene. Next, the shutter opens to allow in enough light to expose the background. Finally, the flash fires again to freeze your subject in focus. The catch with Slow Synchro is that the subject needs to remain still during the exposure to prevent motion blur. (So that pretty much rules out toddlers for this feature.)
FIGURE 8.8 This shot was taken during the same session as those in Figures 8.6 and 8.7, but this time I enabled the Slow Synchro mode. The shutter stays open longer to gather light, and then the flash fires to freeze the subject in focus. [Photo: Jeff Carlson]
I mentioned earlier in this chapter (see “Using the Built-in Flash”) that the Slow Synchro option on the G11 appears alongside the Flash On and Flash Off icons. Here’s how to access the feature on the G10:
ENABLING SLOW SYNCHRO ON THE G10
1. Press the Menu button and then use the Control dial to highlight the Flash Control item. Press the Function/Set button.
2. Scroll down to Slow Synchro and use an arrow button to turn the feature On.
3. Press the Menu button twice to return to shooting mode.
2nd Curtain Sync
There are two flash synchronization modes in the G11 and G10: first curtain and second curtain.
When your camera fires, two curtains (yes, similar in theory to curtains you’d find in front of a window) open and close to make up the shutter. The first curtain moves out of the way, exposing the camera sensor to the light. At the end of the exposure, the second curtain moves in front of the sensor, ending that picture cycle. In flash photography, timing is extremely important because the flash fires in milliseconds and the shutter is usually opening in tenths or hundredths of a second. To make sure these two functions happen in order, the camera usually fires the flash just as the first curtain moves out of the way (see the sidebar earlier in the chapter about flash sync).
In 2nd Curtain Sync mode, the flash will not fire until just before the second shutter curtain ends the exposure. So, why have this mode at all? Well, there might be times when you want to have a longer exposure to balance out the light from the background to go with the subject needing the flash. Imagine taking a photograph of a friend standing in Times Square at night with all the traffic moving about and the bright lights of the streets overhead. If the flash fires at the beginning of the exposure, and then the objects around the subject move, those objects will often blur the subject a bit. If the camera is set to 2nd Curtain Sync, though, all of the movement is recorded by the existing light first, and then the subject is “frozen” by the flash at the end by the exposure.
There is no right or wrong to it. It’s just a decision on what type of effect it is that you would like to create. Many times, 2nd Curtain Sync is used for artistic purposes or to record movement in the scene without it overlapping the flash-exposed subject. To make sure that the main subject is always getting the final pop of the flash, I leave my camera set to 2nd Camera Sync.
Using 1st Curtain Sync mode will give a similar effect, but the flash fires at the beginning of the sequence. If you do intend to use a long exposure with first curtain synchronization, you need to have your subject remain fairly still so that any movement that occurs after the flash goes off will be minimized in the image.
SETTING YOUR FLASH SYNC MODE
1. Press the Menu button, select Flash control, and press the Function/Set button.
2. Scroll down to select the Shutter Sync option, and then select either the 1st-curtain or 2nd-curtain option for the type of flash sync that you desire.
3. Press the Menu button twice to return to the shooting mode.
Flash and Glass
If you find yourself in a situation where you want to use your flash to shoot through a window or display case, try placing your lens right against the glass so that the reflection of the flash won’t be visible in your image. This is extremely useful in museums and aquariums.
A Few Words about External Flash
We have discussed several ways to get control over the built-in flash. But the reality is that, as flashes go, it will only render fairly average results. For photographing people, it is probably one of the most unflattering light sources that you could ever use. This isn’t because the flash isn’t good—it’s actually very sophisticated for its size. The problem is that light should come from any direction besides the camera to best flatter a human subject. When the light emanates from directly above the lens, it gives the effect of becoming a photocopier. Imagine putting your face down on a scanner: the result would be a flatly lit, featureless photo.
To really make your flash photography come alive with possibilities, you should consider buying an external flash that connects to the camera’s hot shoe, such as the Canon Speedlite 430EX II. The 430EX has a swiveling flash head, more power, and communicates with the camera and the E-TTL system to deliver balanced flash exposures. An extremely effective technique is to aim the Speedlite at the ceiling so the light bounces off the surface. That provides flattering, diffused light on your subject.
External flash also lets you move your light off the camera by triggering one or more units to better shape your scene.
Chapter 8 Assignments
Now that we have looked at the possibilities of shooting after dark, it’s time to put it all to the test. These assignments cover the full range of shooting possibilities, both with flash and without. Let’s get started.
How steady are your hands?
It’s important to know just what your limits are in terms of handholding your camera and still getting sharp pictures. This will change depending on the focal length you are working with. Wider angles are more forgiving than telephoto settings, so check this out for your longest and shortest zoom ranges. Set your lens to its maximum zoom and then, with the camera set to ISO 80 and the mode set to Tv, start taking pictures with lower and lower shutter speeds. Review each image on the LCD at a zoomed-in magnification to take note of when you start seeing visible camera shake in your images. It will probably be around 1/125 of a second.
Now do the same for the wide-angle setting of the lens. My limit is about 1/50 of a second. These shutter speeds are with the Image Stabilization feature turned off. Try it with and without the IS feature enabled to see just how slow you can set your shutter while getting sharp results.
Pushing your ISO to the extreme
Find a place to shoot where the ambient light level is low—this could be at night or indoors in a darkened room. Using the mode of your choice, start increasing the ISO from 80 until you get to 3200. Make sure you evaluate the level of noise in your image, especially in the shadow areas. Only you can decide how much noise is acceptable in your pictures. I can tell you from personal experience that I never like to stray above that ISO 800 mark.
Long exposures in the dark
If you don’t have a tripod, find a stable place to set your camera outside and try some long exposures. Set your camera to Av mode and then use the self-timer to activate the camera (this will keep you from shaking the camera while pressing the shutter button).
Shoot in an area that has some level of ambient light, be it a streetlight or traffic lights, or even a full moon. The idea is to get some late-night low-light exposures.
Testing the limits of the built-in flash
Wait for the lights to get low, and then enable the built-in flash. Try using the different shooting modes to see how they affect your exposures. Use the Flash Exposure Compensation feature to take a series of pictures while adjusting from –2 stops all the way to +2 stops so that you become familiar with how much latitude you will get from this feature.
Find a friend with some patience and a tolerance for bright lights. Have them sit in a darkened room or outside at night, and then take their picture with the flash. Now turn on the Red-Eye Lamp to see if you get better results.
Getting creative with 2nd Curtain Sync
Now it’s time for a little creative fun. Set your camera up for 2nd Curtain Sync and start shooting. Moving targets are best. Experiment with Tv and Av modes to lower the shutter speeds and exaggerate the effect. Try using a low ISO so the camera is forced to use longer shutter speeds. Be creative and have some fun!