Poor light = poor photograph?

[WestLothian]

It has been overcast and rain for most of this weekend.
What are the options for getting the best out of the poor light?

I have tried increasing the ISO but the noise level is really noticeable at ISO 800 and above. The maximum aperture and low shutter speeds make hand-held shots impossible and as for birds, even on a tripod they have to be caught perfectly still.

Are there other tricks or do you just put the camera away on dull days?

[HowlinWolf]

Overcast conditions, contrary to some beliefs, are ideal for portraits (animal or otherwise) as the sky acts as a giant soft-box, reducing contrast to manageable levels. This lighting also saturates colours far better than in direct sunlight. Persevere with the conditions, although a fast lens is a huge asset for low-light photography.

HW

[John]

I think that also having a lens with IS can help also. I was very lucky with a Sparrowk visit today in atrocious conditions. It had just stopped pouring down when this Sparrowhawk landed on one of my feeder stations.

I have the Canon 30D with a 100-400 IS USM lens. I also used a 1.4 Converter and managed to get away with ISO 250 and down to 1/30th to get these images.



BTW considering the conditions there isn't much wrong with your image. The bill looks a little soft but apart from that a little lightening on the head and it is a good shot.

John

[WestLothian]

HW

Thanks for the suggestion, I am considering getting a faster lens soon.

I have the AF-S NIKKOR 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6 G which has VR Vibration reduction.
Yesterday I tried the NIKON AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR IF-ED in the shop and it was impressive at fast focussing on text on boxes in darker corners of Jessops.

Would I notice a significant improvement with this lens in this kind of light conditions?

I tried getting much closer with a 50mm f/1.8 which is my fastest lens then croppping, but that was really awful !

[WestLothian]

John

Thanks for the tips and congratulations on your visitor and the pictures.

The flat light adds real drama to your shots.

[HowlinWolf]

WestLothian, I don't have the AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 VR IF-ED lens (yet), so I can't comment, although it receives good reviews. Try trawling the Nikonian web site forum for user comments at:

Nikonians :: The Nikon User Community

Fast lenses have many advantages, including giving you a brighter image in the viewfinder, but wide apertures give much shallower depth of field, so accurate focus is essential. The Robin was shot yesterday using a Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 lens: 1/250th sec at f2.8-ISO 100. I waited until the bird presented a profile of itself before firing the shutter because of the shallow depth of field. The tail is slightly out of focus, but the eye and beak remain sharp. Patience with such subjects is the order of the day.
HW

[glsammy]

I suppose it all depends on the camera, lens etc. With my "poor" low light lens, (F6.3 50-500mm) I often get surprisingly good low light shots. There again, I get many failures as well! Shooting into the dull gloom, with no hope of any highlights can only leave you with a "flat" image at best.

Are you shooting with any exposure compensation? I always ramp that up to -1, I don't seem to suffer from excessive noise at ISO 800..It's almost becoming my standard setting lately. Oh, I do use Neat Image though.

[WestLothian]

HowlinWolf
A very sharp robin indeed - superb.

glsammy

"Are you shooting with any exposure compensation? "
I am usually manually adjusting the exposure by setting shutter speed and checking the previews. Depending on the amount of sky in the shot this can be -1 to -3. The ISO 800 is quite usable, the 1250 and higher don't seem to be worth having in these conditions.

I don't know about Neat Image - I use Bibble and/or PS Elements 5.

[peterjclarke]

West Lothian, I own a Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VR and with my D200 I've had some excellent results. Its a great lens and I highly recommend it. I also regularly use the Sigma 50-500 but use the Nikon if things are in its range. I often use manual fill flash for photographing on dull days and using warming filters on the flash head as Nikon ones are a bit cool. TTL flash is good but for a lot of birds the pre flashes scare them and they move during exposure. Thus I use manual flash and adjust this from the camera after a histogram check. I usually use two SC17 remote leads and mount the flash on a tripod with a diffusion cone to soften the harsh light from the flash. The other option is to get down low and shoot at the sky with fill flash to gain a faster shutter speed. You do need to have a camera that supports high speed flash synchronisation and have it switched on to get a faster shutter speed than a 250th of a second.

[WestLothian]

Hi Peter

Thanks for the tips.

I recently bought the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR myself and the 1.7E teleconverter.
This is proving to be a great improvement for the dull weather and increasing the options.

Here is an example in dull weather lighting and faster shutter.


I try not to disturb the birds when I take the photos - so I have not considered using flash.
Do they come back or do you only use these in field trips?