I’ve had many readers asking me how I was able to capture Joshua Radin on stage without a flash and have the shots come out so clean.
Before I begin, here is my disclaimer: I am a novice, so be gentle with me and feel free to not listen to me at all.
Here are the settings from this particular shot. First I used my 50mm lens the entire night. It’s my favorite lens.
F/stop (aperture): 1.8
Exposure time (shutter speed): 1/30 sec.
ISO (light sensitivity): 500
F/stop (aperture): 1.8
Exposure time (shutter speed): 1/30 sec.
ISO (light sensitivity): 500
F/stop (aperture): 2.2
Exposure time (shutter speed): 1/100 sec.
ISO (light sensitivity): 640
Like I said in my original Joshua Radin concert recap, I took over 700 pictures and not all of them turned out this good. In fact, many of them sucked.
Hello, darkness.
What went wrong? Luckily, I can examine the settings and see what went wrong:
F/stop (aperture): 1.8
Exposure time (shutter speed): 1/320 sec.
ISO (light sensitivity): 100
What do I know from these numbers? The shutter speed was much too fast, not allowing enough light to come in. Live & learn. The slower the shutter speed, the more light that’s let in…the faster the shutter speed, less light is let in.
Hello, um, overexposure and blurriness. What a mess. Let’s take a look at what went wrong:
F/stop (aperture): 2
Exposure time (shutter speed): 1/4 sec.
ISO (light sensitivity): 800
Now this one stumps me, like I said, I’m still learning and I’m really trying to figure out what went wrong while writing this post. My f/stop was low (although could have been slightly lower at 1.8, the lowest the 50mm goes) and my shutter speed was slow. My guess is that I did not hold my camera steady enough, which is what has caused the blurriness with the slower shutter speed. Also, my ISO was set a little bit high which can cause a lot of noise and overexposure in a photo. Between the two, it’s a chaotic mess.
Through the entire performance I was constantly changing the settings trying to keep up with lighting and stage changes, it took a lot of work, but it was really great practice for me.
I do realize that many of you have no idea what this means, especially those with a point & shoot. I only say that because most (all?) point & shoots do not give you the option to get out of automatic. I also realize that maybe my settings weren’t exactly correct, but that’s okay.
It’s a work in progress, I’m still practicing and learning with every shot I take. I encourage you to do the same.
Does this help? Questions? (that I’m probably way under-qualified to answer, but that’s okay, I can pretend. I’ll do anything for you.)
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The winner of the camera strap from last week’s You Capture challenge drawing is:
Here are your random numbers:
49
Timestamp: 2009-03-08 03:49:43 UTC
Nancy @ Barcardi Mama! Congrats! And thanks to Shay [B] for the great giveaway!
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Hurry & enter my Meringue Design giveaway and my Joshua Radin giveaway. Don’t miss out, man.
How cool! I never win anything. Now, what do I do?
The first few shots look good – rock on! You’ve got a pretty steady hand to pull off 1/30 with any consistency.
Out of curiosity, were you shooting in manual mode (i.e. why were the exposures so different between shots)? On the last shot, the photo looks overexposed which you diagnosed quite well, but wondering if the white balance setting was also off given the bluish tint.
GREAT SHOTS!!! And thanks for sharing your settings. I am such a camera geek, I ALWAYS want to know the settings.
You did better than I could. I really want to take some classes though and learn more about what my camera can really do.
Um yeah so what I’m reading is blah blah blah blah blah.
My husband has tried to teach me some of this stuff, and he’s learning with our Nikon D50 but I’m a photography idiot. What I really want to learn ore about it taking great pictures of my kids. I admire your tenacity and your talent! :0)
My guess is on the last one the shutter speed was too slow and you got the inevitable camera shake. But what do I know?? I suck at indoor photography!
I need a 50 mm. ;o)
Thanks for this post, I was kind of wondering the same thing. I have a point and shoot that thinks it’s a SLR. I I usually try to shoot in aperture moded, but it’s a challenge.
Um,trust me, you’re not a beginner.
One problem I have when I slow my shutter down, is that my pictures come out blurry no matter how still I try to hold my camera. Any thoughts? I have a Nikon d80, I’m trying to learn how to use it. Most of what you’re saying is Greek to me, but I’m trying.
Yeah, I should mention I have the 18-135mm lens. I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.
I’m all about the photography lingo! My husband and friends think I’ve lost my mind when I start talking about f stops, ISO settings, prime lenses, etc. I’ve got the plastic fantastic 50mm, and I love it!
I’m with Mom24 when she says, “One problem I have when I slow my shutter down, is that my pictures come out blurry no matter how still I try to hold my camera. Any thoughts?”. I have the same problems.
I have to say though that your good shots were unbelievably incredible. And, how great that you shared your bad shots along with the settings and your theories on what went wrong. Thank you!
anything under 1/60 is considered a candidate for tripod- although I don’t always follow this rule. trust me, at 1/4 there is no way you’ll be able to hold your camera still enough to get a sharp shot, maybe you can get lucky bracing against something but it’s really difficult.
Shooting into a light also can cause nasty lens flare…do you shoot with a lens hood? Also what white balance mode are you using? Once you’ve master iso/f-stop/shutter etc, your white balance is your next biggest control in digital photography.
Love this post because I was loving your pics in the concert post and it’s cool to see the settings you used. Yesterday I took an all day photography class from Karen Russell (http://karenrussell.typepad.com/) at a local scrapbook store and learned all about aperature, shutter speed and ISO. I’m now buying a “nifty 50″ lense because it’s all she uses and her photos are amazing. And yours are too and now you’ve doubly convinced me! I’ve also realized I just can’t do what I want to do with my current lense.
Oh mah goodness, look at that man’s arms. I’d like to f/stop his aperture.
Great photos, thank you for sharing your tips
I can’t stop laughing at Sarah Viola’s
“I’d like to f/stop his aperture”
perfect…
I think the weather is causing a lack of “something” to blog about in my case. This still is a great blog and I love your pictures.
Going to check out your photog site.