Portraits in bad lighting.

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snowbeast

Senior Member
A brother of mine has asked me to take pictures of him in his various regalia in our lodge room. As much as we have lights in the room I don't think they are bright enough.
I am using a D3100 and will use the two kit lenses for various angles. I only have the standard camera flash. I can't afford a new flash as I'm saving for a macro and 50mm lens at the moment.
My original thought was to get some desk lamps and arrange them pointing at him and edit the pics in gimp.
This will be my first ever portrait opportunity so any advice would bigger great.
Cheers,
Bruce
 
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Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
If you have some of those yellow halogen work lights they put out a lot of light, and heat. You need to watch the shadows and adjust the white balance but they do work and just about everyone has one or two in the garage.
 
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MrRamonG

Senior Member
If you don't have a lot of light use the low light and shadows to your advantage. Shoot for mystery and be creative. Google "low light portrait" images for some ideas.
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
As stated already do not light from bottom up. Always light from above and at an angle to subject. Put a layer of tissue over your on-camera flash and try to add some fill flash if needed to bring out some detail of the shadow areas. Or, get two CFL bulbs and two lamp holders, one for the key light and one for fill and adjust them by either diffusing or moving them farther/closer to subject.

Constant light will give you instant reading and view of what the shadows will be or whether you are over lit or not.
 
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mophotography

New member
snowbeast said:
A brother of mine has asked me to take pictures of him in his various regalia in our lodge room. As much as we have lights in the room I don't think they are bright enough.
I am using a D3100 and will use the two kit lenses for various angles. I only have the standard camera flash. I can't afford a new flash as I'm saving for a macro and 50mm lens at the moment.
My original thought was to get some desk lamps and arrange them pointing at him and edit the pics in gimp.
This will be my first ever portrait opportunity so any advice would bigger great.
Cheers,
Bruce
Click to expand...

Hello Bruce,

As being a Professional Portrait Photographer, I can suggest you one thing - use "Low Light Portrait Photography" tricks here. Use any stand lamp shades and make the light upwards, so that there will not be any huge lighting on the person's face. Thus you can click the shot and it will look creative. I personally prefer the Low Light photography - believe me it looks awesome!
 
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snowbeast

Senior Member
Thank you mo. That helps a lot as to where he wants his pics in the lodge room and how the plugpoints are positioned. I am going to do this in Jan as I have sacrificed my annual leave for a new job
 
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