I am experimenting with this weeks theme of low key.
I have the tripod set up, a light and a subject. I set the ISO to 100 as it says to here http://www.lightstalking.com/low-key-photography and tried following some of the steps. I'm having trouble though. The photos are either blurry or too dark. This one is the only one that looks clear and that is the one I was shining the light closely and directly on the subject. I was about to give up. Is my light too dull?
Advise please? Help? What do I need to do to get this right?
I would put your light 45 degrees up and camera right of the subject. From here it looks like the light is contained within something. The image is way to dark for me to make out what it is exactly.
Megan, I would not increase ISO for this challenge. ISO is an indication of the camera sensor's sensitivity to light. It doesn't "let in" any more light. Only thing that lets in more light is changing the aperture. A larger aperture (smaller f #) means a bigger opening in the lens and more light available to the sensor. Shutter speed determines how long the light will be available to the sensor. Increasing your ISO setting could result in "grain/noise" in the black areas of the pic.
Anyway, your camera may be having difficulties focusing in such a dark environment. (MIght be why pics are blurry). You could try focusing with more light and then setting your lens to manual focus (so it won't try to focus again once you have your light how you want it. Since your camera is on a tripod, it won't change position and your focus point won't change as long as you don't move the camera or subject), and recomposing with the low key light you want and then take the shot. After that, it's a matter of f stop vs shutter speed vs available light.
Also, Brendan's advice of moving the light to a different location would help.
Turning off your Auto focus will probably help a lot. Your camera is struggling to find something to focus on and with the low light, it keeps searching after you press the shutter button. If you are having a hard time focusing manually, turn on all the lights or enough light to see the subject, focus, and if you can, lock your focus. Then adjust your lighting to get the desired result.
I have my aperture as low as my camera will go. ISO 100. Manual focus. I suck. Only way I get anything is if the shutter speed is super slow and then it goes blurry if the subject is a person because they can't stay rock solid still for so long. I think I need a brighter light source.
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@agima Within? I'm confused. I'm not a pro. Where should I have the light source?
Anyway, your camera may be having difficulties focusing in such a dark environment. (MIght be why pics are blurry). You could try focusing with more light and then setting your lens to manual focus (so it won't try to focus again once you have your light how you want it. Since your camera is on a tripod, it won't change position and your focus point won't change as long as you don't move the camera or subject), and recomposing with the low key light you want and then take the shot. After that, it's a matter of f stop vs shutter speed vs available light.
Also, Brendan's advice of moving the light to a different location would help.
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