Photos by candle light.

[RichA]

Your experience and suggestions are appreciated on how I might best photograph two opportunities only using candles as the source of light for both photos.

The kit lens has been tried with only limited success using high IOS settings and slow speeds the results were too much motion and noise.
Here are the two photos I'm trying to take.

The first is in a chapel and the focus of the picture is about 90 feet away and I hope to see about 35 to 40 feet in the FOV. There will be ten to fifteen candles lighting the subject. People could be walking when the photo is taken. The photo will be taken from a loft about ten feet above the subject.

The second photo is of one or two people from 5 to 10 feet away. I would hope to have only one candle in the FOV though other candles could be used from out side the FOV for additional lighting.

In these closer pictures I have noticed a number of different affect in the candle light itself. For example the candle light has four points or in some cases the candle light has a circle of light around it. Any ways to include or remove this effect.

I appreciate any suggestion. on lens and setting that would improve over the kit lens and an example photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

RichA

 

[johnnycam]

1. Use a tripod
2. Use a slow shutter speed. (Will blur people walking though)
3. If you need 30-40 of DOF, use a technique called hyperfocal distance.

4. Do a custom White Balance so that the final image will be light balanced with the candle light.
--
John
http://www.pbase.com/johnnycam

 

[ISOMatrix]

Wow! Pretty demanding shot I presume. Great to hear you already have envisioned how you want the shot to look like.

Here's a few humble thoughts/considerations for you.......

1) It's always best when you have full control over the lighting of the scene.

2) I would try to augment the candle light w/ normal household incandescent lighting, it's cheap, flexible, readily available and I think works well to match the color temp of candlelight.

3) To eliminate motion blur, your going to need enough light to allow faster shutter speeds while at the same time not overpowering the candle light or its effects on the subject. It's likely you may need to boost ISO above 200.

4)You'll also need to experiment w/ the light ratios between the candlelight and your suplimental "studio" lighting to find what will achieve the effects your looking for. One approach would be to use various wattage of light bulbs. However remember that you can change light ratio's by even moving your lights closer/farther away from the subject. The Inverse Square law works to your advantage here. Double your distance to subject and your lights will be reduced by 4 times. Keep in mind there are other effects by changing the distance. Primarily the coverage the lights provide at their new distance.

One can also diffuse your lights to reduce power. Place semi transparent materials in front of your lights to both soften them and reduce their power.

I do understand that you'll be taking the shot from a distance w/ telephoto lens and that placement of additional lighting will be problematic though. You could also consider taking two shots that can be blended together (stacked) in photoshop. One shot exposed for the candles (and without people in frame) and one exposed for the people. Try to keep lighting and color temps the same between the two.

Looking forward to seeing how you make out.

--
D 7 0 - 18-70DX C P 5 0 0 0, S B 5 0 DX, O M - 2n(s)
CATS Member #41

 

[thomas1973]

no text.

 

[RichA]

Thank you for responses.

Adding the custom white balance should help as well as your other recommendations.
Will this help bring out more of the golden color tones from the candle light.

I'm hoping someone will post successes they have with photo taken using only candle light.

Yes, the tripod was and will be used. In addition I use the timer to reduce the shaking of the camera.
Adding incondesent light is not an option for me.
This is a prayer service "by candle light".

Would there be much difference if I used a f/1.5 or f/1.8 lens compared to the kit lens? Is there much difference between the three lenes in low light? Would someone show some examples?

RichA

 

[Kpatel]

RichA,

Please look at the link below and try diff lens and F stops for your DOF calculations.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Good Luck, Please post your pics.

KP

 

[dad_of_four]

Yes, the tripod was and will be used. In addition I use the timer
to reduce the shaking of the camera.

Get the remote release so you can trip the shutter at the exact moment, not after a 2 second delay\

 

[RichA]

Thank you dad_of_our and Kpatel for your responses. I'll include the wireless remote in the mix.

After looking at my prior results and seeing some of the possible lenes that could improve my chances for a clearer photo with the low light, I ordered the AF-D 50mm f/1.4 by Nikon.

The f/1.4 and f/2 stops should give a clearer photo in the candle light I'm working with.

In general I have wanted to be able to use a 50mm pure lens for a number of photo opps espically in low light where flash is not allowed. I rhink this lens will serve these conditions for a long time to come.