Indoor Lighting on a Budget

Over the weekend an Awesomeographist reader asked me to touch on indoor lighting because the holidays are coming up and family members ask her to take pictures. Her frustration is that she has to work around the time of day. Thanks for the question, Melissa...here's your answer!


Speedlight (Preferred Option)
While not a "budget" item, a speedlight will solve most indoor lighting needs for the holidays and will be well worth the money spent.  The speedlight pictured is for the Canon line and is priced at around $299. Nikon has it's own line, as do other camera manufacturers. There are also third party solutions you can look at, too. I would not point the flash directly at your subject. I would (90% of the time) point the flash straight up, then attach a business card to the back of the flash with a rubber band. It will bounce most of the flash off of the ceiling to illuminate the room and bounce just enough toward your subject to provide some fill. (See photo to the right)



Work light
This is what I started with when I began to learn studio lighting. It doesn't flash, but provides a very bright light that can greatly improve your ability to take indoor photos. The two main pros...you can usually find these at Lowe's, The Home Depot, Walmart, etc. for around $40 and they are very bright. The main cons are they are pretty unsightly, they will take up space, and get VERY VERY HOT!  If you buy one of these you're going to have to pay attention to shadows on the face as there's a good chance you'll be placing this light to one side of your subject.


 
Handheld LED
If you have an assistant, or just someone who can hold a flashlight for you, this is a good solutions. These LED "wands" put out a substantial amount of light, have rechargeable batteries (more often than not) and are very portable.  The cons...white balance will probably need to be corrected when you edit as these tend to emit a blueish light and, as I said earlier, you'll more than likely need someone to hold this for you.




Available Lights in the Room
You may have enough lights already.  Turn on every light in the room that you can. Ceiling lights, lamps, nightlights, EVERYTHING.  Since you will more than likely be shooting with a wide open aperture and a slow shutter speed you'll need to make sure you minimize the visibility of these lights in your photos as they will be blown-out (over exposed) like crazy...but they can definitely be used to your advantage.




Windows
An old standby! Open the curtains, pull the blinds up, and shoot away...but make sure the windows are behind you and not your subject.


Camera settings
This is where the knowledge of your camera will come into play. Your knowledge of ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and focal length will be invaluable!  If your light is limited I'd start off with ISO 400, a slow-ish shutter speed around 1/60 (you'll need a tripod), an aperture as wide as possible (most kit lenses will open to f/3.5) and I'd try the longest focal length possible up to around 60mm.  Those are starting points, then you'll need to adjust from there. If the picture is still too dark, bump the ISO up to 800, but I wouldn't go much higher than that. Still too dark? Reduce your shutter speed to 1/30.  If those don't work you may want to consider moving to where there is more ambient light and start all over again with your settings. (See "6 Ways You Can Improve Your Photography")

Lastly, Melissa...sometimes we all have to give in and work around the time of day. It's just a fact of life for a photographer!  ;-)

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