Low Light Indoor Shooting - Seeking Tips and Suggestions

TaoTeJared

@KFW1982 - the other good trick is to grab Kleenex tissues and a rubber band to make a "puffer" diffuser. I personally like the taupe colored ones

I have used zip-lock plastic bowls, old t-shirts, tin foil (my favorite), candy wrappers, colored scrap paper, scotch tape with a dry erase marker, and almost anything I could find when I started out. I still keep note cards, tin foil, rubber bands and tissue paper in all my bags.

As a retired photographer once told me, "You can bounce a flash off of your white shirt and get the same effect, but try doing that at a wedding - confused looking brides is not a good thing. That's why you have to spend $150 for fancy looking diffusers."

KnockKnock

One more thing to watch out for (was this mentioned?) is your ADR settings. If it's on auto and there's a lot of contrast in the scene, it'll automatically try to bring up the darks. If you're shooting at ISO1600 you could see shadows that the camera's bringing up to an equivalent 6400. If you want the dark to stay dark (and hide its noise) then turn off ADR or set it manually to Low.

I'm curious what the pros do with ADR generally - what's its best use / settings?

TaoTeJared

I always set it to low or off. For me personally, I like letting the dark areas fall off. It is a balance though, (one I probably don't pay enough attention too) where the ADR will also hold highlights as well. It's all personal taste when it comes down to it. I do think it can add to noise artifacting a bit more, that is the main reason I keep it low. In some circumstances (really sunny days) I will put it to high or auto.