Indoor Light

Picture Perfect Photography: Indoor lighting

by Candice Stringham

Appeared In: July 2007

Most people have the tendency to turn on their camera and start up the flash once they’ve stepped inside. But just because you’re inside doesn’t mean you can’t use the available light to take your pictures. There are a few simple things you can do to help your indoor photographs have great light!

The first thing you can do is to raise your ISO. ISO is the international standard used to denote film speed. It is now being used in digital imaging as the ISO equivalent for the sensors used in digital cameras. That might sound a little complicated, but all you really need to know is that the higher the number, the more sensitive to light (meaning the higher the number the less light needed). So while an ISO of 100 is great for taking pictures outside on a cloudy day, an ISO of 800 is great for taking a picture in a dim restaurant. Most cameras are set around 100 but on some cameras you can dial all the way up to ISO 1600. Your camera’s manual will tell you where, if and how you can change your ISO.

Note: Changing your ISO can add a little noise to your picture so if you are planning to blow something up big, you may not want to change your ISO.

The second thing you will need to do is open your aperture. An aperture is a hole in the camera that can open or close to let in more or less light. In this case you will want to open your aperture to let in more light. That means use a low number aperture, for example 2.8 or 1.8.

If you combine a high ISO and an open aperture, you will be able to take pictures without a flash indoors.

Check out this picture taken in my friend’s home with the flash on. See the harsh shadow behind her on the wall. And the harsh light?

Notice the difference in this picture taken in the same hall without a flash. See how much better the light looks and how much more flattering it is on the subject?

There will be some situations where taking a picture without a flash is simply impossible because of a lack of light. In these cases, remember to pull the subject away from the walls and into the center of the room, that way you don’t have strange shadows projected in the background.