Common Low-Light Photography Mistakes

Modern cameras and lenses have made it more possible than ever to take great photos even when there is very little available light. Still, it takes a lot of careful technique and awareness to get good photos. This excellent video tutorial discusses some of the most common mistakes photographers make when taking low-light images and how to avoid or correct them and get the best shots possible. 

Coming to you from Kai W, this helpful video tutorial details a range of mistakes photographers often make when taking low-light photos and how to avoid them. The most common mistake I made when first starting out was using too slow of a shutter speed. Of course, we all like to keep our ISOs as low as possible in order to keep our image quality as high as possible, but if your photo is blurry because of camera shake or motion blur, there is not much you can do to save it. On the other hand, using a higher ISO will allow you to keep your shutter speed fast enough to get a sharp image, and you can always apply noise reduction in post if needed. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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Yeah, in my event work, I got a lot of shots that were usable but less than tack-sharp because I hesitated to let my ISO drift above a preconceived level and I overestimated the effectiveness of IS and flash in countering motion blur. One day, I took a close look at some of the images and realized that the lack of detail might be due to marginal shutter speeds. I subsequently raised my ISO ceiling, and voilà! - sharper images. The dreaded high-ISO detail loss didn't materialize, thanks in part to DxO's superb noise reduction.