I've been working on sharpening my skill set with available light night portraits. To make things more interesting, I used a Canon 5D which has a realistic maximum sensitivity of ISO 1600 and no live view shooting, and any of three old vintage manual focus lenses for the feel and effect. I'm still cringing at the background alignment of the b&w one so if we can skip that part please do. I'd like to hear what you all like or don't like about these, how you think they could be improved, and any tips you might have on night portraits that don't involve using flash, different lenses (unless focal lengths), or a newer camera body. I have all of the above, just chose to not use them for these.
Lenses:
Makinon 28mm f/2.8
Mir-1 37mm f/2.8
Helios 44 58mm f/2
lens, speed, and exposure push for each, all ISO 1600
#1 Helios 1/100 +0.5
#2 Helios 1/60 +2.13
#3 Makinon 1/40 +0.89
#4 Mir 1/125 +0.58
#5 Mir 1/50 +0.27
Hi - maybe I can give some thoughts on that. Actually I think the images are fine, and would be great if they weren´t to some part be out of focus. I guess that´s because of the longer exposures due to the low light. Yet I would still try to take theses with a minimum of 1/250th and try to bring back up the RAW file in post. I don´t mind the background of the black and white at all - I think it´s the best image (even the slight out of focus issue here doesn´t bother me at all). The image of the lady light from above at the door works really well too, I think especially because her face is hidden in the shadow (was this intended?). I sometimes go up to to 3200 ISO on my Nikon D750 and remove the noise later in photoshop. If it´s not overdone, the image can be saved. The way you posed your models in the last two pictures is very interesting and could make for a really good series of different backgrounds, colors. etc. I didn´t really understand what you mean with the point about that you don´t have '"live view" shooting. I could do that with my Nikon but I never use it. Especially in low light it is much easier to use the viewfinder so your own eyes can adapt better to the darkness. So to sum up - the images would indeed profit with more sharpness (especially the first one), especially if there used for on-screen viewing. If you decide to print them, the results might surprise you. I have some images which are not quite in focused and I had them printed out on canvas. Because of its already rough surface, the "blurryness" of weren´t an issue anymore (since you also tend to look at printed pictures from a farther distance then when you´re sitting in front of a monitor). Good luck and fun with further experimenting all that can be done, Heiko.
Thanks for the feedback Heiko. Reducing motion blur and nailing focus are two points that I know I need to find ways to improve, but I feel will just need to work out through more practice in the dark due to reasons I'll list below. The obscured face in #4 is indeed deliberate, going for a hiding in plain sight look.
Unfortunately for most of my night photos 1/250 is out of the question. Even at 1/60 I'm usually having to push at least a stop to have still slightly underexposed images. For the 5D, a two stop push at 1600 is about the limit before it starts looking really bad and I have to use noise reduction, but it still looks better than 3200 (which is an in-camera push) without adjustment. Why I mention live view is because with it I would 1) have a brighter preview to work with and 2) have the option to magnify the preview to check focus. Through the viewfinder it's often too dark to be sure about my focus, which must be manual.
I'm editing the original post with the metadata