Hello to you all, Henriëtte here with the November photo challenge.

This month the subject is: Low Light Photography Without Using A Flash

Digital photography is easy- when you have plenty of light and the conditions are ideal. But, as you may know, lighting conditions in digital photography aren’t always as we would like them.
How to get better digital photos in low light conditions without the necessity of using a flash. Good news it can be done. But like everything in photography there are advantages and disadvantages.

The flash is the biggest solution to low light digital photography. However the problem with this is that not all situations can benefit from using the flash. Not only does it interfere with your “moment” socially and artistically, but the flash can flatten out your digital images. This is especially true for a flash that is built-in on digital cameras. The built in flash (and a flash in general) has the effect of lighting your subject on the front only which compresses the depth in your digital photos. Compressed depth can really decrease the beauty of your subject in your digital photography; see photo A.

This can be avoided to a certain degree, depending on your subject and by watching how your light falls. Learn how to see how the light falls on your surroundings and your mind will become adept at knowing what works and what doesn’t with the flash

Really, a good way to combat the problem in low light you can try using a higher ISO if your camera has a manual ISO setting. Your ISO simply means the amount of sensitivity of light falling on your sensor. For example take traditional photography as a comparison to digital photography. Traditional photography ISO will be film sensitivity. (ISO in traditional terms works with film speed as well.)
The only set back in digital photography ISO is noise. If your ISO is perfect for the photo yet there is a significant increase in noise you can use software to sharpen up your digital photo. There are two good noise reduction software programs called “Noise Ninja” or “Neat Image”. If you don’t push the ISO higher you may find the problem with camera shake if a tripod is not in hand. By adjusting the ISO you probably will find that noise is better than camera shake. In digital photography noise will always be something to consider.

In digital photography, a higher ISO allows you to take photos in low light situations.
In traditional photography you’d have to change your roll of film from. In digital photography ISO give you the opportunity to adjust a setting, rather than fiddle with changing film. This is advantageous if the subject is not going to stay around or you yourself are unable to stay for an extended length of time.

Let’s take for example you are taking some digital shots indoors, like someone speaking, or playing an instrument. Perhaps the flash is not appropriate in this situation. In this case (which happens a lot in digital photography) you would simply adjust the ISO to a higher setting. If you set the camera on “ISO Auto” your digital camera will then detect that a higher ISO is necessary. Alternatively you can set the ISO yourself. This higher sensitivity can give you the opportunity of gaining the right exposure for the shot. If you find that’s still not right, because your digital photo now has camera shake and you don’t have a tripod, you can in fact decide on the next top ISO which will then enable you to select a faster shutter speed.
(from an article by Amy Renfrey)

Photo B is taken with the highest ISO (1600) setting my camera (Canon 400D) has and though it is a bit to orange/yellow to my liking, I think it is far better and pleasing to the eyes as photo A.

And here is my layout:

I used the Grid Locked Paperpack and The Boys Of Summer kit both by Britt-ish Designs and Template no 03 by Scrapmuss Designs.

 How to play:
- Make a photo that has something to do with the subject, you can be as creative as you want. But the photo has to be a NEW photo taken specifically for this challenge. Don’t just find a photo that will work – actually go out and TAKE a new photo for this challenge and put those tips to use !
- There are three (!) points possible in the photo challenge:
1point for taking and posting the photo
1point if you scrap your photo and post your layout in the gallery
at the end of the month I will choose the winner; my personal favorite; out of all the entries and that winner gets an exta point
- You can submit as many pictures as you like, but there is still just one point to earn (so multiple photo’s don’t give multiple points)! This also count for LO’s.
- Be sure to post your photos and LO’s in the appropiate A Matter of Snap gallery as well as make a post linking the photo to the forumpost.