Natural light... and battling low light!

[PolaroidSky]

Always battling with my D200's low light capabilities...

[pavman]

if you provide details relating to exposure (AV/TV/ISO) lens used folks may be able to comment without those difficult to comment other than the light source which is coming from the right of camera, ambient light from a window/door? Cheers Peter

[PolaroidSky]

It's ambient light on a cloudy day from a window.

f3.5

1/250

ISO 400

Manual exposure and focus

28mm - 50mm f3.5

: )

[karenoliver]

Would a reflector have made a difference? Although I kind of like half his face in darkness it adds to the appeal of the shot.

Karen

[PolaroidSky]

Thanks Karen. I'm happy with the shadow as it's what I'd intended... a reflector would work but as my shoots are often quite intimate that's a bit too imposing a technique to use.

The poor high ISO handling in dark tones/shadows is very limiting with a D200 (Lot's of noise) here's hoping Santa brings me a D700 (Highly doubtful haha!) but it's good fun learning the extremes of the equipment I have : )

[pavman]

for the above image may I suggest that you convert to B and W and compare it with colour
what software do you use as you can also try different toning to see one works best.
You could also try lighting the wall behind the model I do not have any studio lights but use a desk lamp sometimes
Cheers Peter

[AndyStevens]

I like the image - and would be tempted to hang something large and black to the left to further deepen the shadowy half of the face - once saw a portrait of John Malkovic like that and it looked fantastic.

Noise handling can be an issue - don't think it detracts though Jim. And there's always the B&W plus 'grain' conversion to consider...

[PolaroidSky]

Thanks a lot everyone, some really considered ideas... think I'll add some black velvet to my bag of tricks!

I'm really happy with the shot, the light is exactly what/where I wanted, what's disappointing is how the D200 processes noise over or on ISO 400, looks poor in print so it's always a challenge to try to battle shooting at an acceptable shutter speed + f stop + ISO to get the best from a natural light scenario whilst still getting the actual shot you intend!. I dream of a D700 / Canon 5 II or III as it eliminates all the worry... in place of winner the lottery I'm using a lot more film and MF shots as the results with film make me smile more than digital in these low light situations.

Software I use... NX Capture, Alien Skin film emulator, PS 3... a mixed bag really, from RAW to Tiff to Jpeg...

[Cathus]

if you struggle with noise, have you thought about trying noise removal software. There are some cracking packages that can really help.

It always used to be about removing noise but softening the image overall, but I think they have improved dramatically in the last couple of years

I can recommend Imagenomic Noisewaire

[PolaroidSky]

I use noise Ninja a bit... I'll do some research on your suggestion - thanks!