Friday Photo Tips

Over the last couple of weeks I've been in a lot of museums. These are always challenging environments to shoot in, with low light and no tripod or hundreds of people always seemingly in the way of that perfect shot. So. this week I thought I'd give some tips on shooting in these conditions and things I've learned along the way.

31. ISO

Museums can be dark places for the photographer to shoot, the lights are kept deliberately low to add atmosphere or to protect exhibits and in most cases, you won’t be able to use a flash or tripod. You’re only option then, is to crank up the ISO. When you adjust the ISO from say, 100 to 1600, the camera sensor becomes more sensitive to light, this means you can use a faster shutter speed and reduce the risk of blurred photo’s. The one drawback of using a higher ISO is noise in your photo’s, there are a few ways to minimise the effects of noise such as making sure your shots are properly exposed (underexposed shots can be rescued in post processing but more noise is added by trying to brighten them) and keeping your ISO down to the minimum to get the shot, it’s no good overdoing things.

32. No Tripods

As mentioned most, if not all museums won’t let you use a tripod but, there are a few ways around this. First, you may get away with using a monopod instead, they’re slightly less conspicuous and won’t take up any floor space. Second, try and find a stable platform to put the camera on, such as a wall, ledge or seat you may also get away with using a table top tripod to give yourself a bit more scope positioning the camera. Third, you could use a bean bag as a support, again this can help with positioning and is better than just a wall on its own.

33. Tourists

Ok, so you’re a tourist too and everyone has as much right to be there as you do, but when you want that wide shot of a main hall without people in the image it becomes almost impossible. You can try getting to the museum early and being the first in, this way you can go straight for that wide shot before the place starts filling up. Another option is to try a long exposure, as long as people are moving around they should just disappear. One last option, that requires a bit of post processing, is to take several shots without moving the camera and photomerge the images using something like Photoshop to remove people in the final photo. For other shots, it’s just a case of waiting until people are out of the frame and being quick with the camera

34. Glass

When shooting through a glass case if possible put the camera lens onto the glass its self. The idea here is to reduce the reflections from the glass. A rubber lens hood is ideal for this as it doesn’t damage the glass and provides a good seal, plus as its flexible you can angle the camera slightly as opposed to a rigid plastic one.

35. Good Compositions

Look for interesting compositions, anyone can take a picture of an exhibit in a case but, how about taking a shot of the people looking at that exhibit. What about interesting shadows thrown by statues or the way light comes through large windows creating potential shots of galleries. Think about natural light portraits of statues or busts, even some of the coffee shops are impressive, just search around there’s plenty to shoot if you think about it creatively.