You’re out on a shoot and the sky is getting overcast with dark clouds. You search your camera bag for an external flash and to your horror, you realise that you forgot to bring your flash with you. There’s no need to despair just yet, for it is still possible to capture usable low-light photos without a flash. Here are a few tips to get you out of sticky situations like these. 

Bump up your ISO

When shooting without flash in low light, the most important step you can take is to increase your ISO, which is a measure of a camera’s sensitivity to light. With a higher ISO setting, your camera gathers more light from your surroundings and increases its exposure. But wait – before you start bumping up your ISO, you should watch out for noise – the grain that is produced when shooting at high ISO settings. There’s no telling what exactly is the maximum ISO setting that causes noise to be produced as it may vary depending on your situation and camera model. As such, you’ll have to determine your camera’s ideal ISO setting through trial and error. 

Open up your aperture

A larger aperture (eg. F1.4 or F1.8) allows more light to enter your lens. The smaller the F-number, the wider the opening is. As a result, more light is picked up from your surroundings and captured by your camera. However, doing so would affect your depth of field and hinder your lens from keeping your subject in focus. One can only be careful, capturing a well-lit subject without compensating for sharpness. 

Use a slower shutter speed

The longer your shutter stays open, the longer your camera’s exposure time and the more light you let into your camera’s sensor. As such, a slower shutter speed of 1/4s lets you capture more light than a shutter speed of 1/250s. Just like all the previous tips, this one is no stranger to limitations. A slower shutter speed would not be able to keep up with the action and your moving subject would end up with a motion blur. If that’s the artistic direction you’re going for, good on you. Otherwise, you might want to stick with still shots for the time being. 

Yes, you may have noticed by now that ISO, aperture and shutter speed work together to increase exposure. This relation is known as the exposure triangle. All three parameters have to be balanced for your photos to be perfectly exposed. 

Shoot in RAW format

If all else fails, you’ll have to adjust the exposure levels of your photos and do colour grading after your shoot. RAW files allow you to edit your images with photo editing software without losing image quality, as it retains all of your image data. In fact, we recommend shooting in RAW format in any given situation, not just in low light. 

While these tips may help tide you over your slight predicament, nothing beats having an external flash on hand. Always remember to run a thorough check through your camera bag before heading out for a shoot and if possible, save a permanent spot for this indispensable piece of gear!

To check out our full list of Alpha cameras, click here.