how do you take good pictures indoors with bad lighting?

Question

i have a canon rebel xt it does not give me consistant pictures
i have a 430 speedlite flash with a sigma 2.8 lens 24-70mm lens outside shots are fine but indoor shots are horrible i shoot alot of african americans ranging from different colors dark skin usually comes out too dark
what f stop and shutter speed do i need to keep my canon consistant

Answer 1

You have some nice equipment there. I'd be interested to know if you also get poor results without the flash. Indoor shots should be no problem with ISO 800-1600 at f/2.8. (Low light capability, shallow DOF and great AF speed is why you got the constant f/2.8 - might as well use it).
Anyway, try overexposing by about one stop (by setting ev to +1). For dark skin, this is a good idea anyway. Like a previous answer states, an alternative would be to spot-meter... except the Rebel XT doesn't have that feature.
Also get in the habit of adjusting the white balance to an appropriate preset whenever you go in/ outdoors.
And if you really want to get the most out of your camera, see what the manual has to say about bracketing and gray cards.
Best wishes!

Answer 2

The dial on top of your camera has several modes you can shoot in. One of those is the letter "P". Put your camera on this setting, and try taking a picture without flash. How does it come out? If it is too dark, add a little bounce flash (aim the flash head at a flat surface, rather than directly onto the subject). If it is too blurry and too dark, go to your cameras ISO settings (check your manual), and set the number higher (the Rebel XT goes up from 100 to 1600, try 800 at first and then go to 1600 if they still are not good).

I would love to see some of the pictures you are currently getting, it would help greatly in assessing what can be done to improve them.

Answer 3

Well, there isa couple of things you can try.

1) Add light in the room, however this often is impractical
2) Check your camera, even digital cameras now have some ISO settings, the higher the number, the less light you need in your environment to make pictures with good exposure.
3) Use a large f-stop (f1.4, f2.0, f2.8 etc.), the bigger the aperture the more light the picture will be exposed to.
4) Shutter speed, might be tricky to adjust if you are taking pictures of people, I wouldn't recommend longer than 1/60 sec.
5) Make sure the light meter of your camera doesn't get confused. Avoid high contrast ratios, African American people wearing bright clothes or in environments brighter than their skin tone is bound to give you trouble. If on manual mode, Before taking the shot, you can point the camera at a neutral color or a 40% grey card, to ensure a neutral exposure.

Answer 4

Dude i have the same Set up!!
Start off boosting up your ISO higher! but may resault a grainy picture! Stand not to far from the object! the flash is limited! put in on AV! and have it always at f/2.8! biggest hole! 400 ISO with flash and f/2.8 should be ok! if you want to freeze the action! 800-1600 ISO maybe used to get 1/500s
shoot it in RAW! you can do more to your taken picture!!
Happy Shooting!

Answer 5

This have to be dependant on your settings.. are you using program mode? or are you using aperture priority or shutter speed priority, or manual.. as it gives different results for different mode. you need to meter the correct area. If shooting portraits, meter the face area.. use spot metering, open up to the highest f-stop,which is 2.8 for you.. and in your case, you would need to use a gray card. Hold the gray card near to their faces, and meter.. then shoot. If using flash, a standard setting like 1/45, f8.0 will do.. yours is a powerful flash.. I recommend not bouncing the flash, use it direct at your subject.