How do I take low light color photos, get the ambient colors of the low-lit room, but reduce blur of movement?

Question

I am trying to take pictures of a live band rehearsing in a low-light recording studio. The room is lit with red and blue colored track lighting. I get beautiful shots, but if the performers move at all, they are very blurry. I want to be able to take the pictures without a flash in order to get all of the colors of the room that the flash washes out. I know it has to do with shudder speed, but I don't know how to set it long enough to get enough exposure, but short enough to keep the musicians from blurring out.

My camera is the Canon PowerShot S5 IS

Answer 1

Referring to my FotoSharp (fotosharp.com) "Day & Night Exposure Guide" I chose Scene # 13: Night clubs with dim lights.

ISO 1600, f1.4 @ 1/30 second; f2 @ 1/15 second; f2.8 @ 1/8 second. Obviously very slow shutter speeds which require a tripod.

Since your camera only allows a high ISO of 1600 your subjects will have to be motionless to avoid blur. Plus, your maximum aperture is f2.7 at 36mm.

Even at ISO 3200 and a lens with a maximum aperture of f1.4 your shutter speed would only be 1/60 second - still too slow to avoid blur.

At ISO 6400 @ f1.4 your shutter speed would be 1/125 second and would "stop" slow movement.

Your only real choice under these conditions and with the camera you have is to either accept some blur in your subjects or leave them out of the photo.

You might try this if you have an off-camera flash. Set your camera in Manual Mode. Set your ISO to 400. Set aperture to f8. Set shutter to "B" or "T" and attach a cable release that you can lock. Make sure the in-camera flash is OFF. With the band members perfectly still make a 4 second exposure and then COVER the lens with a heavy black cloth - remember, the shutter is still OPEN so don't jar the camera. Using your off-camera flash (it doesn't have to be connected to your camera - just hold it in your hand) remove the cloth from the lens, fire the flash and close the shutter. The trick here is to experiment with the flash and its coverage. Try it set for f5.6 (the flash must have a dial or slide to set an f-stop in its Auto mode) and check the distance scale on the flash. If it is 5' to 12' try having the flash 5 or 6 feet from the band. Your goal is to illuminate the band and not "blow out" the exposure you made for the lighting in the studio. By using f5.6 on the flash you're "tricking" it into producing less light.

The above suggestion will require a lot of experimentation. If your camera doesn't allow a shutter setting of "B" or "T" (I just looked at the specs - it shows shutter speeds from 15 sec. to 1/3200 sec. with no mention of "T" or "B") you'll have to set the shutter speed to 4 seconds and fire the flash at the last second - literally.

Practice and experiment. Experiment and practice.

Answer 2

If you really want to get quality shots under those lighting conditions your going to have to break down and buy a dslr such as the Nikon d40, it will allow you to use a high iso such as 1600 without terrible noise.

Answer 3

High ISO (and high noise) or wide open aperture (and shallow focus depth) are your only options...