Engagement session... in an ARCADE. Then outside in the cold again!

Ok, I have to say, this was a unique request. The couple met while they both worked in an arcade. Been a while since they've worked there but they thought it would be fun to go back and play a whole bunch of games.

It was DARK! Metering between 1/6 and 1/30. And coloured lights ALL over the place. I decided to forget white balance. And it didn't help that these two were running around at what seemed like light speed.

Eventually we got outside in the freezing cold to get some poorly lit night shooting. Now I was shooting at speeds of 1/3-1/15.

Images are not razor sharp as a result, but oh well, there are enough that are reasonable.

Whew, now I need a vacation. I figure shooting their wedding is gonna be a piece of cake compared to their e-shoot.

1.

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They turned out great! I'm sure they will be thrilled.

Nice shots... what iso were you shooting at? I always hear of people shooting at such a slow shutterspeed and using flash and coming out with perfectly acceptable images, but when I try it all I get is blurred faces and funny looking light! any suggestions? Were you using a tripod?

oh, by the way, 3 and 5 are my favorites. I think 3 is my absolute favorite.

these are too fun! i think the chinese handcuffs photo is priceless - awesome awesome!

what great pictures!

Great shots at such slow speeds. you had to be using a tripod... right????????

in number four there is so much going on in the background that i think it actually makes the picture look very interesting. i like it a lot. great shots!

What a fun place!!! You did great with that challenging light (and the more reason I keep saying you should share you knowledge - even if you say you don't know enough!). I love the colored images the most actually, give the feel of all that challenging light!

Thanks for the kind words y'all.
No I did not use a tripod for any shots. I was REALLY working at the limits (and sometimes beyond) of what I could squeeze out of my gear.

Joanna, In order to get sharp shots at such lousy shutter speeds, you just need to make sure your subject is completely dark -if you were to shoot with NO flash. So usually, we as photographers are trying to FIND light to put our subjects in so we can see them. This is the opposite... you put them in the dark so you CAN'T see them. Now you can light them up with flash and they won't be blurred at all because really, you are probably catching a 1/8000 moment in time using the flash, even if you shutter speed is low. I've used as low as 8 second shutter speeds (with tripod) to photograph people.

so what iso?? I usually shoot at 1600 at night.

islandphoto wrote in post #2671070
so what iso?? I usually shoot at 1600 at night.

Whatever iso it takes to expose for a nice background, enough DOF, and shutter below 1/250. For a sunset, I'm usually around ISO100 F/8-11 1/250.

Typically, outdoors at night if I'm trying to capture the whole environment, I'll use 800. If I'm just trying to catch the highlights, like the last picture above, I'll go down to around 200, maybe 400 depending on how much light you have, and depending on what will make the couple nice and dark.

But if you are using 1600 and it's working for you, and you have developed your style from that, then go with it. Everybody is different.

I really like #3, the rest are good

#3 is great. I also like the slideshow you put on your blog.

Btw, did you use second curtain flash on these? or would it not have been necessary?

Rellik wrote in post #2671654
#3 is great. I also like the slideshow you put on your blog.

Btw, did you use second curtain flash on these? or would it not have been necessary?

No, I rarely ever use second curtain. Second curtain is only useful if your flash power is within about 1 stop of your ambient light ON YOUR SUBJECT. (Not talking about background) I like to keep ambient at least two stops below flash power. That gives a nice, clean and sharp image of your subject but a nicely motion blurred background.

Now if there is a light source ON your subject, then I use second curtain. Like those glow sticks and necklaces that are popular in nightclubs. They seem to appear in a number of weddings lately.