OMG, this is embarassing. HELP!

Okay. I'm an aspiring photographer. I have a Canon Rebel XSi with a Tamron Aspherical 28-80mm lens.
I'm not very knowledged in the photography field but simply know about apeture and shutter speed and how they work together; or I thought I did!!

I took some practice shots of my niece and applied little what I know so far.
I wanted naural lighting. It's overcast so I pulled up the blinds half way and let just mediocore light in, enough to be able to lay down (such as in the photo) and read in.

I thought, ok, I will set the camera to AF, an aperture of 5.6, f/125 ai servo, and iso at 100.
Well, look what happened. Boy oh boy.....just look at it!!! The invisible niece...

Help! and be honest.
I am hoping it's tooo low lighting because I will attach a second to show you what happened when I pulled up the blinds all the way.

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This shot is way, way, way underexposed.You need a way higher ISO, a way wider open aperture and a way slower shutter speed. Just be sure you don't go to too slow of a shutter speed or you are going to get camer shake.

Ok.
I was thinking aperture open wide but not too wide and high shutter speed since it is a 5 year old who likes to wiggle...
why would I need even more wider aperture.....b/c there is not enough light?

What did the light meter show to let you think that was the proper setting?

Shooting RAW files will also be a great help in "saving" images if exposure or WB is off.
Shooting in full manual mode will give you more control with exposure and shutter speed then Av mode. Use P mode if you choke

i think you may have -EC dialed in. without the EXIF intact, there's really no way for us to know.

ok, i just re-read your post --- were you in M mode? or AV? i just noticed that you said you put the camera in AF (i read AV the first time).

hairy moth, honestly, I'm not sure.

Blackhawk, it was RAW.

Here are two others with higher aperture and more light.

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Can you clean up the Raws in DPP?

The images will be noisier if up can bump up the exposure/tone curve, but usable.

peppermintsky wrote in post #9533125
Ok.
I was thinking aperture open wide but not too wide and high shutter speed since it is a 5 year old who likes to wiggle...
why would I need even more wider aperture.....b/c there is not enough light?

Yes. Shooting indoors you almost always locked into shooting "wide open". If the 5 year old wiggles you need to decide whether to go to a slower shutter speed and not stop action or go to flash. Thereis no alternative.

blackhawk wrote in post #9533150
Shooting RAW files will also be a great help in "saving" images if exposure or WB is off.
Shooting in full manual mode will give you more control with exposure and shutter speed then Av mode. Use P mode if you choke

Not when it is this seriously underexposed.

-MasterChief- wrote in post #9533155
i think you may have -EC dialed in. without the EXIF intact, there's really no way for us to know.

ok, i just re-read your post --- were you in M mode? or AV? i just noticed that you said you put the camera in AF (i read AV the first time).

i read that she set the shutter speed plus f-stop therefor manual mode. You can' use EC in manual.

Just guessing how much light was it the room you should probably start with a ISO 800 1/30 shutter I'm assuming your locked at the f stop

matonanjin wrote in post #9533218
Not when it is this seriously underexposed.

dah... she can try though, not much else to do...

matonanjin,

Correct, I did use Manual mode. I do not want to use flash. Why can I not use a high shutter speed in this scenerio?

What I dont understand why I need to have such a wide aperture if lighting is sufficient?

Is lighting just not sufficient unless it shines like the sun??

OK, so I'm going outside. I am going to take all this advice and see what I come up with. I will post in a few hours.

Ok, how's the composition atleast?.....

peppermintsky wrote in post #9533250
matonanjin,

Correct, I did use Manual mode. I do not want to use flash. Why can I not use a high shutter speed in this scenerio?

What I dont understand why I need to have such a wide aperture if lighting is sufficient?

Is lighting just not sufficient unless it shines like the sun??

OK, so I'm going outside. I am going to take all this advice and see what I come up with. I will post in a few hours.

The human eye/brain has a very high level of light level adaptability (dynamic range) that the camera lacks; lower light levels aren't as apparent to your eye because your eyes have a much higher dynamic range than any cam.

peppermintsky wrote in post #9533250
matonanjin,Is lighting just not sufficient unless it shines like the sun??

Their are three adjustments when it comes to available light
Aperture , Shutter , ISO

If you want a f stop and certain shutter you have to change the ISO

This mix and match is what photography is all about.