6 photography tips for taking pictures in dark indoor rooms

For whatever occasion, you may find yourself taking shots in a dark room. This may be due to the time of day or mood that needs to be invoked in the photographs. Here are 6 photography tips for taking pictures in dark indoor rooms.
Plan ahead of time and get to know the area you are shooting in, if possible. Bring a tripod, along with your camera and accessories to make the shoot go as smoothly as possible. Always follow directions if you are shooting in a public area.
Advertisement
1. Use a tripod
Since these shots will be exposed for long amounts of time, use a tripod to avoid blurry photos. If there isn't a tripod handy, utilize your camera's stabilization mode to help reduce camera shake. A tripod or another object that can keep the camera still will help produce clear, sharp images as well.
2. Don't use flash
Using flash will cause the shots to be too bright and washed out. Use your camera's exposure settings to set up the lighting for the shots. Aperture, exposure, and ISO need to be adjusted for non-flash settings.
3. Exposure
A higher ISO needs to be used for darker settings. Use an ISO of 800 or more. The shutter speed needs to be slow, and the F-stop as open as possible, at f2.8 to f4. A night mode can work with beginners, although some settings may need to be adjusted to get the best shots possible.
4. White balance
Many digital cameras today have a white balance mode to help you adjust lighting in a variety of settings. Get to know these and test out which white balance settings work best in a dark room. Shoot RAW to fix this during post-processing as well.
5. Focus
Use manual focus to better focus the camera in dark settings. Take a bunch of test shots to make sure your shots come out clear, despite the dark. Adjust focus and other settings as needed.
Advertisement
6. Adjust post-processing
Shoot in RAW to make changes after the photo shoot. Taking pictures with high ISO can cause a lot of noise to show up. You can always reduce digital noise with a software program. Make other changes such as adjusting the lighting and sharpness, while keeping the photograph looking natural.