Question A Day: Early Evening Hours
This mama takes absolutely lovely photos on her blog As The Forest[e] Grows. But I did see this Q on her site yesterday, so here’s my take on things. But first, isn’t her little girl an absolute darling?! Let’s gush, shall we?!
Mrs. F wrote: “Photography question: Anyone have any advice on taking photos outdoors in the evening? Not when it’s completely dark outside, but getting there? Do I have to use a flash? What settings do you use? Am I totally sounding like an idiot, etc? :) Thanks!”
A: My answer right now would have to be to keep the ISO higher than you would think for outdoors, as in 400 to 800, for those dusky hours. From there, it’s a fine balance in manual mode between having the aperture open enough to catch enough light but closed enough to get all the necessary detail of the scene (maybe an f/4 as a starting point and the shutter speed low enough that your little G isn’t caught all in a blur. Another thing I like to do in the late afternoon is bump the exposure bracket up a notch or two to help compensate.
I would stick to manual mode or program, as shutter and aperture priority are going to tell you it’s too dark and shift their numbers out of proportion of what you want. Better to stay in the driver’s seat on this one.
Hope that helps but, if you’re already snapping pics like the one below, you’re definitely on the best track!
xo, Tamara
Both photos from As The Forest[e] Grows
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