Yes, But...Series: My house is too dark + ISO to the rescue

"Yes, that's all fine and dandy and I love everything you've said, BUT...." and then the prospective client gives an excuse about why they are hesitating with documentary photography.

I've decided to create a blog series addressing some of these concerns and hesitations that I hear a lot. It's called the "Yes, But...Series."

Yes, but my house is too dark.

Maybe you don't have white paint on your walls and windows everywhere you look letting the natural light in.

Maybe you have a small dark apartment where you need to keep the lights on all day long.

Maybe the day we've decided to shoot becomes a dark and stormy day.

IT'S OKAY!

Dark houses are actually really fun to photograph in.

My creativity gets to shoot through the roof as I find the angles and the light hiding in every room.

It's there and the job falls on me to get the shot.

The photos will have more shadows, but shadows actually help hide clutter and distracting backgrounds so the focus stays on your kid's face. Shadows also help accentuate the emotion of the image.

ISO to the rescue

So there's this thing, okay, a setting in cameras called the ISO. It regulates how sensitive to light the camera sensor is. By increasing the ISO, I can brighten up a photo immensely, brighter than it even is to our eyes.

I increased the ISO by 6,000 between these two photos and look at the difference it made!

ISO comes to the rescue in dark homes.

Case Study

I went to 4 of my friends' houses and asked them to take me to the darkest room in their home. I had the kids hang out in that room to show you what kind of images I can still get in dark, dark rooms.

Enjoy this slideshow.