Avoiding the 'black hole' effect?

[zoossh]

haha..teach him ur photoshop ways lor..:bsmilie:

how to photoshop it back???

first of all, it is difficult to select around a figure. secondly, there is too much noise in the darkness to bring back details. thirdly, the tonal contrast is just too big to get a satisfactory results.

i didn't know much about photoshop but i dun think the results would be great unless one who is good in combining different pictures together.

 

[Dream Merchant]

I'm sure a Digital Imaging Artist could do it very realistically, but it would probably take several hours and good source pictures to begin with, unless you want to create a BG from scratch, which I have seen done by a Filipino Art Director before ... but that took 2-3 days to do.

Imagine if you shoot a party or event and have 200-300 final pictures, out of which, say 20 or 30 are the BG really orr orr one then DI until siao ah?

 

[nikonnewbie]

i haven't been shooting with flash till lately i tried infrequently not to too much satisfaction.

frank speaking when i first started with my DSLR (scene/auto mode) and didn't know why the build in flash keep popping up, i used a sticky tape to tape it down. which moron did the same thing like me before, i'm wondering?

I think on those modes the camera will decide for itself when the flash is required (hence the name 'auto'?). Only in Program, S, A or M modes will the flash not pop up automatically.

 

[waileong]

I thought "black hole" was referring to your money disappearing as a result of the BBB virus.

 

[mpenza]

besides using slow sync flash which might result in very slow shutter speeds and blurred pics of people, you could consider the following
1. Bounce ur flash off ceiling which will throw some light onto the background (depends on how high and colour of the ceiling - too hgh and too dark a ceiling won't be of much help)
2. Use another flash, controlled wirelessly to light up the background, while ur main flash lights up the subject. probably need to experiment to know the best way to position the flash

Anyway, if the background/environment is really dark, there's no harm keeping it that way. else the pic could look unnatural, e.g. brightly lighted club pics would seem odd.

 

[unseen]

besides using slow sync flash which might result in very slow shutter speeds and blurred pics of people, you could consider the following
1. Bounce ur flash off ceiling which will throw some light onto the background (depends on how high and colour of the ceiling - too hgh and too dark a ceiling won't be of much help)
2. Use another flash, controlled wirelessly to light up the background, while ur main flash lights up the subject. probably need to experiment to know the best way to position the flash

Anyway, if the background/environment is really dark, there's no harm keeping it that way. else the pic could look unnatural, e.g. brightly lighted club pics would seem odd.

I disagree to some extent the bolded bit.

If it's dim (my idea of dark probably differ from yours quite abit. For example, I find MOS quite bright, and PURE room very bright), you can go all the way down to 1s without ever lighting up the people in the photos. The only light source that's going to light up the people would be your flash. Thus, you'll never have a blur photo of the people. If 1s is enough to light up the people, then you just need to increase the shutter speed such that the people would remain lighted only by the flash.

I don't find brightly lit club pics odd. In fact, I find them more "exciting" and interesting. Not the best around, but here are just 2 random quite badly composed photos I took a while back:

no photoshop done, right out of the camera. A certain degree of blurness behind in #2 (due to the unpredicted green strobe behind), but the front subject is sharp.

To the threadstarter,
If you're thinking about flash, I'm using a Sigma flash as well, but a Canon body. If you think it's equipment issue, it can't be the flash, thus it must be the body. Sell the Nikon and get a Canon and the problem would automatically be solved. :bsmilie:

 

[unseen]

Hi guys, what is the best way to avoid the black hole effect when taking candid shots of people in an indoor environment under dim lighting conditions?

Im using D80 with a sigma flash (side question: the flash was given to me but im thinking of buying an SB600, good idea?)

seriously, go to the highest ISO, go to a low shutter speed. Meter for the background. Flash the foreground. Use F2-f4, and...

definitely, going Canon helps. :bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[lsisaxon]

To the threadstarter,
If you're thinking about flash, I'm using a Sigma flash as well, but a Canon body. If you think it's equipment issue, it can't be the flash, thus it must be the body. Sell the Nikon and get a Canon and the problem would automatically be solved. :bsmilie:

The D80 can do this just as well.. Why bother to change camera? Just upgrade your skills. Understand how photography works.

As unseen mentioned, use manual mode and meter for the background, use the lowest possible ISO that still gives you a decent shutter speed and aperture, it can be anything from ISO400 to ISO1600 depending on the lighting condition. You can have the background underexposed by about 0.5 to 1 stop, it's still ok. Do a couple of test shots without flash to see if that's how you want the background to look like. Just leave the flash to TTL and it should do it's work to the foreground.

 

[lsisaxon]

seriously, go to the highest ISO, go to a low shutter speed. Meter for the background. Flash the foreground. Use F2-f4, and...

definitely, going Canon helps. :bsmilie::bsmilie:

A better upgrade for him would be the D300 or D3. It helps even more. ;p It's a case of PLBV, not an equipment problem. Without knowing how it works, TS will still encounter the same problem.

Here is a comparison of the ISO1600 images from D80 vs 400D. Both noise reduction algorithm is different and there is no distinct advantage of one over the other. It really depends on your preference.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/page27.asp

 

[catchlights]

A better upgrade for him would be the D300 or D3. It helps even more. ;p It's a case of PLBV, not an equipment problem. Without knowing how it works, TS will still encounter the same problem.

everybody is looking for the ultimate camera, so ones can be 天下无敌.