9.  Available Light Indoors



This is a little tricky in some cases, and all the little

hints for holding a camera steady may be needed.  Using an

outdoor film for pictures inside with incandescent light bulbs

(the screw-in kind) will often provide photos with a very warm,

orange, glow.  This is usually terrible if used excessively,

but an occasional shot of a child, and even adults, taken with

this film-light mismatch could be extremely pleasing.  With

black and white films mixed light sources usually aren't a

problem, so you can shoot away to your heart's content.



Most cameras have a built in metering system, although some of

the lower priced cameras force you to use the flash unit if there

isn't enough light available.  If your camera sticks you

with using the flash, but yet will adjust to a variety of shutter

speeds and lens openings, you might be able to cover the flash

unit with a wadded up hanky or some black tape.  The best

thing to do is to try it sometime and see what happens.



Position the subject near a bright lamp.  Room light is

notoriously dark compared to sunlight and flash, so be prepared

for a fairly long exposure, possible around a second, unless your

camera has a lens that provides a fairly large opening.  In

any event, this means both the subject and camera must be still.

A fast film, like the new Kodak Max film, will help tremendously

here.



In the situation above, the lab may try to correct for the color

balance mismatch and end up giving you a fairly normal print. In

this case, ask them to print it without doing the corrections and

the orange color will remain.  With slide film, it will come

out orange in the first place.



Another available light situation involves photos of room

interiors lit mainly by fluorescent light.  This usually

makes the shots a little on the green side, but it's actually

closer to daylight than the incandescent lamps are.  Fuji

makes a couple of films that work very well with "mixed" light

sources, like a combination of fluorescent and daylight coming in

through the windows.  Zen's and Photo Factory, both in the

Belden Village area, have these films in both negative and slide

versions and can provide some hints on using them.  Again, a

steady camera support will probably be needed because the

exposures might be long.



One thing to remember when shooting interiors is that film tends

to emphasize the differences between bright and dark areas. 

The areas closer to the light fixtures, whether fluorescent or

incandescent, will appear brighter than the areas away.  On

film, this difference is much more noticeable than in reality.

Some people, when shooting interiors by incandescent light, will

hold a floodlight and "pan" the room with it during the exposure,

which is often in the one to ten second range, depending on film

speed and the lens opening.  The light can even be a

shoplight with a regular household bulb in it.  It adds just

a little light to the shadows without taking away from the effect

of the main lights themselves.  But this should be done only

with incandescent light sources, like a room interior

photographed at night so no daylight is included.  If you do

it with fluorescent lights, the orange floodlight will provide

some funny color shifts.



To really get some nice room interiors, with either fluorescent

or incandescent lighting, try shooting as the sun goes down so

it's effect won't be as pronounced in the room.  A sunset

look outside can make a nice shot of a living room look much more

inviting, without taking attention away from it by focusing on

things outside, or totally messing up the color balance.







Well, nobody's ever accused me of not liking to talk.  But

hopefully there may be a point or two in the above volume that

will enable you to take some better snapshots than you took

before.  Film is cheap, especially when you compare it to

the valued memories that a favorite photo provides.  So

shoot away, keeping in mind some of the previously mentioned

tips, summarized on the next page.

Go to Summary