4. Take Awesome Pictures in Low Light

Whether you want to take photos outside in the evening or at night, or just about any time indoors, you’re going to be faced with one significant challenge—low light.

The good news is that the image sensor that’s built in to your iPhone or iPad automatically captures as much light as possible when you press the Shutter button to take a picture. In addition, the iOS 7 edition of the Camera app is designed to work much better in low-light situations than previous versions of this app. This is particularly true when taking pictures using the iPhone 5s. However, it becomes your job as the photographer to make sure the available light is captured in the best way possible, or to decide when and if additional light (from the iPhone’s flash, for example) is needed.

What you’ll discover when you attempt to take pictures in low-light situations is that the cameras built in to your iPhone or iPad become much more sensitive to movement. As a result, even the slightest movement while you’re taking a photo can result in a blurry image. Plus, images often wind up containing visual distortion, which is commonly referred to as noise. This means that instead of being vivid and sharp, images often appear slightly out of focus, a bit fuzzy, or display unwanted discoloration. The colors depicted within images are sometimes dull or washed out. In some cases, images appear grainy or pixelated (meaning the tiny dots that make up the image are visible).

If possible, add more light to the scene where you’re taking pictures. Achieving this might be as simple as turning on an additional lamp.

Make sure you hold the iPhone or iPad perfectly still. Try propping the iOS mobile device on a flat and stable surface, as opposed to holding it in your hands, or use an optional tripod or stand.

Turn on the Camera app’s HDR (High Dynamic Range) shooting mode.

Consider using the iPhone’s built-in flash. (As you’ll learn later in this chapter, there are pros and cons to using the iPhone’s flash.)

To achieve the sharpest images in low light, refrain from using the Zoom feature. Instead, use the Crop feature as you’re editing your photos later, and then zoom in and reposition the image within the crop grid. You’ll learn how to do this in Chapter 6, “View, Organize, Edit, and Share Pictures Using the Photos App.” Also, while shooting with the iPhone, do not add a special effect filter. You can add one of the filters using the Photos app after the fact or when using many other photography apps to edit or enhance your photos.

Take advantage of a powerful photo editing app, or transfer the photos you take on your iPhone or iPad to your primary computer, and then use full-featured photo editing software to edit and enhance the image. Using photo editing software, you can easily fix the contrast, brightness, color saturation, and sharpness of an image, often using adjustable sliders.

Use an alternative lighting option, such as a lamp or external light source, to shed more light on your intended subject(s).

Try taking pictures using a third-party app as an alternative to the Camera app.

As you’ll discover, you can mix and match these strategies to achieve the best possible results. It’s important to understand, however, that you’ll rarely be able to capture the same high-quality photos on your iPhone or iPad in low-light situations as you can when shooting in bright light (such as outside on a sunny day). This is due to technological limitations with the image sensor and related digital photography technology that’s built in to the iOS mobile devices (and most smartphones, tablets, and even standalone point-and-shoot digital cameras). With each new iPhone and iPad model that has been released, Apple has made great strides in improving the camera-related technology built in to these devices.

The iPhone’s built-in flash does add extra light to a poorly lit shooting situation; however, if it’s not used correctly, using this flash often results in unwanted shadows, red-eye, and potentially overexposed images. Unfortunately, there is no way to redirect, reflect, or diffuse this light. As you’re about to discover, however, it’s possible to compensate for some of these potential drawbacks while you’re shooting.

For example, if you stand too close to your subject when using the flash, the light emitted from it is too bright and your photo ends up overexposed. At the same time, the skin tones of your human subject(s) might look very pale and/or washed out. Meanwhile, if you stand too far away from your intended subject when using the flash, the light from the flash doesn’t have the strength to reach your subject. As a result, what’s in the foreground might be well lit, but the intended subject might be too dark or not visible.

To reduce unwanted shadows, try moving your subject away from his or her background and away from any reflective surfaces, such as windows or mirrors. If the subject is standing up against a wall, for example, have the subject take two or three steps forward.

At the same time, as the photographer, consider moving a few steps back (away) from your subject. You can compensate for this distance using the zoom, or better yet, using the Crop tool when editing your images after the fact. This strategy also works for reducing the occurrence or severity of red-eye.

With regard to shadows, remember that the light from the flash shines straight forward when you take a picture. So, if you’re shooting from an angle, the light from your iPhone’s flash hits your subject at an angle. Be aware of this, and pay careful attention to unwanted shadows caused by objects in your subject’s surroundings and also from your subjects themselves.

For example, when taking photos of people using a flash, their hair (or the hats they’re wearing) can often generate unwanted shadows that are cast over their foreheads and eyes. Meanwhile, their noses might cast unwanted shadows over their lips and mouths. If the subject is wearing earrings, a necklace, or eyeglasses, the light from the flash often reflects off of these objects and causes unwanted glares or visual distractions.

If you discover your images are overexposed, this means you’re too close to your subject. If the images are underexposed (too dark), you’re standing too far away from your subject.

If you believe you’re within the effective flash range for your iPhone, but the images you take aren’t coming out as well as you’d like, as you’re framing your shots, manually adjust the AE/AF sensor by tapping on the viewfinder (your device’s touch screen) directly on your intended subject. This helps the Camera app adjust the exposure and how the light is utilized.

In situations when manually adjusting the AE/AF sensor still doesn’t work as you’d hope, try manually activating the sensor but tapping somewhere within the viewfinder that is not directly on your intended subject. For example, tap on the lightest or darkest part of the image, based on what you see in the viewfinder.

Instead of using the iPhone’s built-in flash, a handful of companies offer external flash devices and/or continuous light sources that can be used with the iPhone or iPad to shed additional light on your intended subject(s) when taking pictures in low-light situations. These lighting options offer brighter light than what’s possible using the iPhone’s built-in flash. You learn about some of these external light source options, which are battery powered, portable, and typically connect to your iOS mobile device, in Chapter 10, “Use Optional Accessories to Improve Your Pictures.”

To compensate for this, take advantage of your camera’s HDR shooting mode. It enables the iPhone or iPad to make full use of the available light and capture as much of it as possible, while also preserving the colors (and your subject’s skin tones, for example) within your photos.

HDR shooting mode can be used anytime, but it works best in low-light situations because it enables the iPhone or iPad’s image sensor to capture the available light in a more efficient way. Refer to Chapter 2 for more information about how and why HDR shooting mode works.