Scouting a Scenic Location
To demonstrate how well the Olympus E-3 performs in low light situations, we headed to San Francisco and photographed a classic skyline composition around dusk - the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square. Although we had a pretty good idea of the type of image we wanted to capture, we realized that we would have to arrive early and test out a couple of vantage points before the "magic hour" after sunset.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, "magic hour", it simply refers to that short period of time just after sunset (or just before sunrise), when the light in the sky becomes saturated with color, which can make for truly surreal shooting conditions.

Magic hour also quickly gives way to night, and with it goes the relatively high level of available light. As such, the photographer must be able to respond quickly to these conditions in order to keep up with the rapidly diminishing ambient light.

In preparation for this lesson, we scouted several locations around San Francisco that gave us unique vantage points and panoramic views of the skyline. Shown below are three distinctly different compositions taken earlier that day. [figure 1]

After checking out several locations and climbing a few famous San Francisco hills, we decided to retreat to a local cafe before the actual shoot. We gave ourselves plenty of time to prepare and review our test shots before heading back out to shoot the night scene.

From the three test shots above, we chose to shoot the third option, which included an interesting juxtaposition of the famous Victorian styled homes in front of modern urban architecture. If this scene looks familiar to you, it's because it's also known as Postcard Row.

When composing scenic shots, especially panoramic landscapes such as this, it's usually good to incorporate a foreground, middle ground, and background. Doing so helps to create a sense of depth in your images.

Choosing the Camera Settings
Even before we arrived back at our chosen location, we already knew what camera settings would be the most appropriate for the shot. We set the ISO to its lowest setting, 100. This would ensure the best image quality just in case we ever wanted to make a large print of any of the images.

We set the White Balance to Auto mode. Normally we would not recommend using the Auto WB setting. However, in this case we knew that there would not be enough time during the magic hour (discussed above) to try and determine the best White Balance setting. Instead, we took a different approach. We set the resolution to RAW, so that we could have maximum latitude over White Balance in post production. [figure 2]

The RAW setting not only allows you to make significant corrections to White Balance and exposure in post production, it's also the highest quality setting. The RAW format applies no compression and gives you a full-resolution 10-megapixel file. That said, don't assume that any mistake can be corrected in Photoshop just because you're shooting in RAW.

The RAW capture mode does allow some leeway for correcting mistakes, but a perfectly exposed, perfectly color-balanced capture will always go much farther, even with the most sophisticated post production tools.

Shooting in Manual Mode
With our ISO, White Balance, and Resolution settings in order, we then set the exposure mode to Manual. The Manual exposure mode is arguably the best way to control exposure when photographing in extremely low-light situations. When the ambient light is dim and changing rapidly, the ability to change the shutter speed and aperture manually is a must. [figure 3]

With the sun setting behind us and the magic moment of light rapidly approaching, we proceeded to take some meter readings to determine the correct exposure.

Using a Tripod for Long Exposures
Using the E-3's advanced ESP metering mode, we determined the correct exposure to be somewhere around one second at f/4. Even with an aperture of f/4 (very wide), the exposure time was already way too long to handhold the camera.

This example shows that with a long exposure time, it's impossible to get a sharp image unless you can keep the camera completely still. [figure 4]

The best way to keep the camera still is to mount it to a sturdy tripod.

[Rule of Thumb]
If you're wondering how to figure out what shutter speed (exposure time) is too slow for hand-holding the camera, here's an easy rule that you can follow in any situation.

First, take note of the focal length of the lens you are using. If it's a zoom lens, pay attention to the actual focal length to which the zoom is extended. The fraction of a second shutter speed should not be a lower denominator than the focal length being used.

For example, if you are using a 60mm lens, then 1/60th of a second is the slowest shutter speed that you can use while hand-holding the camera and still get a sharp image. Since there are few lenses that are wider than 14mm, you can assume that anything slower that 1/30th calls for a tripod.

Also worth mentioning is the proven fact that even with the fastest shutter speeds (e.g. 1/1000th plus) using a tripod will produce sharper results.

The type and brand of tripod you use is mostly a matter of personal preference. Generally speaking, heavier tripod legs are sturdier and can handle heavier loads. The tripod head should be comfortable and easy to maneuver. A popular type of head is a ball head, which allows the camera to be repositioned freely using just a single locking mechanism. [figure 5]

For this shoot we brought a lightweight, carbon fiber travel tripod. While not as sturdy as a heavy steel tripod, it's not flimsy either and strikes a good balance between stability and weight. [figure 6]

One trick for making a lightweight tripod act more like a heavy tripod is to simply hang some weight on it. Our camera bag full of lenses and accessories was perfect for doing just that. [figure 7]

Adjusting Exposure
With all of our camera settings adjusted, the camera securely attached to a tripod, and the desired composition squared up in the viewfinder, we were now ready for the fun part. The next step was to sit back, observe the light, and wait for just the right moment when the colors and quality of light felt just right.

At the same time, we had to keep metering the scene to keep up with the rapidly changing light. Since the light was getting dimmer and dimmer by the minute, we had to make sure that we were adequately compensating for the exposure.

Our initial starting exposure was one second at f/4. We decided that f/4 was too wide open and that we would rather shoot at f/16 to maximize our depth of field. This made the exposure time 13 seconds.

By the time we took the final shot, the light had become about 1 f/stop dimmer, making the correct exposure 25 seconds at f/16. [figure 8]

Back in the studio the following day, we began reviewing our images in Adobe Bridge. Our final shot appeared perfect in almost every respect. The exposure was right on, the 10 Megapixel Olympus RAW file showed incredible detail, and the Zuiko 14mm-54mm lens helped us produce an absolutely tack sharp image.

However, the one area where we felt this image was lacking was the color balance. Remember that we had chosen not to work with any of the preset or manual White Balance settings at the capture stage, and opted to use the Auto WB setting instead.

We were confident that the RAW file format would allow us to make White Balance corrections afterward using Adobe Camera Raw.

Fine Tuning White Balance in Camera RAW
In this first Camera Raw screen shot, you can see the image with the default White Balance produced by the Auto WB setting in the E-3. This is represented by the "AS SHOT" setting in the Camera Raw White Balance menu. [figure 9]

The result appears to have a significant Magenta color cast, which overpowers some of the other colors in the scene.

Judging the correct White Balance in an image like this can be quite subjective. There are many different colors and color temperatures that make up this image and it can be difficult to replicate how the colors actually looked based solely on memory.

For this image, our basic goal was to find a White Balance setting that would reveal the widest possible color palette and create a balance between all of the different lights and color temperatures included in the scene. From the indigo sky to the fluorescent street lamps, to the orange incandescent lamps in the windows of the buildings, we wanted each color to be fully present in the final result.

We felt that the original capture was much too warm. So, we decided to lower the temperature setting towards the blue side of the spectrum.

On the left, you can see the result of adjusting the temperature slider in Camera Raw to about 3500˚K. The image was now much too blue. [figure 10]

The White Balance adjustment in Camera Raw consists of two sliders, temperature and tint. Temperature controls the color on a scale of blue to yellow. Tint controls the color on a scale of green to magenta. When making custom adjustments using these sliders, it's recommended to first find the optimal Temperature setting before adjusting the Tint.

The White Balance drop down menu also has several presets that can be very useful for many different types of images and situations.

After making some careful adjustments to the Temperature and Tint sliders in Camera Raw, we were able to arrive at an optimal temperature setting of 4600˚K and a tint setting of -23. [figure 11]

We then made a few minor tweaks and adjustments to some of the other Camera Raw settings and arrived at the final version of this famous San Francisco cityscape. [figure 12]

As you can see, the color balance in this result is much closer to neutral than the original straight from the camera. In this version we can see distinctly different colored lights throughout he cityscape and all of the colors now have nicely balanced relationships with one another.

Here's a side-by-side look at the raw capture and the processed file. [figure 13]

Photographing Handheld in Low-Lighting Situations
As you have already seen, the type of scenic image shown above would not have been possible without a tripod to keep the camera perfectly still during a long exposure. However, there are other situations when there is not a lot of light and using a tripod is not a practical or useful option.

One such situation occurred when we went out to take some shots of a local band in Santa Cruz playing at a small café. The space was definitely too crowded to allow for a tripod, and the lighting was nothing more than a window and a few incandescent lamps. Even if we could use a tripod, we knew that it would not be an efficient way to photograph a stage performance. [figure 14]

Remember that the scenic subject matter above was not in motion. So as long as the camera remained absolutely still (and as long as there were no earthquakes), the subject matter would be sharp, regardless of how long the exposure time was.

In this case, however, the subjects (the musicians) were moving, so our job was not only to freeze their action, but also to prevent any blur due to camera shake.

Let's look at how we approached this situation using the Olympus E-3.

Built-in Flash Results
When faced with a low-light situation and the inability to use a tripod, many photographers will resort to using a flash. For comparison purposes, we decided to take a few shots using the E-3's built-in flash. [figures 15 & 16]

We disliked our results with the built-in flash for several reasons. For one thing, the lighting appeared too flat and uneven. In the wide-angle shot, (figure 16) the person in the foreground, being the closest to the flash, is overexposed, while the person in the back is lost in darkness.

Another disadvantage to the flash is that after a while, it can be a distraction to the band. This is evident in the look the guitar player is giving to the photographer in figure 15.

Using a High ISO Setting
So, how can we even attempt to freeze action and get sharp images, without using a flash or a tripod? Well, the first step is to use a higher ISO setting.

When we photographed the skyline in San Francisco, we used an ISO setting of 100 to allow for maximum image quality. This time we decided to set the camera to ISO 800. [figure 17]

This change equals three full stops of added light sensitivity, which means that a faster shutter speed can be used.

The main trade-off with using a high ISO setting is the added noise in the image. We chose ISO 800 because it allowed us a shutter speed of around 1/30th of a second with a wide-open aperture.

While 1/30th of a second is not very fast, we felt that we had found a good compromise between the ability to freeze most of the action on the stage and to keep the noise levels down to a minimum.

White Balance In Mixed Lighting
Before we could continue shooting, we also had to choose an appropriate White Balance setting to suit the lighting conditions. The exact color temperature of the lighting was unknown and fairly mixed. We had a window with constantly changing daylight and some incandescent lighting fixtures around the interior of the cafe, which probably had very different temperatures as well.

Since most of the lighting was close to Tungsten, we decided to set the E-3 to the Tungsten WB preset. [figure 18]

We also set the E-3 to the RAW capture mode just as we had previously done. This would allow us to fine-tune the White Balance later in post production.

Our first few shots showed a very pleasing color palette and the exposure was just about right. However, we did notice a considerable amount of motion blur caused mainly by camera shake. Our shutter speed, 1/30th of a second, was just not quite fast enough to really freeze the movement of the camera in the photographer's hands. [figure 19]

One obvious way to remedy this problem is to increase the ISO setting. In this case, we could have raised the ISO to 1600 or even 3200. This would have gained one or two stops allowing for an even faster shutter speed to be used.

Using the Image Stabilization Mode
However, we decided not to go this route, because we still wanted to minimize the amount of digital noise in the image. Instead we opted to use the E-3's highly advanced Image Stabilization mode to compensate for the slight amount of blur that we were getting because of camera shake.

The E-3 has two different IS modes: IS1 and IS2. IS1 is ideal for correcting motion blur due to camera shake. IS2 is ideal for shots that involve horizontal panning.

To activate either of the IS modes on the E-3, first press the IS button located right above the On/Off switch to enter the IS menu. [figure 20]

Then, use the arrow keys to select either IS1 or IS2. Press OK to activate the chosen IS mode. [figure 21]

In this situation, we selected the IS1 setting to try and counteract the camera shake. Shown below is one of the results using the IS1 setting. [figure 22]

As you can see, the Image Stabilization feature on the E-3 worked perfectly to eliminate the camera shake and to help us achieve a sharp image, even with a 1/30th shutter speed, which would have been just a little bit too slow otherwise.

Moreover, we really liked this result for its natural qualities. The ambient light really suited the subject and using a flash would have overpowered the subtleties of the ambient lighting.


Shooting in low light can be challenging, yet creatively rewarding. Remember to experiment for yourself and see which camera settings work best for you!