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How do I Take a High Speed Picture With a Canon 20D in Low Light?

It is no secret that light is a very critical component of any photographic image, whether it is natural, artificial or additional light created by a studio or portable flashes. Sometimes however, you may not want to use or are not allowed to use a flash for indoor photography. Most sporting, concert and theatrical productions discourage or outright prohibit flash photography. When using a Canon 20D digital single lens reflex options and trying to capture a high speed image in low light, you do have the ability to capture a good picture using the camera's expanded ISO range.

Instructions

- 1
  Turn on your Canon 20D and install a compact flash memory card. If you are taking a lot of pictures, install the largest card you have. The file size per picture is slightly larger with high ISO images, which ultimately reduces the number of pictures the card can store.
- 2
  Set the camera's exposure mode to manual and set the image recording to RAW. You will want to have as much control as possible in the post processing and recording raw will give you all the data the camera records.
- 3
  Set the ISO (the camera's sensitivity to light) at 3200. This is the maximum setting for the camera's ISO range. Set the shutter speed to 125th of a second. Depending on what you are shooting, your shutter speed may need to change. The lens aperture will also have an impact on how fast you can set your shutter speed. Attach the fastest lens you have. A fast lens is one that has a very large aperture setting (the smallest number).
- 4
  Take a test shot. With your shutter speed set at 125th of second, set your aperture at its fastest setting. In manual mode, the Canon 20D light meter is located across the bottom of the viewfinder. If the needle is at the middle point, then you are in good shape. If the needle is in the plus area, then you can increase your shutter speed. If the needle is in the minus area, then your picture is underexposed, which means it needs more light. Since you are shooting in RAW mode, you can underexpose the picture up to -1.0 stops and still produce an image you can edit with your photo editing software. If it is below -1.0, you will need to adjust your shutter speed to a slower setting to allow more light to come in. Once you have your exposure set, then you are ready to start to shoot.

Photography