How to shoot low-light photography involves experimenting with different approaches. Food photographers have to shoot in a variety of different locations and knowing how to take control of your lighting situation in different spaces is essential. This post shares what low light photography is and how to work with it, whether you are using natural light or artificial lights, so let’s dive right in! 😉
This post contains affiliate links. Read the affiliate disclosure.
How To Shoot Low-Light Photography
Low light situations can be challenging to work with without knowing how to control it. You’re not always going to have a bright sunny day or daytime hours during your food photo shoots. The best way to approach your lighting is to plan ahead for it. Because when you plan ahead, you can be prepared to take more control and create the images you want.
Some key questions to ask yourself to help you plan ahead are:
- Where are you shooting?
- What is the space like?
- Are there windows for natural light?
- What time of day is your photo shoot?
- Can you use artificial lights to help?
- What camera settings should you consider?
- What lenses could help you in low light?
- Will you need a tripod to stabilize your camera body?
When you know the answer to these questions, you’ll be able to prepare for the camera settings, lens variety and extra equipment that you might need to help you.
What Is Low-Light Photography
Low light photography is when you are shooting a subject with little surrounding light. This could mean you’re shooting in a dark space without windows or you are shooting in the evening. However, it could also mean that you are creating a dark & moody look through the use of artificial lights.
You can control how your image looks in low light by thinking through the following options you have to help you:
- Camera settings
- Lens variety
- Artificial lights
READ MORE ABOUT: HOW TO CREATE DARK & MOODY FOOD IMAGES
Camera Settings
Your camera settings always play a key role in the exposure of your images. You have the ability to make your images much brighter or much darker in comparison to the actual lighting you’re working with. You can do this by adjusting your aperture, shutter speed and ISO interchangeably.
How to shoot low-light photography requires you to know how to adjust these three exposure settings. However, there are some other things to consider when deciding which of these settings to adjust and by how much.
APERTURE
A lower aperture (also known as f-stop) lets in more light. A higher aperture lets in less light.
A lower aperture will also create a much stronger depth of field, which is when the areas surrounding your subject become more blurry. But, the higher the aperture, the less blur you’ll see, keeping everything in your image nice and sharp. Do you want more blur surrounding your subject or do you want things to be nice and sharp?
SHUTTER SPEED
A slower shutter speed lets in more light. A faster shutter speed lets in less light.
Slower shutter speeds let in more light, however, it will blur the subject if the subject is moving. If the subject isn’t moving, but you’re holding the camera, it could potentially result in a blurry image because slower shutter speeds reveals camera shake. Camera shake is caused from holding your camera, because our hands aren’t as steady as we might think they are. Faster shutter speeds will freeze motion and there’s much less risk of capturing a blurry image when holding your camera. If you want to use a slower shutter speed, you need to consider stabilizing your camera on a tripod.
ISO
A higher ISO creates more light sensitivity and can make your image appear brighter. A lower ISO creates less light sensitivity and won’t make your image appear brighter.
A higher ISO will help make your image darker in low light, however, a higher ISO introduces noise (a grainy-look) to your images. A lower ISO keeps your image looking sharp and smooth. The more advanced cameras can handle much higher ISO settings before starting to introduce grain to your images. The beginner-friendly models tend to show grain at lower ISO settings. If you want to use a higher ISO, you will need to plan to smooth out the grainy look during post processing.
READ MORE ABOUT: HOW TO SHOOT IN MANUAL MODE
Lens Variety
Your lens choice can also play an important role in the exposure of your images. This is because your aperture isn’t controlled by your camera body. It’s controlled through your lens of choice and the aperture and focal length it offers. The lower the aperture can go, the wider the hole in the lens becomes. The wider the hole, the more light enters the frame.
So, for example, using a lens with an aperture f1.4 would be better in low light than a lens that only goes between to f3.5 or f5.6 (depending on different focal lengths).
Artificial Lights
How to shoot low-light photography using artificial lights is pretty game-changing for food photographers. This is because you have full control over the light and you can create any type of look you want.
If you’re shooting in a low light space, your artificial lights will help provide more light on your subject.
When you have a lot of light to work with, you can start taking it away (or manually reducing it) to create a low light look without losing the visibility of your subject.
You can also control the style of your lighting by using a softbox for a soft look with minimal shadows or a beauty dish for a more hard look with stronger shadows.
Check out the image comparison below. The image on the left used a strobe with a softbox to keep the lighting nice and balanced with soft shadows. The image on the right used a strobe with a beauty dish and a shadow board to much create stronger shadows imitating a bright sunny day.
READ MORE ABOUT: GETTING STARTED WITH ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS – A GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS
How To Do Low-Light Photography
So, how do you shoot in low light using natural light or artificial light? Let’s talk about some best practices for both lighting scenarios.
Natural Light
If you are in a low light situation and are relying on natural light, I recommend slowing down your shutter speed and using a tripod. When using slow shutter speeds to let more light in, a tripod is needed to keep your camera stabilized. A slow shutter speed will pick up the smallest bit of movement from holding your camera, which will result in a blurry image. A tripod helps prevent blurry images from happening.
If you don’t have a tripod, or prefer holding your camera, your next best option could be to bump up your ISO. The only risk here is that higher ISO settings will introduce a grainy look to your images. However, you could potentially reduce this grainy look in post processing while editing your raw images. You can do this in Lightroom by adjusting the Luminance or by using the AI-powered Denoise feature.
If you don’t have a tripod and want to avoid a grainy look all together, you could also try “shooting wide open.” This means that your aperture is at the lowest (widest) setting. It may or may not let in enough light depending on your light conditions, but it’s worth experimenting with it.
Artificial Light
When you use artificial lights, you full control in low light environments. 😉
First, you’ll want to adjust your camera settings to play well with your light. I recommend adjusting your camera settings so you capture a black screen without the light turned on. Then, when you turn the light on, you can see how the light is affecting your image and you can make adjustments according to your creative vision.
If you’re shooting in a space with low light, your artificial light can help you add more light to create a light and airy image or a dark and moody image.
If you have enough light to work with and want to create a low-light look, you can start reducing the power and adjusting the position of your artificial light.
What Is The Best Camera For Low Light Photography
When it comes a good camera for low light photography, you can really use any camera you want. However, I highly recommend using a tripod so you have flexibility with using slower shutter speeds. However, if you prefer to hold your camera, my recommendation is to use a camera that can handle higher ISO settings. This will vary depending on how advanced the camera is.
READ MORE ABOUT: THE BEST CAMERA FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
What Is The Best Lens For Low-Light Photography
When it comes to a good lens for low-light photography, my recommendation is to use a prime lens that has a low aperture of around f1.4 or f1.8. This will ensure you can shoot with a very wide hole in the lens that will let in a lot more light.
READ MORE ABOUT: THE BEST LENSES FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
I hope these low light photography tips helped you get a better understanding of how to shoot low-light photography. It takes some experimenting to discover which workflow is the right approach for you and your images. Reach out with questions any time and be sure to follow me on Instagram!
Happy Creating!
This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click or make a purchase, I might make a small commission (at no extra cost to you). I only promote products and equipment that I actually use for my photography business. Your support helps me continue to produce educational content about photography. Thank you!
All images ©Regan Baroni 2025.
Comments +