Indoor Portraits with 18-55mm Lens

Davidaghaian

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forums as well as a new user of DSLR cameras. I just purchased the Nikon D5100 with the standard lens and have been trying to take effective indoor portraits without flash. I use A mode and have tweaked the focal point to be spot. I'd like to know what I can do indoors to get the natural look given what I have available at the moment or do I just have to use flash (currently set to ISO 500 and flash on f/5.6 55m)? Thanks everyone!

Davidaghaian

Also if you could suggest the next investment for me. Should it be a lens with a smaller aperture or a speed flash? Thanks so much everyone!

alexjpaul

Get a 35mm f/1.8 Nikon lens. It's the best $190 you'll ever spend on a lens.

Rafa

David, sounds too good to be true, but try using the Auto (flash off) mode (in the mode dial, just next to Auto). For newbies like me, this mode is great for capturing natural lighting in low-light, especially when you don't have much time to setup other more complicated modes. With my D5100 I've shot great indoor night shots with standard and even dim indoor lighting. Obviously you can't shoot subjects that are moving around, but it works remarkably well for portraiture and inanimate subjects. Just make sure you use a tripod, or immobilize the camera as much as possible turning on VR on the lens.

Dr_M

When I have low light situations in a room, I take a test shot and view it on my LCD screen. If the picture is too dark, then I try exposure compensation +0.5 or +1.0 to let more light through and the picture will be brighter without using a flash.