Take Low Light Photos with the Panasonic Lumix

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Video: Take Low Light Photos with the Panasonic Lumix

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Hello and welcome to VisiHow. Today I'm going to show you how to take better photos in low lighting using your Panasonic TZ20 Digital Camera.

1. 1
   First, turn it around and turn it on using the switch on the top

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2. 2
   One of the most important points to consider when taking photos in low lighting is that it may be difficult to focus on objects or scenes because of the low lighting

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   If we use the manual focus which is at the top, we can zoom in and out until we get the focus that we like. When you see the scene through the digital screen is crispy clear with no waving or blurriness then you know the camera has managed to focus itself.

   

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3. 3
   The second important point to consider is the flash

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   If you use the flash in low lighting it will make everything look like deer in the headlights. It will illuminate everything with a very harsh light, a very unnatural light and this will ruin all the nuances and beauty that taking photos in low light captures. All the natural light will be obliterated by the harsh glare of the artificial flash.

   

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4. 4
   Also very important is stability

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   Less light means using longer exposures. This is where the camera takes a longer photo to allow more light to enter the lens and the aperture. Therefore it is vital to keep the camera stable, as any movement will ruin the photo, make it blurry and the results will be very poor. In order to avoid this you can use a tripod or position the camera on a stable flat surface to take the photo. If you do have to hold your camera, try to hold your breath while taking the photo. This will reduce anybody shaking and body movement, and hopefully improve your photo.

   

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5. 5
   Next important point is exposure

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   As I've said, less light needs greater exposure or a higher ISO. ISO is the function that controls how sensitive the camera is to light. This is very important and on this camera you can select a night feature. To do this, go to scene at the top titled SCN.

   

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6. 6
   Scene mode allows us to select the Night Scenery or the Night Portrait option

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   This will have better functions and better ability to take photos in low lighting.

   

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7. 7
   However, if you want to do this manually, it's important to consider the shutter speed

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   This is used in conjunction with exposure. The requisite on the required setting depends on the speed of the action being photographed. Wildlife may require a stop motion of 1/1 to 1/20 or higher, while caves or portraits you may be able to drop below 1/160 to 1/100 stop motion. To change shutter speed turn the wheel to the S, Shutter-Priority.

   

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8. 8
   Here you can see at the bottom, the shutter speed is 1/60

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   This is better for stationary or low levels of activity. If there is more speed or activity you will need to raise the shutter speed to increase the exposure to levels such as 1/160, 1/120, or maybe even 1/200 and perhaps even more depending on the scene that you are trying to photograph. You can change the shutter speed by using the up and down arrows. You can use a very low speed to get a better exposure at a higher aperture or lower sensitivity but it is important to consider that low shutter speed increases the need for camera stability. The lower the shutter speed the more stable you need the camera to be.

   

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9. 9
   Another way to increase the ability to take better photos in low lighting is to move the wheel to P, Program AE, we can press the up arrow to change to change the exposure level

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   A level in the negative will allow less lighting which is better for scenes with a large amount of natural or artificial light, if there is low lighting we need to go to the positives and this allows more light into the camera.

   

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10. 10
    To exit the menu, hit back

    

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11. 11
    If you want to turn off flash, press the button with the lighting like arrow

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12. 12
    Go down to forced flash off and press the center circle

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    This is one way to increase our abilities to take better photos in low lighting.

    

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13. 13
    If we want to have complete control, we can go to manual exposure

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    Manual exposure shows us how we can change both the aperture and the shutter speed at the same time. Press the Exposure button, and this allows us to activate both the aperture, which we can increase by pressing right or left on the circle, as well as the exposure which we can change by pressing the up or down buttons.

    

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14. 14
    These are some ways that you can take better photos with your Panasonic TZ20 in low lighting

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    Hopefully this will enable you to take a lot more photos of wildlife, nature and other beautiful things. The best way to learn how to use your camera is to experiment, go outside, play around with the settings, try to take photos, adjust your camera in low lighting and see what results you get. It can be quite exciting to find yourself being creative and learning about your camera and how to take better photos, and the best way to do that is to practice and experiment. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to share some of your photos we would love to see them so please share them in the section below. I hope this has been helpful, you've been watching VisiHow. Goodbye.

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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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