We run a lot of camera training workshops and so often we get asked the question “why are my indoor shots so dark or so blurred” We know people who have stopped using their better camera and gone back to their point and shoot or phone camera because they can’t get the results they want

So many photographs fail when taken indoors without flash because they either look took dark or they are blurred. This is an easy thing to fix and you will be amazed how quickly your confidence taking photographs indoors improves. Your point and shoot will stay in your pocket and your phone will be used to make calls and not take photos so much

All you need to do is to change the setting on your top dial so that it is on Shutter Priority (S on the dial for most cameras and TV for Canon cameras – TV stands for time value – don’t ask it is just what Canon does)

Once you have that set the speed on your camera to something around 1/125 (this is 125th of a second). Anything faster and your camera will struggle to get the light it needs, anything much slower and you run the risk of blurred photos. Set the ISO to 400 and then take a test shot

If the test shot is too bright lower the ISO, if the test shot is too dark simply raise the ISO until you get the shot you want.

One tip though on the use of ISO, think of it like salt in your cooking, just the right amount enhances the dish and too much spoils it. If you add too much ISO your shots begin to look very grainy so just add ISO incrementally until what you see on the back of your camera is what you want