After spending hours getting a video camera for my youngest sibling in Fiji who is superb in getting the best specs for stuff within her budget, I thought I was done with cameras for a while.

Now I have another sibling walking around the house with some mega pixel wide angled gadget looking smug so I am now sharing this awesome tips I received from some friends at Canon who sent some awesome tips from Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director of Canon Middle East – he shares a few tips for clicking mesmerizing shots in dim light.

Capturing images in a low-lit environment has always been one of the major challenges for photographers, as sharpness and accuracy of exposure can be compromised, resulting in blurred or dark images. Canon cleverly addresses this issue with its innovative HS system enabling users to capture extremely low-lit environments in stunning clarity even without the help of a flash.

The technology represents a cutting edge combination of high-sensitivity sensor and DIGIC 4 processor working together to capture stunning images even in low light. Enjoy these tips below from Hendrik:

1: Get steady: Unsteady positioning of your camera could affect the clarity of your image, especially when using slow shutter speeds. Avoid any jerking movements by steadying one or both of your elbows against your body or an external surface when using a handheld camera. Cameras such as Ixus 510 and PowerShot SX 260 powered with the HS system produces less noise and blur, usually a problem in low light situations. This reduces the need to shoot with flash or tripod, allowing you to capture the real, natural atmosphere of the moment.

2: Open your aperture and increase your ISO: The simplest way to take good pictures in dim light is to increase your camera’s sensitivity to light. A higher ISO setting on a digital camera makes it more sensitive to light. Basically, the higher the ISO setting on your digital camera, the faster it will respond. For example in Canon’s Ixus 510, one can increase the ISO from 100 to 3200. As a result, the camera becomes more sensitive to light and is able to capture maximum amount of light to paint the scene perfectly.

3: Shooting Modes: Most modern point-and-shoot cameras have preset modes, which you can choose based on the scene you are at the moment. When shooting in a low lit environment, choose the “low light” mode or even the “night” mode which will let the camera function in slower shutter speeds, which means longer exposure time.  Whether shooting night-time portraits against a dark background or a moving subject, indoors, Canon’s HS system makes it possible to shoot in more dim-lit situations than before.

4: The right use of flash: For more effective lighting when you’re outside in dim light and your subject isn’t within flash range, turn off your flash and capture the scene in the existing light. The typical digital camera flash range is 6 to 10 feet. Subjects that are outside the flash range will be too dark. This is particularly important when shooting night landscape photography.

5: A little camera trick: When you half press the shutter release button of your camera, it will focus on the frame you have chosen. Once it does this, it will calculate all the required settings for that particular frame. Try ‘tricking’ your camera by focusing on something darker than your subject, so that it prepares itself to allow for more light, then move your camera back to what you really want to take and click away.

6: Press the shutter button smoothly: Say goodbye to blurry pictures. This is possible by gently pressing the shutter button. It produces mesmerizing shots and helps in giving the right balance to the sharpness of the image.

Obtaining clearer and crisper images in low light situations has often been a challenge for regular DSC users. Putting these tips into practice will enhance the photos of even the most inexperienced photographer. So next time you find yourself stuck in a dim light environment, use it to your advantage and to put your new skills into practice to capture some stunning images.