After Dark at Symposium Coffee Shop

This may not seem like a remarkable photo, but this was to prove you can take wonderfully clear images in very low light w/o a tripod. You just need to allow for a long shutter speed of 3 seconds or so. Even check out the full resolution download to see how clear this image is with no visible camera noise. No filters or enhancements were use in the editing of this image from the RAW file. This is the exact exposure and color achieved from this shot. This was taken just resting on the table we were sitting at in the lowest ISO setting of 64 at f/9 if you can believe that. I  had not even asked him to hold still for this shot. One take, with no retakes to try to get a better exposure. I used the timer to activate the shutter, so I did not jostle the camera depressing the shutter release. I used this image for my journal entry 'Understanding Cameras' Understanding Cameras(updated 2/7/15)
I have been shooting with a decent SLR cameras since the early 80s. This means ‘single lens reflex’, using a mirror to the view finder so you see the image that’s being taken through the lens, but digital photography has solved this in a cheap camera’s view screen, and revolutionized photography from the old days of using film. It has even exceeded the quality of the best 35mm film these days if you are willing to pay around $5k for the camera body with a good lens and a substantial memory card. Digital has made photography faster by making it easier to capture a moment with auto focus and built in flash along with capturing video when you want. The images are far more versatile to modify those in post editing, and then easily share them with others on-line. Although, there’s still a lot misunderstood about digital photography by most people, and even many professional photographers from what I see. I’ve tried here to break it

If you want to limit your photography to existing light you need to steady the camera to get this sort of image at such a slow shutter speed in the best quality settings: lowest ISO and high F-stop. Shooting still life should be easy, but it may not that easy for your model to hold very still. Although, for capturing young people or animals not at rest this may be impossible to achieve. There is a lot you can achieve this way w/o the loss of image quality. You can even try light painting with a flashlight over your subject with a very long exposure.

I did let him, Willard Hucks know right afterwards I had captured this image and showed it to him. He was delighted to see it, and had contacted me later to get a copy of this image posted here.