© Rick Wright

Ah, who said you can′t go out and play in the rain with your camera? Especially when exploring a new camera, rain or shine is my motto! In fact, the overcast skies and slight darkness are a perfect time to learn a few tricks for shooting in low light.

I spotted these two amazing flowers while walking along a lake road—utterly glowing with color. Diffuse light (from overcast skies) is terrific for flowers as it evens out the light and produces rich saturated color. I opened my lens fully to ƒ2.8 and bumped up my ISO to 200 to get a 1/40th second shutter (right at the edge of being safely handheld).

I could have used ISO 400 for more stability, but didn′t want more noise/grain as those petals should look velvety. Instead of faster ISOs, try this extra steadying technique while hand-holding any low light shot. Switch on the self-timer and let the camera release the shutter for you, rather than your clumsy, motion-inducing finger. It works great. I also added some light by adjusting my +/- exposure control by +.07. It brightened up the shadows just the right amount, and ƒ2.8 gave a nice soft effect in the background.

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