Settings for this kind of photo (static and moving people)

[Big Kev]

I'm going to be getting photos of my lab soon for the works web site revamp and I've pondered doing a picture of our coffee room on a 'long' exposure might look quite good. This sort of thing



Anyone done this before? Any idea on settings?
I'm guessing ISO 100 and a tiny aperture (f18 or 22) and maybe 1-2secs. But do you need a density filter as well to stop the brighter areas blowing out or is that taken care of by the small aperture?

[DexterPunk]

Smaller aperture indoors should be fine, just go with the smallest ISO your camera can use, and play around with apertures to get the desired effect. ND really just bumps it down a few more notches... Probably not bright enough indoors to worry about one. If your exposures are too long, moving people will disappear for the most part.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[Swain OHaw]

The brighter areas will still be brighter and potentially blow out because despite the small aperture and long exposure, they still need less time than the rest of the scene (for example, the window might require 0.5s where the rest of the scene needs 3s - a difference of 2-3 stops will see it blow out), it's always going to be a problem ... even with an ND filter, I would think.

As Dex says, an ND filter shouldn't be necessary for indoors - low ISO and small aperture should give you at least a couple of seconds, and with a busy enough space you'll get a nice effect - vary the shutter speed a few times to see if a slightly shorter or longer exposure produces a better effect with the movement you have ...