Last night, I went out with a group of friends to play pool at a place called Red Triangle to celebrate my friend Joanna’s 19th birthday. I decided to bring my new DSLR camera along, because as anyone who has visited Red Triangle before would know, the lighting set up is very minimal, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn how to work in low key lighting.

The results were mixed, partially because I was still learning how to use all of the settings on the camera, but also because the camera was very sensitive to the light. For example, there was one photo of my friend Declan, where the lighting was so perfect, everyone was amazed how good it looked. But when another photo of him was taken of him standing in the same spot was taken from a slightly different angle, the result was completely different. Occasionally, the camera’s autofocus would struggle under the low lighting conditions, causing the photos to look blurry.

Later in the evening, a few of my friends were practicing their ballet skills and I attempted to take a few shots. Due to the fact that I didn’t change the setting from when we were inside, most of the shots turned out quite blurry, like the one above. While majority of the photos from the night are far from perfect, I’ve picked up a few skills when it comes to working in low light, and I’ve also realised where I need to improve in terms of using my camera.