Why is this picture so grainy?

But seriously...why?

​Events are sometimes hard to shoot. This event was the perfect example of how a client's needs and my needs don't always overlap. (And who is right? The client, of course. I just have to educate them about what will happen if we go with their choice.)

I've written about the exposure triangle before. There are lots of things I can do to take a photo in a dark situation. However, the more I use those techniques (without flash), the grainier the photo will be come. (Because my camera is basically trying to suck the light into the photo, but can only do so much if the room is dark.)

So why wouldn't I use flash? Well here's the difficult part about some events I shoot: the client wants a dark room because, hello, ambiance! I don't disagree. However, I need light, and there are only two ways I can get it: turn up the lights (clearly can't happen based on the preferred ambiance), or use flash - which is sometimes even MORE obtrusive than having lights turned up higher. So what does a photographer do? We do the best we can - but sometimes that means pretty grainy photos.

Happy Friday!
​Autumn