Photo Assignment 3: Doing it in the dark or how to shoot in low light

SMU sophomore Tyler Barnett scrolls through his phone on a leather couch inside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Dallas, Texas. The photo was taken for a low-light photography project, highlighting Barnett illuminated by his phone screen against the darker room setting. (Photo by Johnny Crowley)

When I first started this low-light photograph project, I thought it would be simple flip the switch, snap a photo, and done. However, when I finally stood behind the camera, I realized how wrong I was. It's a whole lot harder to film in a room that is as dark as it can possibly be, and all the tiny specifics — from composition to camera settings — really do matter. I had thought in terms of a 15-minute process but found myself having a succession of hours of faffing, frustration, and testing. But at the end of it all, it was one of the most valuable learning experiences I've ever had with a camera.

Struggling With Focus:One of the first problems that I had was focus. Since there wasn't much light, the camera wouldn't be able to get anything, and the majority of the early shots were all out of focus. I had to shoot using manual focus and take one exposure at a time, trying to get even one in-focus picture. It was rather infuriating — I'd talk myself into thinking I'd just got it, then zoom in and the whole thing would be smeared. But it did make me realize how sensitive cameras are in the dark and how much patience you need to get it right.

Learning the Camera Itself:It also forced me to actually learn to use the camera, as I hadn't been before. I didn't know how critical aperture, ISO, and shutter speed were until I had photos that were either extremely dark or completely bleached. I needed to learn to open and close the aperture to let more light in, how to turn up the ISO so it didn't get grainy, and balance it with the shutter speed. I needed to FaceTime my professor and take the camera to school just to, like, get it together. It was awkward in the beginning, but once it started to fall into place, I felt a lot more capable and competent.

Lighting Issues:The only actual light in the picture was from Tyler Barnet's cell phone, so that made it even more difficult. Lighting was laughably uneven — too much where it was and too little everywhere else — so I was constantly having to adjust and move him to get something that looked half decent at all. The slightest difference in the way he was holding the phone made all the difference in the photograph. It was an enormous amount of little adjustments, perseverance, and shots that were missed, which eventually led to one balanced and regular-looking shot.

Surprisingly enough, SMU sophomore Tyler Barnet's photograph ended up teaching me much more than I could have possibly ever imagined. I learned how to operate my camera, how to problem-solve when everything was not working in my favor, and how to wait when everything was not working in my favor in the immediate moment. A mundane assignment that was just going through the motions turned out to be a real test — a test of the level of work that goes into taking one photograph. Whenever I glance at the completed photo today, I see more than a photograph. I see all the errors, the corrections, and the debugging entailed.