Many places are too dark for normal photography but won't allow using a flash... and flash pictures tend to look flat and boring anyway. Here are a few survival tips for such situations. You may not get sharp pictures, but you may come back with some that are much nicer and more interesting than you would've expected.

Available-light situational photography is extremely demanding, both on equipment and on the photographer's skills. It's too dark for the AF to lock on properly, the metering to work, and, most importantly, for shutter speeds short enough to freeze the action and permit easy hand-holding of the picture.

The bad news first: there's no way of getting sharp, clear pictures in a situation like this with a consumer or "prosumer" digicam. The lens isn't bright enough and the sensor isn't sensitive enough by a long shot. Even armed with the best DSLR with the brightest lens you can get (or a film SLR with the most sensitive film you can get), you would have your work cut out for you.

However, while you may not be able to get clear pictures, it doesn't mean you can't get good pictures. Raymond Ruan has some really fantastic shots of moving subjects in low light: the motion blur adds a lot to the subject, giving it motion, atmosphere, and rhythm. So, you can get beautiful, unique, and atmospheric pictures by turning a weakness into a virtue and incorporating the motion blur into your pictures.

(c) Raymond Ruan. Used with permission.

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