Avoiding tripod in low light
TLDR—Any tips on how I can shoot b&w in lower light avoiding a tripod? Am I understanding the basics of exposure?
I’ve been experimenting with b&w film photography for ~3 months now on a k1000 that I overpaid for and had tuned up. I’ve only been using Ilford HP5 Plus 400 so far. This is a lot of fun. However, I find that I’m often wanting to take pictures in pretty dark places, at least I think they’re pretty dark per the meter on my camera. I’m talking about hiking in forests beneath deep tree cover, or like today how I was in the state house in my city. When I was in the state house today, I pulled out my phone and with the light sensor + an app called Lux Meter, it gave me an Exposure Value of 2.1.
I know this is likely a case of me wanting to have it all. I absolutely don’t want to be carrying a tripod around with me, so I want to make sure that with the research I’ve done I’m understanding all of the options available to me to shoot in low light.
Shutter Speed: I refrain from moving this any lower than 60 unless I’m just trying to test it out to see what I can get away with without a tripod (blur)
Aperture: There are a lot of times I’m taking landscape pictures of nature and I want f22—this is probably what is causing my problem the most here?
Iso: My understanding is that HP5 Plus is “forgiving” and I can bump the ISO up to like 800 (or maybe 1600) and likely get away with the lab developing normally. I also know that pushing during development is an option. Maybe I’m wrong, but this doesn’t seem to be enough to counter the f22 aperture and shutter speed of 60 that I’m typically trying to use.
I know flash is potentially an option. I’m not thrilled with the idea but more open to exploring it than I am carrying a tripod. One thing I’m wondering is if something like Delta 3200 could help enough for me to shoot with an f22 aperture and no tripod? Am I getting this right that could help since the speed is higher than the 400 on HP5 Plus?
Posted Sep 3, 2025, 6:24 PM UTC