Insane ISO Settings

Back in the (seemingly) far dim past when we all shot film, and when noise meant loud sounds rather than unwanted granules in our pictures, 400 ISO was about as high as any photographer wanted to go. For landscapes, portraits, still lifes, weddings, architecture, fashion, and so many other types of image making, we would never consider ISO settings as high as 400 because those films were considered too grainy. I shot most subjects with Fujichrome Velvia because the 50 ISO rating meant maximum quality. I used Fujichrome Provia 100 for wildlife because it gave me one extra f/stop of light for a faster shutter. Never in a million years did it ever occur to us we’d have available ISO settings of 3200 and higher with excellent image quality.

When I photographed the snowy owl, below, with an ISO setting of 12,800 because of the diminished light level in the late afternoon, I couldn’t believe it. True, I used noise reducing software (Neat Image in this case) to improve the image quality, but I realized there was no way I could have taken this image in the past given the fast shutter I needed in such muted light.

When I was leading a photo tour to Kazahkstan, I captured a hawk moth (top of next page) in

flight, and to freeze its wings without a flash I set the shutter speed to 1/8000 and the aperture to f/16 for extensive depth of field. That forced the ISO to an incredible 25,600. This time I used Topaz DeNoise AI to mitigate the noise and, again, I was astonished at the quality of the image given the astronomical ISO.

But I was totally blown away by the image below. I took this shot of a cape buffalo from a blind at dawn in South Africa on a recent photo tour there. I replaced the sky in postprocessing, but the original capture had been done in extremely low light. I was using a long lens and wanted a shutter speed that would freeze the movements of the animal, so I used 1/500. At f/7.1 (the maximum aperture on the 100-500mm Canon lens when set to 500mm), the ISO was forced to an unbelievable 40,000! I’d never gone this high before, but if I had slowed the shutter to reduce the ISO, I risked getting blurred pictures. There’s no point in reducing noise if the pictures aren’t going to be sharp. So, I took the shot and then, when I got home, I applied Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI and was amazed by the result. Can this stand up against a shot done at 200 ISO? or 1000 ISO? Upon close examination, no, not really. But given the factors I had to work with, this turned out much, much better than I ever expected. §

Spectacular photo opportunities of horses in action

May 8- 13, 2023

UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS

Snowy Owl Workshop

Upclose and personal encounters with these stunning birds in flight. Learn how to expose for white on white wintry conditions.

January 5 - 9, 2023

Winter Wildlife Workshop

Photograph beautiful North American mammals plus a snow leopard in natural environments. Mountain lions, red foxes, arctic foxes, bobcats, lynx, wolves and more are in their full winter coats. This is a very special workshop.

January 17 - 21, 2023

Carnival in Venice Workshop

Photograph outrageous costumes in a medieval environment! Incredible colors, design, and creativity in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Learn how to use off-camera flash, photograph models in sumptuous interiors, produce great images at night, and all the while enjoying Italian cuisine. This is a workshop not to be missed!

February 12 - 18, 2023