Wildlife Photography across the Water: ISO-Low or High

Thursday 7 October 2010

ISO-Low or High

Traditionally ISO's have always been in full stops i.e 100,200,400,800 etc, But now we have 1/3 stops as well so now we have 100,125,160,200,250,320,400 etc, I personally always use full stops but i know others that use the 'in between' ISO's, So say that you are using ISO 400 and feel that you could use a slightly lower ISO and change to 320 thats going to help with image quality right? well not really as the 'in between' ISO's are not real ISO's, What happens is ISO 200 is a real ISO but ISO 250 is an over exposed 200 and 320 is an under exposed 400 and so on and so on, We know that over exposing is good for IQ as in exposing to the right but under exposure is bad for IQ, So in reality ISO 320 can give a grainier image that 400-Food for thought when choosing what ISO to use

Dave

2 comments:

Bobbster7 October 2010 at 17:23
I use the full stops and expose to the right so as that's tradition I assume I'm getting old?
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Unknown12 October 2010 at 21:00
Thanks Dave. I only ever use full stops but was unaware of the over and under exposure issues
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.