What is ISO?
One of the greatest tools a DSLR camera (and some point and shoots) have is the ability to adjust the ISO. Before DSLRs you bought your film in different speeds, ISO refers the the speed of the film. They still use that term, it is just now done digitally. Which is fantastic for us, it means we can take pictures in different lighting without having to switch our film!
I read in the amazing book Understanding Exposure, that a good way to look at ISO is in terms of worker bees. Here is his description: “If my camera is set to ISO 100, I have, in effect, 100 worker bees; and if your camera is set to ISO 200, you have 200 worker bees. The job of these worker bees is to gather the light that comes through the lens and make an image.”
So the higher your ISO is the faster your camera will take the picture, because you will have more worker bees gathering light for you. But that doesn’t mean you want to use a high ISO all the time, the opposite is actually true.
Which ISO to use?
As a rule, you want to use the lowest ISO possible. Why? Well the higher the ISO the more noise/grain you will see in your pictures.
I took this picture here in 2 different ISO’s
I am going to zoom in on it to show you the difference.
First picture was taken at ISO 100
The second was taken at ISO 1600, can you see the difference? See all of the noise/grain in the second picture? That is why you want to shoot at the lowest ISO possible.
When outdoors, I usually shoot in between ISO 100-200, closer to the 200 range if I am shooting something fast moving (like a child!)
With the ability to control ISO, we can eliminate the use of flash most of the time. The flash that comes with your DSLR camera (on board flash) is most often harsh, and unflattering. It tends to blow out pictures and cast harsh shadows. I never use mine, I have an external flash I use if I need one, but I would say I still only use that 2% of the time.
If you are inside and you try to take a picture with out the flash and it turns out blurry, bump up the ISO until the blur disappears. Remember, the higher the ISO, the more worker bees you have helping you gather light.
When I am inside I usually shoot anywhere from ISO 400 all the way up to ISO 1600.
Where is my ISO?
I will show you how to find the ISO on my Nikon, check out Lolli’s post to see it done on a Canon.
See the button marked ISO? Hold it down and turn the back dial to adjust it. You can see the adjustments being made in the top LCD monitor. You can also go into your menu to adjust it, this is the fastest way though.
The Challenge:
For this challenge turn your cameras mode dial to program mode (P). The camera will pick the shutter speed and aperture for you, you will just be adjusting the ISO. Try taking pictures in different ISOs. Remember no flash!
Challenge Inspiration:
You can take a picture of whatever you like, but if you need inspiration, start here.
Need inspiration? Since I took a picture of a toy, it got me thinking why don’t we do children's playthings! So break out your camera and take pics of toys or your little ones playing with toys, just as long as it has something children play with in the picture.
Still have questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments.
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