ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light.

By having a lower ISO value it makes your cameras sensor less sensitive to light which is perfect for locations with lots of light. By having a High ISO value it makes your cameras sensor more sensitive to light which is ideal for locations with minimal amount of light. However using a High ISO value can affect the image quality of your photo making it appear noisy and grainy.

High ISO is sometimes needed because if the conditions of your photos are dark and doesn’t feature a lot of light then a higher ISO can help brighten the image but also degrading it in the process. Below is an example of an image taken from a Low ISO value at the start to a High ISO value at the end.

Adobe Lightroom is a very useful program that is used to edit pictures efficiently in large quantities. For example lets say you take pictures of a large event, Adobe Lightroom will allow you to import them into the library and sort them into a collection where you can edit your photos freely without changing the original image.

Develop Tab

The Develop Tab will allow you to edit your images to your choosing. On the left side you should be able to see a subcategory named Presets. Presets allows you to choose settings that has already been done and configured to apply to photos, this can be useful if you want to edit your photos quick or want to find a preset that would suit your photo.

With the develop tab you are also able to view your photos information in depth. This is called the histogram and its useful for determining why the image may be blurry or why its not really lit up and etc. The histogram is usually located on the top right side.

Contact Sheets

Contact sheets are photos that are usually arranged in a grid which allows photographers to see previews of the images to determine which images are favoured and liked more. William Klein was a photographer who used contact sheets and was able to make an interesting piece. William Klein would use his contact sheets and draw over them, with the pictures he didn’t want to use he would draw a X across the image while the pictures he wanted to use he would highlight it around the corners eventually creating an interesting piece like this photo below.

Adobe Lightroom is to import and export photos, create, edit, and share photos across all devices. This allows people to quickly and easily edit their photographs with tools to alter contrast, balance colour, and change brightness on mobile devices immediately after taking the picture.

I imported 31 photos into Lightroom. I then made a subfolder or collection as its called in the app of all my best and favourite photos. I had 14 favourite photos, which I then rated out of 5 stars, this app was really useful to help arrange my photos into groups and get them all sorted so they are not cluttered everywhere.

This is collections. This shows how many collections there are. Below there is a plus button to get access to your collections and photos. It also tell you how many photos are stored. To do this, I clicked the plus sign next to collections to create a new collection, titled it photos for photography and put it then imported it into a collection.

By doing this, I can sort my huge gallery of photographs into smaller groups. E.G, instead of having all my photographs in one area it would make it difficult to differentiate and classify them I can split them into particular collections (e.g. photographs for photography and aperture etc.)

Where It Is Stored On The Computer

Functions

I then had the choice to select and rate my images in distinctive ways – one thing you can do is flag your images as good or bad using either the P key (for excellent ) or the X key (for poor), allowing you to then filter out which images you want to see using the flagged filter which you can eliminate, the images you marked as poor from view. You can also rate your pictures from 1-5 stars and then filter them by these star ratings. 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

An array of images flagged as excellent, with the ones flagged as poor filtered out. Star ratings are also shown under each image.

Develop Mode

After learning how to import images, create collections and rate/filter images in library mode I then learnt how to use develop mode. This mode is used when you need to do large amounts of editing on one single image at a time (similar to Photoshop), unlike library mode which can be used to make small quick adjustments to many images at the same time .

Develop mode has many pre-sets which can be used to make quick edits of your images, or you can make lots of improvements manually to really convert the image into one you really like. I spent a while using the manual developing features, and then formed an edited version of my image which I am happy with.

What Are Contact Sheets?

Contact Sheet

A contact sheet is a type of photographic paper that displays a collection of small images. These images are taken from a reel of film that the photographer has put into several strips. The photographer then puts these negatives on the sheet to see all the images side by side, making it easier to match them together.

William Klein

William Klein (April 19, 1926 – September 10, 2022) was a photographer and filmmaker who was born in the United States of America. He later became a French citizen. He was known for his unique and ironic style in both photography and filmmaking, often using unconventional techniques in photojournalism and fashion photography. Klein was recognized as the 25th most influential photographer by Professional Photographer magazine in their list of the top 100 photographers.

William Klein’s Contact Sheet

what is ISO and how does it affect your camera

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, and therefore how dark or light your photos will be.

Low values, such as ISO 100, are best for a sunny outdoor shoot. For shooting at night — or indoors with dim lighting — use an ISO of 1600 or higher.

What does a high ISO / low ISO mean? What effect can this have on your photos? What is meant by visual noise?

The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture.

The lower the ISO number, the more light is needed to properly expose the image

 higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.”

visual noise is when the photo is grainy and is effected by bad lighting conditions

This is an example of a high vs low iso

My photos

IOS = 100

IOS = 6400

IOS = 100

IOS = 6400

These are all examples of photos i’ve taken with different ISOs. we went around the school finding different textured things

What is ISO…

ISO is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light. The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture. The trade-off is that higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.”

When might you use High ISO?

High ISO is generally well suited to low-light situations, especially when a fast shutter speed or a narrow lens aperture is essential to achieving a creative goal. For example, using a higher ISO setting for hand-held street photography at night allows one to use fast shutter speeds to create bright, sharp images.

My Own Photo using high ISO

This is an example of me using high ISO in a dark room setting.

As you can clearly see this picture has become very grainy. I used an ISO of 6400

What is ISO and How does it affect your camera?

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, and therefore how dark or light your photos will be. Here are some top tips to help calculate correct exposure: Low values, such as ISO 100, are best for a sunny outdoor shoot. For shooting at night — or indoors with dim lighting — use an ISO of 1600 or higher.

Higher and Lower ISO

Higher ISO numbers increase sensitivity, making images brighter, but also introduce noise or grain. Lower ISO settings result in darker, cleaner images with less grain.

Higher

High ISO is generally well suited to low-light situations, especially when a fast shutter speed or a narrow lens aperture is essential to achieving a creative goal. For example, using a higher ISO setting for hand-held street photography at night allows one to use fast shutter speeds to create bright, sharp images.

Lower

When you are taking pictures in good lighting conditions, you should use low ISO to avoid noise in the image. This will give you the best quality picture. That’s because a high ISO can lead to noise in your photos, which can be especially visible in dark or low-light situations.

My photos using High ISO

I used a high ISO for this photo you can clearly see this as in the photo below I zoomed in and the photo is grainy

What does ISO alter on the Camera?

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, and therefore how dark or light your photos will be. Here are some top tips to help calculate correct exposure: Low values, such as ISO 100, are best for a sunny outdoor shoot. For shooting at night — or indoors with dim lighting — use an ISO of 1600 or higher.

Testing different ISOs

ISO – 100

ISO – 200

ISO – 400

ISO – 800

ISO – 1600

ISO – 3200

ISO – 6400

How does a high ISO impact your Photos?

ISO is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light. The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture. The trade-off is that higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.”

Intro to ISO and Image Grain/Noise for Photographers (Shooting in Manual Part 5)

When might you want to use a high ISO?

High ISO is generally well suited to low-light situations, especially when a fast shutter speed or a narrow lens aperture is essential to achieving a creative goal. For example, using a higher ISO setting for hand-held street photography at night allows one to use fast shutter speeds to create bright, sharp images.

Brett Weston

Brett Weston seemed destined from birth to become one of the greatest American photographic artists. Born in Los Angeles in 1911, the second son of photographer Edward Weston, he had perhaps the closest artistic relationship with his famous father of all four of the Weston sons.

Intrigued by the many kinds and shapes of kelp he found on the beaches near Carmel, in 1930 Weston began taking close-ups of vegetables and fruits. He made a variety of photographs of cabbage, kale, onions, bananas, and finally, his most iconic image, peppers.

what does ISO alter on the camera?

ISO is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light.

The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture.

how does a high ISO impact on your photos?

The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity

higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.”

what’s it meant by visual noise?

everything that is annoying to the eye, from jarring colours to spaces overloaded with home décor objects.

low light situations

in lowlight situations, its often necessary to raise the IISO, so it is able to get a clear photo. however from increasing the ISO, through is that it introduces noise to a image, which makes it appear grainy.

however if you take a photo in ideal light, you can keep the ISO low in order to avoid introducing noise into the images.

1. ISO 800 ↩︎
2. ISO 3200 ↩︎
3. ISO 12800 ↩︎

What is ISO? How does it affect your camera?

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, so it tells you how light or dark your photos will be. Low values, such as ISO 100, are best for a sunny outdoor shoot. For shooting at night or indoors with dim lighting use an ISO of 1600 or higher. As you increase your ISO number, your photos will grow progressively brighter. For that reason, ISO can help you capture images in darker environments, or be more flexible about your aperture and shutter speed settings.

High/ Low ISO

The lower the ISO number, the more light is needed to properly expose the image. The higher the ISO number, the less light is needed. ISO 200 requires much more light than ISO 6400.

What effect can a High/ Low ISO have on your camera?

The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture. The trade-off is that higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.” At the lowest (base) ISO setting, your images will have the least amount of noise and the highest dynamic range, giving you the most flexibility in post-processing.

What is meant by visual noise?

Noise in photography can be defined as a random variation in the image signal. Noise can be caused by a number of factors, including poor lighting conditions, high ISO settings, long exposure times, and heat.

When might you want to use a high ISO?

High ISO is generally well suited to low-light situations, especially when a fast shutter speed or a narrow lens aperture is essential to achieving a creative goal. Sometimes a little noise can actually even add character to your images.

My photos

The photos on the right were taken at an ISO of 6400 and shutter speed of 1/20 of a second. This makes the photo look brighter and less textured whereas the photos on the left were taken at an ISO of 100 at 1/20 of a second which gives the photos more dimension if in a lighter room.

What is ISO?

ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) is a number you can change on your camera which adjusts how sensitive your camera sensor is to light.

How does changing ISO affect images?

A lower ISO value means there is less sensitivity to light, so you will need more light to take a good photo, whereas a higher ISO value increases sensitivity to light meaning less light is needed for a photo. However, if ISO is set too high, visual noise can start being introduced into the image which is a grainy effect that if unintentional can lower the quality and effectiveness of your photo.

Despite this drawback, higher ISO values are still useful for taking photos where there are low levels of light. If you have ideal lighting conditions, your ISO number should be kept low to avoid introducing visual noise into your photographs. Unlike aperture and shutter speed, ISO is adjusted by pressing the ISO button and then selecting your desired number.

My ISO photos:

For my photoshoot, I took pictures of the same subjects while adjusting the shutter speed and ISO numbers to explore how they affect images.

Below are two images of a scrunched up paper ball, both taken at the same shutter speed but with different ISO numbers.

The first photo is significantly darker than the second because the ISO number is extremely low, which has reduced light sensitivity and caused a darker image. The second photo is much brighter due to a higher ISO number which has increased light sensitivity, as well as beginning to introduce visual noise into the image.

When taking photos, you need to adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO all together to ensure the lighting is optimal for the effect you are trying to achieve. Fast shutter speeds which let in less light alongside low ISO levels to decrease light sensitivity can cause extremely dark photos, such as the one below.

If you over-adjust one aspect while not adjusting another, you can fix the lighting problem but introduce other issues into your photos. For example, in the image below, the shutter speed is still fast (1/100 sec) but the ISO has increased drastically to 6400, which has improved the lighting significantly but also introduced visual noise which has affect the quality of the image.

However, with the right amount of adjustment for each aspect (aperture, shutter speed and ISO), you can achieve your desired lighting without harming the image too much in other ways such as visual noise.

Conclusion:

Aperture, shutter speed and ISO all affect the brightness of your image so it is important to adjust each one to make sure your photos are your desired brightness whilst minimising other consequences like visual noise. For example, if you use a low ISO number, you might want to compensate by using a slower shutter speed and larger aperture to achieve optimal lighting.