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How To Use Focus Stacking To Get Incredible Depth of Field

Written by Luke Robinson in Featured,Learn

All lenses have a limit of how much of a scene can all be in focus at one time. When shooting macro photography, you are especially limited of how much depth of field you have because you are extremely close to your subject. The depth of field can be razor thin when shooting at such a close distance. To get around this limitation, you can use a technique called Focus Stacking to increasing the depth of field beyond what your lens is capable of.
beemacrostack
But in order to create a focus stacked image, you must first shoot a series of images where the focus plane is moving through your subject. You then take all of those pictures into Photoshop, and blend them into a stack where only the parts that are in focus are included in the final image. Focus stacking allows you to get an incredibly large depth of field.

What you will need

Tripod – You will want to have a sturdy tripod. Because you will be taking multiple pictures from the exact same spot, you want have your camera locked down tight. Try to not have your camera move at all.

Shutter Release (optional) – A remote so you can take your hands off of your camera to prevent camera shake. A remote shutter is not required, you can use a 2-second delay to let the camera stop shaking before it snaps a shot.

Take the Pictures

First set your camera lens to Manual Focus (MF). You want to have full control over where the lens is focusing. If you leave the focus set to auto focus, the camera will focus in all the wrong places and you will end up with a poor final image.

Set your camera to full Manual mode. Because you are taking a series of nearly identical images, you want the exposure to be exactly the same from one picture to the next. Set your camera to manual shutter speed, manual aperture, manual ISO, pick any other white balance besides Auto. The only thing you want changing between all of your shots is the focus.

Beginning with your focus locked onto the closest part of your subject, take your first shot. For my shot, it was the little hairs on the head of a bumble bee and its mandibles. Next I turned the focusing ring to just move the focus away from the lens to get the bees eyes in focus and I took the shot. Next I turned the focusing ring a little bit more to move the focus even further away from the lens.

Keep shooting until you have everything you need in focus. I ended up with about 10 pictures to use in my focus stack. I would have taken one more but the bee decided it was tired of this silly human flashing lights in its face and flew away. I ended with everything in focus except the very tips of her wings. But that is okay, I got close enough where you can see the tips of its wings and that was good enough. She could have flew off 10 seconds earlier and I would have only half a bee in focus. I see it as she stuck around a few seconds longer than she wanted in order to help me get a great portrait of her.

This is the before picture of the amount of depth of field I was working with. Because of the distance I was shooting at, and the aperture I was using, only a little bit of the bees body was in focus at one time. I was shooting with a Canon 7D, with the Venus 60mm f/2.8 Ultra-Macro Lens with 2:1 Magnification. This lens is a completely manual lens that I recently picked up. I was shooting at 1/125 sec, around F8, ISO 400.

BeeMacro-1725

Stacking the Photos

First import your pictures onto your computer. I import mine into Lightroom and I find the series of images I want to stack together. Do any edits you need to do now like exposure or curves adjustments. Just make sure you sync those edits to all of the other pictures in your series. You want all of the shots to be identical. Just do not crop the photos at all. You can crop when you are finished building your focus stacked image.

I suggest exporting the pictures in JPEG. Focus stacking works just as well when using JPEG images. You already applied all of your edits and corrected any exposure problems in Lightroom when you were still in the RAW format so exporting in JPEG wont be a problem now.

Focus Stack

Open up Photoshop and go up to the File menu, select Scripts, and then select Load Files into Stack…

Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 9.30.38 PM

Using the Load Files into Stack is one of the easiest ways to get a bunch of photos into Photoshop at once. Browse and find the pictures you want to load, and make sure to check the box that says Align Images. Even though you were on a tripod when you took the pictures, Its possible that the tripod may have been bumped, and auto align will double check to see if all lined up and fix any movements.

Focus Stack

Select all of the layers by clicking on the top layer, holding the Shift key and selecting the bottom layer. This will select every layer between the top and bottom layers. Only when all the layers are selected will you be able to select the Auto-Blend Layers… option under the Edit menu.

Focus Stack

The Auto-Blend Layers tool can either be used to stitched a panorama together, but in this situation, you want to Stack the images on top of each other. I suggest you also check the Seamless Tones and Colors box. You will end up with a much more natural looking image. And now click OK and let the image process.

Focus Stack

Focus Stack

Once Photoshop finishes processing the image, you will have a layer mask added to all of your layers. These layer masks are masking out anything that is out of focus and keeps everything that is in focus.

Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 10.07.12 PM

The layers are meticulously stitched together keeping the in focus portions, and ignoring the out of focus stuff. It would take an extremely long time to do all of this manually. Photoshop can process it in just a moment and it is impressive how well it works. So start the process and go get yourself a drink of water, it will be done by the time you get back.

Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 10.09.09 PM

The final image shows nearly every bit of the bee in focus. All the way from the mandibles by its mouth, clear back to the wings. The very tips of the wings are not in focus because the bee flew off just before I was going to snap the final shot. But I don’t think it hurts the final image.

beemacrostack

I was surprised how easy it was to to create a focus stacked image. I have always known what focus stacking was, but I never really tried it until recently. As long as you give photoshop a decent set of properly shot images, it will take care of the rest and deliver some amazing results. Focus stacking works for all types of shots, not just macro. It can infinitely increase the size of your focusing plane to produce some spectacular landscape photos. Go give it a shot, I plan on using this technique often in the future. It i just another tool in the photography arsenal.

Tips

Go Faster – Move faster in getting my series of shots. Not all subjects will be motionless so the quicker those images are taken to each other, the better. The Bees antennas were moving around between shots so in the final image, I had two sets of antenna in which I had to remove one.

Use Liveview – Liveview allows you to zoom in on your image to check to see if the focus is tack sharp through your subject.

Get Everything In Focus – I failed to get the tips of the bees wings or its antenna completely in focus. I wanted to get the bees body in focus before it flew away, If I had more time, I would have gone back and gotten the rest.

10 Things Every Photographer Should Have In Their Photo Bag

Written by Luke Robinson in Featured,Learn,Tips

When you are a photographer, you have to be ready for just about anything. You can try to plan ahead but something unexpected will always come up. As a photographer, it is your job to be prepared and expect the unexpected.
When you are on a shoot, you only have the gear with you to turn that difficult situation into some great photos. You can’t run back home or to the office to grab a piece of gear that you forgot.
The following is a list of items I always have in my camera bag when on a shoot.

1. Spare Memory Cards – Having extra memory cards is a must. When you are on a shoot, you can be snapping away for hours and easily shoot upwards of 1000 photos. If you do not have extra memory cards, you can quickly fill up your only memory card and be forced to sacrifice the earlier shots to make room for photos later in the evening. There is also a chance you forget to put your memory card back into your camera after uploading the photos from a previous shoot. If you get to a location and then realize you have no memory cards, you are up a creek without a paddle. Memory cards are so inexpensive these days that you should have many extra memory cards. I suggest at least 2 to 3 extra memory cards 16GB in capacity or larger.

2. Spare Batteries – Extra batteries are also a must. It doesn’t matter how much expensive camera gear you have, once your out of power you are dead in the water. Nothing is worse than being far away from electricity and seeing your camera’s battery icon blink. Have at least one extra battery charged up and ready to go with you at all times, two is better.

3. Microfiber Lens Cloth – The front elements of a camera gets dirty fast. If you are at the beach, the salt air will leave a residue on your lens. The mist from a waterfall will leave water droplets on your lens. You can try to use your t-shirt to wipe the glass clean but that can smear and leave oils on the lens. Its best to have a few microfiber cloth’s in your camera bag or a pocket to quickly wipe the lens clean. Microfiber cloths are pretty cheap and your images will look much butter without all that grime on your lenses.

4. Rocket Blower – No matter how well you take care of your camera, it always seems to get dirty. Dust settles on the front element and gets inside the camera when changing lenses. The dust will settle on the mirror and the sensor causing little specks to show up in your final image or when looking through the view finder. A Rocket Blower is a small rubber bulb that blows air when you squeeze it. This tool is vital at getting dust off the sensor. I always have the Rocket Blower in my bag and I use it constantly.

5. Leatherman/Multitool – With all the the camera gear were lugging around, tripod, filter mounts, sliders, brackets, etc. There is always something coming loose, or getting stuck. Having a small multitool is essential to fix these things on the go.

6. Remote Shutter Release – I always have a remote shutter release with me. whether I am shooting a timelapse, macro photos, long exposure photography, or just want to sit down and not have to have my hand on the camera, I will use my remote shutter. Not touching the camera eliminates camera shake so I get a sharper shot, especially at slower shutter speeds.

7. LED Flashlight – As a photographer, I am often out taking pictures before sunrise, and after dark. The locations I am at can have some tricky terrain and you have to watch where you are going. Having an LED Flashlight and Headlamp is absolutely necessary. I keep one in my camera bag always. If you get a headlamp, i suggest one that has a “RED” light setting in addition to the standard blue/white light. A red light allows you to preserve your night vision so can still see in the dark and you are not lost in the darkness after you switch your flashlight off.

8. Filters – Filters are a great way to modify the light before it enters the camera. A polarizing filter will remove the glare from the surface of water, as well as from leaves. With the glare removed from leaves, the colors are more saturated and seem to “Pop.”

9. Rain Cover – I live in the pacific northwest of the United States and we get a LOT of precipitation around here. When I am out on a shoot in the rain, I will be wearing a rain jacket, my camera bag will have a rain cover, and I will have a rain cover on my camera.

10. Business Cards – If I am shooting an event or just out taking pictures around town, people often come up to me and start up a conversation. I always make sure I have some of my business cards with me so I can hand them out to these people. You never know who you are talking to and they may need to hire a photographer for all sorts of reason in the future. I never let a potential customer walk away without at least giving them my card.

Save Money Buying Used Camera Gear Without Getting Ripped Off

Written by Luke Robinson in Featured,Learn,Tips,Tutorial

Photography is one expensive hobby to venture into. You can get started with photography without spending too much money for a decent camera with a kit lens. But when you start buying some of the faster lenses, and high quality gear, the price quickly shoots up into the thousands of dollars and more.
But next time when you are thinking about buying a new lens or that next photography gadget, consider buying a used copy first. Buying used camera gear can save you a lot of money and help finance your next photography purchase.

There are some things you should watch out for when buying used photography gear. This guide will help you find the best deals on great new gear without getting scammed.

Broken DSLR camera lens
Broken DSLR camera lens

 Where to Shop

You can either shop for used camera gear using local resources like Craigslist, a local Facebook group, or at a local camera store if you are fortunate to have one near you. When buying in person, you get to speak to the seller face to face, inspect the gear, and you get the gear now.

Or if you prefer to shop online, places like Adorama, B&H Photo, Keh, eBay, Photography forums, etc offer great prices and you can have it delivered right to your door. But you do not have opportunity to inspect the gear before buying, it can be damaged or stolen in transit, and you must wait for delivery.

Local Camera Stores

  • You will likely pay the most for used gear here. But you can try haggling a bit for a lower price or something else thrown in.
  • You get to check the gear out before buying.
  • You are also supporting your local camera store.

Craigslist

You can find some really great things for cheap on Craigslist. It is better to not have any one specific thing in mind, and just see what there is for sale. You need to check Craigslist often because any good deals get snatched up quickly by somebody else.

  • Check the gear in person.
  • Its hit or miss if you will find what you are looking for.
  • Meet someplace safe! Fast food restaurants, coffee shops, even police station lobbies.
  • You may have a large sum of money when meeting a stranger.

Keh Camera

  • Largest selection
  • Prices are often cheaper than eBay
  • Fantastic customer service
  • Lots of accessories
  • Fast shipping

Adorama

  • Decent used gear selection
  • Lots of accessories
  • Great customer service

B&H Photo

  • Fair to high prices
  • Great customer service
  • Large Selection
  • FREE Shipping

eBay

I usually avoid eBay unless it is something I can only find there. Make sure you look at the sellers feedback for any Negative and Neutral ratings. Make sure there is nothing sketchy going on there.

  • Sketchy sellers
  • Vague or misleading item descriptions
  • You take the sellers word about the item description
  • Lots of scams
  • Its possible to get a good deal
  • Prices can be easily get overbid
  • No Customer protection against scams

Amazon

You may not think of Amazon as a place to buy used camera gear, but nearly every product on Amazon has an option to buy a used copy instead of a new version saving you money.

  • HUGE selection
  • Great customer service

 

Stay Safe

When you are meeting a complete stranger and you have a large wad of cash in your pocket, you need to be extra cautions. Chances are everything will go smoothly, but the possibility remains where the person might want your money more than you do, and they might try to take it from you.
Meet the person someplace with lots of other people around. A coffee shop, a restaurant, or even at your local police station. Police stations around the country are starting to encourage people to use their lobbies to safely buy and sell things off of Craigslist.

 

 Inspect the Gear for Damage

If you are meeting a person face to face, make sure to check the following things before you hand over the money. People tend to think their gear is in better condition than it really is.

  • How does it look? Is it dirty? Does anything about the lens look wrong?
  • Check for any dings or dents.
  • Look for wear and tear on the edges, corners, the hot shoe.
  • Check for scratches. The paint on a lens or camera body is usually pretty tough. It probably took a hard impact to cause big scratches.
  • Inspect the glass on each end of any lenses for scratches or blemishes in the coating. Look for dust inside the lens.
  • Look for any damage to the threads on the front of the lens.
  • Look through the lens while pointing it into the sky. Look for anything inside like mold or fungus growing.
  • Check the lens mount for any corrosion or damage. Check the electrical contacts for any damage.
  • Put the lens on your camera and take some test shots. Check the focus and Aperture ring for smoothness. You don’t want to hear any grinding sounds when zooming the lens.
  • Test the lens at all of the different aperture sizes, and at all focal lengths. It would be a bummer to find out later that the camera freaks out when you shooting at f11 and 24mm.
  • Make sure to give the gear a sniff test. I wouldn’t want to have a funky smelling lens or camera up by my face all the time.
  • Research the Ad. Does the description sound like it was written by a photographer? Have a conversation with the seller, do they know what they are talking about? If not, then it could be a scam.
  • Do the images of the product look large and detailed, or are they tiny little thumbnails?
  • How does the price compare to similar items for sale?
  • Does it come with everything originally included? The box, lens hood, lens caps, body caps, instruction manuals, bags, straps, warranty card

Things to Ask

How many pictures has the camera taken?

Learn how to check your cameras shutter Actuation count

This is measured by reading a cameras Actuation Count. When you take a picture with a DSLR, the mirror inside the camera has to move up out of the way of the sensor to make an exposure. That moving mirror slaps out of the way and it is only guaranteed to last for so long. It can last 100,000 shots… 200,000… 300,000, or even longer. Older cameras have a better chance of the mirror breaking off inside the camera. When you buy a used camera, you want to be sure the camera actuation’s has not surpassed the guaranteed number of shots. The mirror may just break off the very first day you shoot with your new camera, and you will be out all that money you just spent.

Ask for sample photos shot with the Camera or Lens.

Any legitimate seller will gladly send you sample photos taken with the camera or lens you are thinking of buying so you can inspect the image quality. If they refuse, move on.

Read the EXIF data from the image to verify that it was shot with the correct camera or lens as stated.

Buy Refurbished

Another great option is to buy Refurbished camera gear. Refurbished is gear that has been returned or demo units. The manufacture takes that gear and refurbishes it into like NEW condition. Often times refurbished gear is in better condition than brand New gear. This is because every single refurbished unit is painstakingly taken apart, cleaned, and has parts replaced to “like new” condition. Brand new units are often only sample inspected, only a few units in the batch are inspected. Its possible a defect can make it into a final product, where a refurbished unit is fully inspected for any defects before shipping.

Refurbished gear is also significantly less expensive than new gear. Canon often has sales on their refurbished gear but the popular lenses sell out quickly.

Conclusion

Buying used or refurbished camera gear are great ways to save money on otherwise expensive gear. As long as you do your diligence and get as much information about the item as possible, you can get a great deal on a well used loved lens or camera. If you are meeting face to face with a seller, remember to inspect the gear thoroughly and to meet someplace safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Photograph A Lunar Eclipse And Capture The Blood Moon

Written by Luke Robinson in Featured,Learn,Tutorial

LunarEclipse-LukeRobinson-6709

About 2-4 times a year, the Sun, Earth, and Moon all align causing the moon to be plunged into temporary darkness. This is called a Lunar Eclipse.

Most of the time, the moon only passes through the Penumbra.  This is called a Penumbra Lunar Eclipse.
The moon will still have some sunlight shining on it, so a Penumbra Lunar Eclipse can be difficult to see.

Lunar Eclipse

When the Moon partially enters the Umbra, the darkest part of the Earths shadow, this is called a Partial Lunar Eclipse.

When the Moon fully enters the Earths Umbra, this is called a Total Lunar Eclipse. When this happens, the moon glows a deep red color because it is being illuminated by the refracting light passing through the Earths atmosphere. This phenomenon has been coined a “Blood Moon”  The earths atmosphere stops the blue and green light from being refracting but passes the red light through. This is the same reason sunsets are red, light refracting through the atmosphere.

If you were standing on the moon, looking back at the Earth during a Total Lunar Eclipse, you would see every sunrise, and every sunset on the planet all at once. I wish I could see that. What a sight that would be.

It might look something like this:

EVERYSUNSET2

Camera Settings:

When taking pictures of the moon, it is surprisingly bright. You can get away with using a fairly fast shutter speed, but the blood moon is much dimmer.

  • Shutter Speed: anywhere from 1/2 second to 1 second.
  • ISO 800
  • Aperture: f4, for a larger Depth of Field to make sure you get the whole moon in focus.

Other things to bring:

  • Tripod, to guarantee a sharp picture when using a slow shutter speeds.
  • Remote release, to reduce camera shake and be able to control the camera from a sitting position.
  • A fold up chair so you are not standing next to your tripod for several hours.
  • Binoculars, it is safe to look at a lunar eclipse with the naked eye.
  • A warm drink, it can get cold out on a clear night.
  • Somebody to share the view with.

Shooting with a telephoto lens:

The moon is surprising small in the sky. A zoom lens such as the 70-200 will get you closer, but it will still be small in your frame. The blood moon photo at the top of this post was shot at 400mm on a crop sensor camera, and it was still small in the frame. I had to crop in to get the moon larger in the frame.

When zoomed in on the moon, you will see the movement of it through the sky. You will need to shoot with a faster shutter speed to freeze the moon in place. Using anything faster than a 1/2 second increases your chances of blurring the moon.

Shooting with a wide angle lens.

The moon will be extremely tiny in the frame when shooting at a wider focal length. This kind of image can still be interesting. Find a cool location where the moon can be in the sky above an old building, or next to a mountain.

It is still suggested that you use a tripod when photographing the blood moon with a wide angle lens. This allows you to use a lower ISO for a better image quality, and a slower shutter speed to pick up any ambient light.

Creating a composite

It is fun to take several images of the solar eclipse take at different phases and combine them into a single image. This creates a stunning image showing all the phases of a Lunar Eclipse.

When do they happen?

Fortunately it is very easy for astronomers to calculate for when another eclipse is going to happen, the sun, stars, planets, and moons, etc are all very constantly moving. Astronomers know when all the eclipse are going to happen for hundreds of years into the future.

Resources for finding the next lunar eclipse.

Now you are ready to get some great shots of the next Blood Moon. The next Total Lunar Eclipse takes place on September 28, 2015. Make sure not to miss this one, the next one won’t be until 2018.

 

What is Back Button Focus? And Why You Should Be Using It

Written by Luke Robinson in Featured,Learn,Tutorial

When you press the shutter button, your camera does multiple things before taking the picture. The camera first tries to focus on your subject, and depending on the camera settings, it may also measure the light to properly expose the photo. After doing all of that, the camera will finally release the shutter. There can be a slight delay between you pressing the shutter button, and releasing the shutter depending on how long the camera takes to find focus.
Back Button Focus (BBF) is when you separate the camera focus from the shutter button, and assign it to a second button on the back of your camera. When the focus and shutter are separated, and you press the shutter release, the camera will immediately shoot a picture. There will not be a delay while the camera searches for focus. When the focus is linked to the shutter button, the camera will attempt to focus before firing the shutter. When every millisecond counts, you can not afford to wait for the camera to think and miss the shot.

If you photograph fast moving subjects like sports or wildlife, than using back button focus is absolutely necessary. By decoupling the focus from the shutter button, you are able to shoot a lot faster and not miss the action. It can make all the difference in catching a photo of that Red Tailed fox as it slips into the bushes, and not getting it at all.

Back Button Focus and the camera focusing modes.

When you are shooting a motionless subject, it is better to have your camera set to One Shot or AF-S (Single) focusing mode. This mode ensures a tack sharp focus on your subject and is ideal for non-moving subjects. When focus is found, the camera will beep to confirm focus lock. As long as your finger is still half pressed on the shutter button, the focus will not change. Now you can recompose to put your subject on the side or in a corner creating a more compelling photo. But every time you press the shutter button, the camera will attempt to focus.

But once your subject starts to move, you will want to be in AI Servo or AF-C (Continuous) focusing mode to continuously refocus on your subject and follow it through the frame. The camera does not beep to confirm focus when it is in continuous mode. Instead the camera just keeps searching for the subject as it moves. This mode does not lend it self well for recomposing a shot. If you did try to recompose the shot after focusing on the subject, the camera will just attempt to focus on something else.

When focusing with the half pressed shutter button, you will have to manually change the focusing mode from Single to Continuous mode on the camera when the subject starts to move. This can be slow and cumbersome potentially making you miss the shot.

When using Back Button Focus, you can keep your camera in Continuous mode all of the time no matter if your shooting a mountain, or a fast moving football player. Using Back Button Focus gives you more creative control over your photos. You are limited when using the half-pressed shutter focus. This is because you can independently control the focus separate from the shutter button. This means you can lock the focus on your subject and then recompose to make a more interesting photo. But once the subject starts to move, you press your finger back onto the BBF to track the player as he sprints towards the end zone. You don’t miss one second of the action when using Back Button Focus.

I started using Back Button Focus when i was still a new photographer and I have never looked back. It took some getting used to, there were times when I forgot to press the BBF and ended up with a bunch of out of focus shots. But by now it has become a muscle memory. Back button focus has become second nature, I almost never have to think about pressing the BBF. You just need to spend the time trying it out and getting used to it. BBF can be frustrating if it means you missed a shot. So lots of practice will be needed.

How To Use It

Every camera body, and camera manufacture has a different method to enable Back Button Focus. I shoot on the Canon system, and with Canon, I have to go into the cameras settings —> Custom Functions —> Custom Function Operation/Others option.

Photo Mar 25, 7 31 27 PM

In the Operation/Others Menu, select the Custom Controls tab.

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The Custom Controls menu allows you to change what happens when you press different buttons on the camera. Select the shutter release button.

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First you will need to separate the focusing from the shutter button. The default function is to meter the scene and to start autofocus Metering and AF Start.  Change the selection to either Metering Start or AE Lock. I have mine set to AE Lock.

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Next we need to assign the autofocus to a different button. I use the AE Lock button as my back button focus. But you can assign it to several different buttons if you so choose.

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Now that you know what Back Button Focus is, and how it can benefit your photography, Go out and give it a try. Back Button Focus will take some time to get used to, but once you have mastered it you will have precision control over your camera’s focus.

Tips

  • Practice Practice Practice! Back Button Focus needs to become second nature. Only by doing something over and over and over again can something become second nature.
  • Other people will not know how to focus your camera. You can always pop the camera into AUTO mode when letting other people use your camera and focus will be temporarily reconnected with the shutter button.

 

What is ISO?

Written by Luke Robinson in Learn,Tips,Tutorial

Back in the film days, ISO was used to measure how sensitive the film was to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light the film is. The same term is used today for digital cameras because they basically mean the same thing.

ISO is the measurement of how sensitive the camera sensor is to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive the camera is. That means with a higher ISO number, you will need less light to properly expose the image. With a high ISO, you can shoot a photo in a dark room and have a properly exposed image instead of just darkness.

The term ISO is not an acronym. many people believe ISO means “International Standards Organization.” This is not true. ISO means ISO. But there is an organization called the “International Standards Organization” that sets the standards that ISO is measured. Good thing this is not confusing at all :)

“The International Organization for Standardization is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations.” – Wikipedia

The lowest ISO setting on many digital cameras is usually around ISO 100. as you increase the ISO, it will change to 200, then 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, and it keeps going up and up doubling every time. Every time the ISO doubles, you are reducing the light your photo requires by half.

For example, if you are taking a picture at f8, ISO 100, 50th of a second, and if you increased the ISO to 200, than your settings would be f8, ISO 200, 100th of a second. Just bumping the ISO up one step, made all the difference of getting a possibly blurry shot to a sharp image. The faster shutter speed reduces the odds of getting a blurry image.

FleetWeek2014-0733-2
The coast guard during Fleet Week in Portland, Oregon. 1/160 sec at f11, ISO 100

 

ISO has come a long way in the last few years. Many digital cameras had a maximum of 800, 1600, and maybe 3200. But today, many some cameras are capable of increasing their ISO to incredible levels and can nearly see in the dark. The noise reduction technology has also come a long way in the last few years. I can only imagine how powerful they will become in just a few years.

Every digital camera has a “Native ISO.” The native ISO is where no amplification is added to the light because none is needed. As you increase the ISO, you are artificially boosting the light in camera to make everything brighter. There is not more light entering the camera, just the signal is being boosted in the camera. Shooting with the Native ISO will produce the best image quality because light is not being amplified in the camera. When the light is artificially amplified, the internal electronics of the camera can cause noise in the circuitry, and you will start to get noise in the photo. The higher the ISO goes, the more electrical interference you get, and the more noise your photo will have.

BendYurtTrip-2375-2
30 sec at f 3.5, ISO 3200

How to use a high ISO

When you are in a low light situation like a wedding, concert, a dark pub with friends, you will want to increase the ISO so you can capture those moments. The human eye can see in these dim situations no problem, but your camera does not see as well in the dark.

In order to get sharp photos in low light, you can either decrease the shutter speed, open up the aperture, or increase the ISO. All three options will enable you to get a properly exposed image, but they all will give you different results. Lowering the aperture will let more light in but you will be decreasing the depth of field. slowing the shutter speed will let in more light, but your image can quickly be come blurred or your subject will move causing a blur. Increasing the ISO will make your camera sensor more sensitive to light and you will have brighter photo. A higher ISO means you will have more noise in the final image, but sometimes its worth having a noisy picture if it means capturing the moment.

SP700ChristmasTrain-8897-3
I used a high ISO to capture the Holiday Express as it was motionless for just a moment. 10 sec at f10, ISO 1000

How high should I set my ISO.

Digital camera technology has come a long way in just the last few years. Modern digital cameras can have their ISO’s set incredibly and still deliver a sharp clean image. With every new generation of camera, the ISO capabilities get more advance. An ISO setting of 1600 or 3200 would have been unthinkable a couple years ago, but now you can set your ISO that high and not even think twice about it. Digital cameras have a maximum ISO that they can be set at, but some cameras also include an extended ISO range, This setting is sometimes indicated with the letter “H” for High. This pushes the ISO past the limits of an acceptable noise level. The image quality quickly deteriorates when you are in the Extended ISO range. You will have to enable the Extended ISO mode in your settings, it is not enabled by default.

How to use a low ISO

The ideal ISO you should set your camera to is the lowest possible ISO. On most cameras this is usually ISO 100. On other cameras this may be ISO 50. When you use a low ISO, you are going to get the best image quality because when you increase your ISO, you are amplifying the signal to get more light out of the scene. This causes noise in your final image. When you use the lowest ISO, you are allowing the camera to capture the highest quality image with the lowest amount of added noise. Some cameras have the ability to set their ISO even lower. This mode is sometimes indicated with the letter “L” for Low. The reason for this is so you can decrease the sensitivity of the sensor and capture less light in order to create a longer exposure in bright conditions. This is an alternative to using a neutral density filter to achieve long exposures during the day.

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1/80 sec at f3.2, ISO 1000

When To Use A Low ISO, and When To Use A High ISO

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How to use ISO

To adjust your ISO, you first need to find the ISO button on your camera or in the settings. For most DSLR’s, there is a dedicated button on the on the camera that says ISO. Press that button and either turn the wheel on the back of my camera or press right to either increase or decrease the ISO.

Auto ISO

You may also be able to select Auto ISO and have your camera select the proper ISO to correctly expose the image. Using auto ISO is a good way to learn how to use the ISO.  Auto ISO can be very helpful if you are walking around someplace moving in and out of the shadows and you don’t want to have to constantly adjust your settings. Auto ISO will raise and lower the ISO depending on if you are shooting in a dim area, or in direct sunlight. Because noise is an issue at higher ISO, your camera might support a maximum auto ISO. You set the highest level you want your auto ISO to go to, and it will not go beyond that point.

You can also enable a minimum shutter speed so you don’t end up with blurry photos when the auto ISO selected an ISO of 100 while in a dark room and decides to use a shutter speed of 1/2 second. With the minimum shutter speed, you can make sure the shutter speed wont drop below your desired speed when using auto ISO.
Auto ISO is not perfect, but it can come in handy when you are on the move or in a rush. It might choose the wrong ISO sometimes, but for the most part it gets it close.

Try it out

To better understand ISO and what your cameras maximum ISO is, go into a dark room and set your camera to ISO 100. Next put your camera into “P,” or Program Mode. Photograph the same subject while increasing the ISO every shot. Start at ISO 100, shoot, ISO 200, shoot. Keep going until you can not raise your ISO any more. Now is a good time to test out the Extended Range ISO to see how it looks. You may need to enable it in your camera settings. Next, open these photos on your computer, and zoom into it 100%. Look at how noisy the image quality gets before it becomes unacceptable. Remember this ISO, and know that this is the maximum ISO you can set your camera to and still get acceptable image quality.

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