Don't be afraid of high ISOS

In his latest column for AP, nature photographer Marsel van Oosten urges you to not be frightened of shooting at high ISOs

- Marsel van Oosten

Early 2000 BD (Before Digital), noise was the number one enemy of any photographer. Fuji Velvia was amongst the most popular slide films for landscape photographers because it had the least amount of noise (at ISO 50). Night photography was virtually impossible, because you’d create entire galaxies of noise. Wildlife photographers would often stop at ISO 800, which explains why pan blurs were a popular technique when light levels were low and why so many action shots suffered from motion blur.

Now, nearly two decades on, most nature photographers are still terrified of using high ISOs because of potential noise. On our photo safaris I often see guests shooting at very low shutter speeds because they want to keep their ISO down. This means they risk motion blur or sacrifice depth of field in fear of noise. This fear is totally unnecessary.