The Nervous Nature Photographer's Guide to Shooting at HIGH ISO

[@joshuagutierrez8407]

What a great video! Why this isn’t going viral or more prominent in the photography community is beyond me. I shoot professionally and have done so for 16 years and I even learned something. Anyways, love the video and am excited to learn more about him.

[@leehoyphotography]

Joshua, thank you for those words! I appreciate it very much! I think is is pretty good myself!! ;)

[@ivan7453]

Hey Lee, great video. Oly 40-150mm with or without the doubler is razor sharp. It so versitile. I will never part with it.

[@leehoyphotography]

Absolutely, I love hearing this because so many FB warriors argue the opposite and I look at their shots and I know exactly why they have no luck! ;)

[@ivan7453]

@leehoyphotography Evidently these people don't own one of the best lenses ever made.

[@isearles]

This was super helpful. Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge.

[@leehoyphotography]

You bet! I love hearing about how my knowledge helps someone else have a better photographic experience! Thanks for watching!

[@darinland1595]

Good video, an abundance of valuable information.

[@leehoyphotography]

I love hearing those kind of comments!

[@JonathanPinnock-mn3bm]

Thanks very much Lee. I learned a lot from your presentation. One question though........did I mishear that the in-camera histogram on the OM-1 represents the jpeg image as displayed on the screen or EVF, rather than the RAW file? (Like you, I only shoot in RAW). If so, how would I know what the RAW file histogram looks like until I load the RAW file into Lightroom Classic?

[@leehoyphotography]

Yes, that is correct! You won't know until you view the RAW file in software like LR! The histogram will be close to the RAW file, but not exact! Shooting in Camera Muted will give you the closest result!

[@JonathanPinnock-mn3bm]

@@leehoyphotography thanks

[@jonathanashton4758]

Lee I enjoyed the video, I am always looking for ways to improve and I will take on board a couple of pointers. Now one thing is bugging me - you hate auto ISO!! Well I love it and I cannot understand why you have such disdain for it. Before you go for a rant .... this is what I do... I adopt the maxim that when photographic nature I want a sharp subject. So Shutter speed is important, no I would say paramount, aperture is important but that is simple to set, the important thing is the shutter speed. No it ain't I hear you say!! What about exposure, well I turn the +/- exposure to ensure that I ETTR, my Shadows/Highlights show in screen. So what was the ISO I used - hey I probably didn't notice but the image was correctly exposed. So using your method starting say ISO 1600 if the SS wasn't fast enough you have to change ISO, to ensure you achieved the desired SS. I cannot see this being quicker or better than EV - surely we would both end up with the same exposure. I look forward to your response and thanks again for an informative video.

[@leehoyphotography]

Well, I have done several tests with Auto ISO and it performs around 5 to 10% for ETTR which it totally unacceptable in my books. Now, that is not using EV but just allowing the camera to select the ISO. Also, for bird in flight photography, your method will really kill you as the camera is going to constantly be changing ISO and you would have to stay on top of EV. For bird in flight photography, if the light on the bird remains constant, the exposure is the same. But even using EV with Auto ISO, this is NOT going to work! Because as the background changes, the camera will constantly be selecting a different ISO. I will do some tests on this to show the results! I guarantee it won't be good. Now, in this situation I am not needing to change ISO at all, but the camera will. Would NEVER use this for that reason alone. Using full manual, I would say my hit rate for ETTR is around 95 to 98% ETTR. Now, I am not sure what you call "correctly exposed" so not sure if you are measuring by ETTR or just what "looks right" but I find that the majority of my clients (and by majority I mean well over 90% are not good at evaluating exposure until I teach them how to evaluate an image with the histogram or highlight alerts). Not to assuage you in any way, but I highly doubt Auto ISO is "nailing" the exposure for you but you are using EV to force it at times. I have tested Auto ISO in many settings and it performs just as poorly every time. Now, I have a pro friend who uses BUT she is using the exposure compensation button to control ISO so basically it is manual ISO but on her camera (Sony) it makes it easier to adjust ISO quickly. I bet I am quicker on changing ISO than anyone you would shoot with. I see this time and time again in the field regardless of camera brand. Now, here is the irony to me. You are having to track shutter speed, aperture, ISO and EV. I only have to keep track of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. My math isn't the most advanced, but keeping track of 3 items is easier than four. Plus, the reality is that I can read my necessary ISO quiet quickly based on available light. Now, if using all of that works great for you and you are truly hitting ETTR, rock on. I despise everything EV stands for and hate having to keep track of where I last had it. With live highlight alerts, I don't need EV or a camera meter. I will be doing videos on how to quickly nail your expose in various genres of nature photography with OM system cameras! Thanks for watching and commenting! But, I highly doubt you can truly nail ETTR with birds in flight using your technique in situations where the background is changing (which unless you are shooting at a beach and the background stays constant). Does that make sense? I will do videos on this as I have time to do them!

[@jonathanashton4758]

Thanks very much for replying, I appreciate it. You have made me reflect when I first started with digital photography I use to use manual, pointing at some thing neutral and adjusting to get the histogram far right. This was especially for Red kites, it worked as you indicated. You have made me reconsider my practice. My understanding of correct exposure concurs with yours.....I will have to change! @@leehoyphotography

[@leehoyphotography]

Jonathan, before you change, try using Auto ISO with birds in flight on a changing background and using your EV approach. I would love to hear back what your personal experience was using that. I am still going to do, but I love hearing from others about approaches that are different than mine. I still believe the results would end up as I suggest, but the beauty of digital is doing these types of tests is so easy!

[@jonathanashton4758]

Lee, this is what I have done for the last several years, I adjust EV on the fly as it were keeping an eye on the highlights on the subject. To be honest I don't appreciate any difference between shifting EV and shifting ISO.

[@jonathanashton4758]

Lee that is what I have been doing for the last several years, as the light alters I adjust the EV, I don't really see the difference between doing that and setting manual ISO and altering the ISO as required. I suppose with manual ISO you can get off to a head start by getting an initial reading off a neutral subject, but that's about it I feel.@@leehoyphotography