Don’t Fear the Noise. Part 2.

Be sure to read Part 1 first.

So why don’t photographers start all low light shoots by raising their ISO as high as possible?

It gets noisy.

Noise, or grain as some call it are all the little artifacts in a photo that make it look rougher. Look at this photo.

Model Bowie Hamilton, 2021. Sony a6400 @ ISO 2500

I went to a casual shoot at a warehouse one weekend. It was just for fun. A bunch of models and probably just as many photographers. I brought my Sony a6400 and Viltrox 85mm f/1.8. I only brought one small LED light that I only use for accent lighting.

The warehouse was not well-lit. Even shooting at my widest aperture and slowest usable shutter speed, I wasn’t going to take in enough light to shoot. So I turned up my ISO.

When you first start out in photography, you’re sort of trained to think that noise is bad and should be avoided at all costs. I’ve ruined plenty of images over the years because I refused to set my ISO at the level it needed. I was convinced that noisy photos are bad photos.

Of course that is just stupid.

Another photographer pointed out to me that some of the greatest photos ever taken are filled with noise, because they didn’t have the technology that we have now. And even now, bringing a ton of lighting equipment isn’t always an option. Especially if you’re a photo journalist or into street photography. You need to know how to use your camera.

It took a long time, but I learned. And I’m still learning. Do I wish I’d had my lighting equipment with me? Yeah. But these are great shots, with or without it.

By learning to embrace the noise, I have become a better photographer.

Model Cindy Von Ahlefeldt, 2021.