OK, this title is meant to be clickbait. However, many nature photographers working in temperate zones consider ISO 800 to be a “high ISO.” That used to be the case, but it’s not anymore; ISO 800 images are super clean. You should feel confident using higher ISO values than you ever imagined to nail that awesome bird or wildlife photo!

First off, let’s define the term. ISO measures how sensitive your camera’s digital sensor or film is to light. With film, the ISO was the same for an entire roll, but with digital photography, you can change it from shot to shot. The acronym “ISO” stands for the “International Organization for Standardization,” which combined two previous film standards into the measure we use today.

As a rainforest photographer, I’ve had a lot of experience with low light and high ISO values. Photos of animals in the dim light of the tropical forest are my bread and butter, and getting them to appear how I want them to can be a challenge. Many of my workshop clients on my Latin America photo tours are hesitant to crank up the ISO. Why? Higher ISOs generally result in a noisier, less detailed image.

While I would love to always work at ISO 100, it’s simply not possible because it would yield slow shutter speeds for wildlife subjects. Shooting at a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second at ISO 100 will give you a noise-free but very blurry image of a monkey moving through the trees or a hummingbird pollinating a flower! 

If you work in low light like I do, you learn quickly that you can use high ISOs and still get great images. Indeed, you can now use previously unthinkable ISO values to capture awesome action. Just check out the photo of the keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) in the rain above. I used ISO 10,000 in order to have a fast shutter speed. There is absolutely no way I could have pulled this photo off if I were worried about the pixel peepers spotting noise in my photo. I’m willing to wager a fair sum that you wouldn’t even think about what ISO I used if you saw this shot on Instagram or my website, or in a magazine or even a large print in a gallery exhibition.

We are now able to use these crazy-high ISO values thanks to technological advances on two fronts. Camera sensors continue to improve, mitigating noise at the moment we take our photos. And the latest software allows us to reduce noise in the computer while retaining details in the feathers, fur, or scales of our wildlife photography subjects.

GETTING THE BEST IMAGE IN CAMERA

Modern camera sensors are better than ever at recording high-ISO images. You can help the process by trying to capture the best image possible in the field. A key to success in this regard is to take advantage of the information that your sensor can record. That means shooting as bright as possible because most of the tonal information in an image file is contained in the brighter tones. If you underexpose a high-ISO image, the final photo will suffer if you have to do a lot of brightening in the computer.

I took the below photo of the famed Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) in the very early morning in a forest in the highlands of Colombia. It was dark and, even at ISO 6400, my shutter speed was a paltry 1/60th of a second. I could have underexposed my image by setting a faster shutter speed, but that would have introduced even more noise when I raised the exposure in the computer. I processed this photo using DxO PureRAW, and the result looks great!

PROCESSING YOUR IMAGE

My two favorite programs for working on high-ISO images are DxO PureRAW and Topaz DeNoise AI. Both programs do a fantastic job of reducing noise in the background. The real revolution is how these programs also reduce noise on the subject (say feathers or fur) without smoothing out texture and detail. 

At the very end of a dim rainforest day in Costa Rica, I took this tight portrait (below) of a female great curassow (Crax rubra). Because of the conditions, I shot at ISO 25,600!

Check out the unprocessed version of this photo (above). It’s very noisy but actually not terrible for such an incredibly high ISO value. I normally would not shoot at ISO 25,600 for nature photography, but, after processing with Topaz DeNoise AI (below), things are looking better. I think you’ll agree that this is a pretty great result.

Learning to embrace higher ISOs will help you to take great photos in the low light of the rainforest for sure. But even in temperate areas, some of the most beautiful light and most interesting animal behavior occurs at the very beginning and end of the day. Those high ISO values can help you to extend your shooting time, whatever and wherever you photograph. And if you need more shutter speed even in great light, higher ISO values can help you capture tack-sharp action.