For those less interested in the ins and outs of ISO (believe me, I get it), scroll down to find a gallery of pics to click on One of the benefits of this really quite odd job is that your name starts to crop up on the lists people use when they’re inviting journos and photographers to launches and such. And while ZSL’s announcement of a new tiger enclosure didn’t sound like a visually stunning event (it was a press conference, there was coffee), the offer of a behind the scenes look at the existing tiger enclosure sounded too good to be true.
It nearly was, with the PR telling me and the other photographer (from the Ham & High if I recall) we wouldn’t be able to photograph in the tiger enclosure. A few well placed pouts and the restriction was lifted.
The behind the scenes enclosure smells a bit like a barn, which makes sense given the amount of straw. The difference is that the most dangerous thing you’re likely to find in a barn is an annoyed horse. Here the most dangerous thing would take your arm off if given the chance. The enclosure was crowded; full of journalists, two photographers, a keeper, zoo staff and an ITN film crew.
And it was dark. Very dark. I had an f/2.8 lens and yet all of the internal pics you can see here were shot at ISO 6400. The light was also a sort of weird dark orange, which was fun and games during processing. Lightroom lets you change white balance settings across multiple images at once; it earned its money here.
I use these pictures now when people ask me about ISO. Yes, there’s some grain in there, but they’re sharp and focussed, two things you wouldn’t be able to say if I’d used a lower ISO. And, despite the grain, these ran in the next day’s Telegraph, which suggests sharpness and newsworthiness are more important. The moral of the story: if it’s dark, raise the ISO until it hits the roof. Don’t use a lower ISO and assume you’re an uncommonly stable person. I’ll admit to giving myself some headroom – pics that look sharp on the back of the camera can throw up nasty surprises in processing, so it’s best to nudge the shutter speed up beyond what you think you need in the name of really freezing stuff.
Shooting tigers (or: why I don’t think about ISO any more)
For those less interested in the ins and outs of ISO (believe me, I get it), scroll down to find a gallery of pics to click on
One of the benefits of this really quite odd job is that your name starts to crop up on the lists people use when they’re inviting journos and photographers to launches and such. And while ZSL’s announcement of a new tiger enclosure didn’t sound like a visually stunning event (it was a press conference, there was coffee), the offer of a behind the scenes look at the existing tiger enclosure sounded too good to be true.
It nearly was, with the PR telling me and the other photographer (from the Ham & High if I recall) we wouldn’t be able to photograph in the tiger enclosure. A few well placed pouts and the restriction was lifted.
The behind the scenes enclosure smells a bit like a barn, which makes sense given the amount of straw. The difference is that the most dangerous thing you’re likely to find in a barn is an annoyed horse. Here the most dangerous thing would take your arm off if given the chance. The enclosure was crowded; full of journalists, two photographers, a keeper, zoo staff and an ITN film crew.
And it was dark. Very dark. I had an f/2.8 lens and yet all of the internal pics you can see here were shot at ISO 6400. The light was also a sort of weird dark orange, which was fun and games during processing. Lightroom lets you change white balance settings across multiple images at once; it earned its money here.
I use these pictures now when people ask me about ISO. Yes, there’s some grain in there, but they’re sharp and focussed, two things you wouldn’t be able to say if I’d used a lower ISO. And, despite the grain, these ran in the next day’s Telegraph, which suggests sharpness and newsworthiness are more important. The moral of the story: if it’s dark, raise the ISO until it hits the roof. Don’t use a lower ISO and assume you’re an uncommonly stable person. I’ll admit to giving myself some headroom – pics that look sharp on the back of the camera can throw up nasty surprises in processing, so it’s best to nudge the shutter speed up beyond what you think you need in the name of really freezing stuff.
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