If you are interested in photography at all, exposure is a big topic. I have read in many blogs, tutorials, and books that camera noise is less of an issue if you nail the exposure. I am now a true believer. I took some pictures today of my little one and had my ISO set at 1000, which is pretty high for my Nikon D90. I was snapping away, because he’s a quick mover, and only looked at my in-camera meter halfway through my shoot. Yikes, I could see I was underexposing a smidge. I opened up my aperture from 2.5 to 2.0 and, WOW, what a difference. Take a look at these two pictures. Taken just minutes if not seconds apart.

The correct exposure is on the left. The underexposed picture is on the right.  Can you see all of the noise in the shadows of the underexposed picture?

Here is a 100% crop of both pictures so you can compare.

In conclusion, Don’t be afraid to raise your ISO. A correctly exposed photograph with a high ISO will always look better than an underexposed photograph with a lower ISO.

Embrace your ISO, I have