Would you like to take better indoor pictures? Let’s talk about ISO and how it changes your backgrounds. Let’s look at the two pictures below. The first was taken by my Canon 60D with a 580 EXII flash. I simply set the camera on “P” for Program and the ISO at 100. Many of you right now have your ISO set at 100, or 200 and you haven’t changed it since you got the camera. But look below as to why you may wish to start changing it depending on the situation.
1/60 4.0 100 ISO
As you can see the background is dark and disappointing. After all, this isn’t the way your eyes saw the scene. Now look below when you take the same picture with the same settings except that you change the ISO to 1000.
1/60 4.0 ISO 1000
Look at the difference! Why? The higher the ISO number the more sensitive to light your camera will be. The lower the ISO number the less sensitive to light the camera will be. Both have their advantages. A low ISO number will almost always have a better photo quality, especially when blown up, than a higher ISO.
On the other hand, while a lower ISO has better quality it may not allow a shutter speed fast enough to catch moving images or even stationary images without a tripod, depending on the available light. But let’s not get too confused here. Let’s keep it simple.
For a better background on your family pictures indoors, especially during the holidays, raise your ISO. That way the picture will look more like the ways your eyes saw the image.