Want better looking High ISO files?
… me too.
This may seem counter-intuitive but the way to get the most out of your files is to over expose them some. I am not saying to completely blow everything out… All you need is a half to full stop over exposure to do the trick. Some may argue that this is counter intuitive since you probably upped the ISO so you can obtain a faster shutter speed but every case is different.
These sample images of my son Cameron were shot in my home under incandescent light. These images were all shot in RAW and have been directly exported from Lightroom without any modifications. I then took the exported file and re-sized them for the web.
All images were shot with my Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The aperture remained at a constant f/2.8 while the shutter speed was set accordingly and ranged from 1/50″ to 1/500″
Image 1:
ISO 12,800 under exposed:
Image 2:
ISO 12,800 well exposed:
Image 3:
ISO 12,800 over exposed:
Now let’s take a look at how the under exposed image looks when bumping up the exposure in Lightroom approximately +.75 stops. Not too good looking huh?
Image 4:
ISO 12,800 under exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of +.75:
Here is the over exposed image dialed down -.75 stops in Lightroom. This produces a much cleaner file. The grain is there no doubt but this is at ISO 12,800 people!
Image 5:
ISO 12,800 over exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of -.75:
————-
What do you think about this file?
Image 6:
Would you believe me if I told you this was taken with an ISO 25,600? Well it was… Not too shabby huh? I would consider that to be completely usable with a little more finesse in post.
Here is the other end of the spectrum:
Image 7:
Can you say yuck?
As I mentioned before, these files are un-altered except for exposure compensation where noted and a web re-size. I will try to get the full rez images up soon for viewing if you want to pixel peep the shots. Just imagine what a little noise reduction software can do along with this technique?
I would love to hear what you think so comment away!
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2 Responses to “Want better looking High ISO files?”
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Thanks for the feedback Scott…
BTW, the exposure technique is also knows as exposing to the right… That just means you are making the highlights the priority in the image and are exposing for those. Back in the film days, we used to expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights. What that means is that we just wanted to ensure that our highlights are preserved and don’t appear as “paper white” when developing. Now with digital, we can expose to the left or right since the digital image is technically both our film AND development. I prefer to expose to the right because of what Scott mentioned in his post above but also because I find that I can get a little more contrast out of my images when bringing back some of the exposure… Kind of like when we used to do with PULL PROCESSING (over exposing the negative by a stop or two and then bringing it back in the darkroom to add contrast). Personal preference…
*ding ding ding* this is one of the major reasons to shoot raw. Half of the possible information in a raw capture is in that brightest stop. By exposing with the intent of putting more information in the highlights (without blowing important detail out to white) you’re taking advantage of more levels, which can lead to a less noisy image.
Check out this book if you’re interested in reading more about it. Much more detail.