What is ISO? What role does it play in digital photography?

ISO stands for International Standards Organization. Basically, it refers to the sensitivity of your camera’s image sensor to light.

ISO is measured in numbers, with the low numbers being the least sensitive (ISO 100), and the higher numbers being the most sensitive to light (ISO 1600 +). What that means for you is the higher you go in ISO, the better your chances of shooting in low light situations. The drawback is that it creates grain or noise in your photo, which is sometimes considered to be poor quality. But I wouldn’t rule it out completely. It’s more important to capture the moment than to worry if your photo is good enough.

Try using the grain created by higher ISOs in an intentional way. For instance, this photo Michelle captured of her two little girls reading a bedtime story was shot with a fairly high ISO of 1600. But rather than letting this precious moment slip by because of the possibility of noise, she decided to convert it to black and white in order to minimize the appearance of grain, which in turn, added a nice dramatic affect to the photo.

Photo Specs: Canon Rebel XSi | 50mm lens | f 1.4 | 1/50 sec | ISO 1600

So I say, next time you find yourself in a low light situation, pump up that ISO and shoot away!