ISO adjusts the brightness of your photo.
Define ISO:
ISO adjusts the brightness of your photo. It increases the sensitivity of your sensor. In a non-geek talk, this means that as you raise the ISO, you increase how sensitive the sensor is to light. This can brighten your image by raising the ISO and darken it by lowering the ISO if all other settings are the same.
Raising the ISO has consequences, though. When you increase the ISO, you add grain/noise to your images. The photos produced at higher ISO’s are less sharp and less detailed. Generally, we want to use the lowest ISO we can.
I typically adjust my ISO after setting the aperture and shutter speed because I use it to get the exposure right. If the ISO is too high, then I’ll see what I can do about adjusting the other settings (aperture and shutter speed). Later we will talk about adding light, but for now, let’s assume we can’t do that. If you can’t open the aperture more and if you need a fast shutter speed, then you’ll have to deal with having grainy/noisy pictures.
There are, of course, options for using a lower ISO with less noise while keeping the brightness (exposure) of your photo where you want it. For one, you can upgrade to a better camera with cleaner high ISO photos. You can find better light or shoot from an angle that sheds more light on your subject. You can add light via strobe or constant light source.
Let’s try it at home!
Set your camera to manual mode, and grab your owner’s manual.
Start on ISO 100 (or 200 for some cameras). If you’re inside, then try 1/500th of a second shutter speed and f/4 for your aperture. That should make for a pretty dark picture. Later, try increasing your ISO and taking more photos. Raise it until your image is bright enough. Then, raise it until it is too bright.
Try other settings too! Take your camera outside. Pick out some random settings and then adjust your ISO, so your images are too dark, too bright, and just right. ISO adjusts the brightness of your photo.
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