As a photographer, when I’m presented with poor light, I know I’ll have to be more careful in how I use my exposure controls: ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Which ones and how depends on what I’m trying to shoot. If there’s action, I’ll open the aperture and raise the ISO to get the shutter speed I need. Or today, with the Auto ISO capabilities of many cameras, I’m more likely to use it to set a minimum shutter speed I’d like as well as a maximum ISO. If there’s no real action, I’ll then balance those three controls based first on a minimum shutter speed needed to make the pictures, and second on the depth of field required. Here are some exposure examples, in both overcast and indoor situations, demonstrating this from the month I just spent teaching photography in Antarctica.
Photographing off the stern of the ship was always a challenge because of the movement involved (birds and ship both). I took advantage of Auto ISO (the ISO Sensitivity Control setting in Nikons) to give me a very fast shutter speed to counter all that movement. I also had my lens set to “Sport” VR mode to better help me compose while shooting this pair of Black-Browed Albatrosses. Nikon D500, Aperture Priority, Sunny white balance, ISO 1600, 1/2000 at f/5.6 in matrix metering, +0.3 EV, Nikkor VR Zoom 200-500mm f/5.6 lens at 500mm.
For this scene of a pair of Elephant Seals jousting, I knew I’d need a relatively high shutter speed. I used the ISO Sensitivity Control setting to allow ISO to shift and help me maintain 1/1000 and opened my lens to maximum aperture (f/5.6) to help it do that without going to extremely high ISOs. Nikon D500, Aperture Priority, Sunny white balance, ISO 1800, 1/1000 at f/5.6 in matrix metering, 0.0 EV, Nikkor VR Zoom 200-500mm f/5.6 lens at 500mm.
For this lifeboat drill at the start of the second trip, I didn’t need a particularly high shutter speed, but did need some depth of field. In this case I set the ISO manually. Nikon Z7, Aperture Priority, Auto white balance, ISO 2000, 1/100 at f/5.6 in matrix metering, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-35mm lens at 18mm.
At sunset we spotted some Orcas, and although I had the ISO Sensitivity Control set to try to give me 1/2000 second, I also limited the ISO range to 4000. And so once the camera hit that 4000 limit, the shutter speed had to drop. Fortunately, 1/1250 was plenty to get this frame, and having my aperture wide open at f/5.6 meant I didn’t have to sacrifice even more shutter speed. Nikon D500, Aperture Priority, Sunny white balance, ISO 4000, 1/1250 at f/5.6 in matrix metering, 0.0 EV, Nikkor VR Zoom 200-500mm f/5.6 lens at 500mm.
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