BLOGS

It gets dark early this time of year so I thought I would attempt some night photos. This was taken from the Snow Lakes parking lot. I recently read an article on night photography using a high ISO setting on the camera.

In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots.

With increasingly sophisticated noise reduction methods available to photographers it's easier than ever to get rid of the grainy, splotchy pictures. I used an ISO setting of 2000 and exposed the sensor for 30 seconds. I mostly avoided star trails and got a good balance of light between the sky and the snow covered mountains.

While I was trying out the new technique I occasionally glimpsed a flash of light from the mountain side, which I immediately chalked up to one more thing to add to the "what happens when you get older" list: Unusual flashes of light for no apparent reason.

But as I continued to look at the hillside it became apparent, there were two people hiking down the trail at night. I lowered the ISO 100 and lengthened the exposure to about 2 minutes, capturing the short light trail down the mountain from the flashlights.

On the way back to Wenatchee the lights in Leavenworth were glowing and I stopped to take a few shots.

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