ISO Killed the Professional Photographer

admin | Feb 24, 2009 | Comments View Comments

Perhaps the title is a bit much, or is it?

Emily 054

Consider that the some of the first barriers to becoming a professional photographer were prices in camera bodies, lenses, and lighting equipment. Nowadays the entry level “Pro-sumer” DSLRs allow many people without a professional photographer’s budget to break into the field of professional photography. Lenses are still expensive, but the overall quality of even the lower level lenses allow for many “weekend warriors” to produce images that are crisp enough to the untrained eye.

The last barrier was in lighting equipment. Sure, you can still easily break the bank with a great setup but there are some really fantastic lighting kits to be had at nominal pricing.

Then along comes these really fantastic DSLRs of late. The Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Nikon D700 both of which boast an ISO setting of up to 25,600! Many cameras in our near future will follow suit from these camera manufacturers as well as their respective competitors.

Mobola 087

It is a wonderful time to be a photographer indeed.

The real implication of these super fast and seemingly ground breaking cameras is that those ISOs allow for great images in low light situations. This is where professional photographers the world over will have to step up their game. One of the most widely ignored true techniques in a pro photographer’s repertoire was the ability to capture great images while manipulating or controlling the way a camera captures light. This is true whether that pro used expensive light kits or not.

Powerful light kits were required because the ISOs of film needed so much more light than is required now. Only a fraction of light is needed at an ISO of 1600 than what was needed at 100! Now we can use variable powered off camera or camera mounted strobes to project enough light to rival the work done by yesteryear’s professional photographers.

Now before you start sending all of your emails I do want to add that the learning curve of creating captivating and moving photographs is still there. Yes, you do still need to know about composition, style, color, etc.

But isn’t it interesting that the Strobist group on Flickr (or our Flickr group as well) has images posted daily that are far better than some of the “pro photographers” in my area? Have you looked at some of the websites of some of the pros in your area? What do you think?

Photographs Emily 054 and Mobola 087 both by RKD Photography which were done with SB 800s. You can learn more about RKD and his photographic process at his blog A Photographer’s Journey.

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