What is ISO?

The ISO in your camera determines the camera's sensors sensitivity to light.  This means that you will determine how much light you have to work with in a situation and adjust your camera's ISO to work in that scenario.  The best way to remember how to choose your ISO is "The brighter the light, the smaller the number."  Or, more simply "Brighter equals smaller."  So, if you're outside on a bright sunny day, you might choose ISO 100.  But, if you're in a shady area under trees or if it's starting to get dark, you might choose ISO 400 or even higher to compensate. Here are a few examples:

 In this example, we were in the middle of a large open area with sun almost directly overhead.  ISO 100 is a good choice in this situation.

In this example, we were under some large dense trees.  ISO 400 is a good choice in this situation.  I also like to use a large reflector to add some natural light to fill the shadows on their faces.

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