Tips For Reducing Noise In Wildlife Photography

Janine explains the FOUR main causes of noise in your wildlife images and how best to avoid getting too much noise in your photos. Noise in an image is NOT just about your ISO settings and by the end of this video, you will have the right skills to get more keepers with less noise!

To achieve this you need to understand how the dynamic range of your camera works and what its limitations are.

Timestamps:

00:00 Tips for reducing noise in wildlife photography intro
01:50 Low Light and High Contrast Images
03:30 What is dynamic range?
06:30 Mistakes to make you shoot too dark.
09:00 Create more contrast in your images
09:30 Benefits of shooting in RAW vs Jpeg
12:20 Shooting at high ISO
14:30 Does low ISO mean less noise?

We are Pangolin Wildlife Photography based in the Chobe, Northern Botswana. When we are not making videos for our channel we host our guests and clients from all over the world on our Wildlife Photography safaris throughout Botswana and the rest of Africa..and beyond sometimes too!

#wildlifephotography #naturephotography #phototips

[PangolinWildlife]

What other tips can you share with our community? What works for you?

[petertrahan]

Thank you for a great explanation. I constantly run into people who think that turning up the ISO will make their images noisier. I learned the truth early on in my photography journey as I tried to do astrophotography. Most people when they talk about noise in technical terms are referring to read noise, which comes from the camera, but the noise we see in these low light situations is coming from shot noise, which has nothing to do with the electronics of the camera. ISO gain can not increase shot noise as shot noise originates from the random nature of the way photons hit the sensor. Shot noise is a result of not enough photons hitting the sensor. One way of fixing this is to collect more photons. But sometimes we are limited and cannot decrease our shutter speed any further for various reasons. In these situations, increasing ISO will amplify the signal of the photons that we have collected and that will in effect wash out the noise and make it less noticeable. So, yes, in this situation, increasing the ISO will decrease the noise you see. But people have been trained to think that more ISO = more noise. That does happen when you are in an auto setting where increasing ISO also increases shutter speed, but it is the increased shutter speed in that case that is the real cause of the increased noise. Modern camera sensors do a much better job handling read noise nowadays and as such, high ISO settings just aren't much of a concern. The increase in read noise is minimal when compared to the decrease in shot noise.

[nancyross]

Oh my.. I think I’m going to have to watch this several times before I absorb this as my brain did think the opposite. Thank you for this tutorial 😁

[huffmanphotoart]

My compliments to you and the entire photo team at Pangolin. As a 40-year photographer and coach, I appreciate your careful explanations and illustrations. I look forward to seeing you in person Oct. 1 2023.

[petertrahan]

At 12:50 you say that noise increases exponentially in the darks at high ISO. I think you were referring to the case where the exposure is underexposed vs overexposed. That statement out of context might be confusing. I think another way of saying the same thing is that noise in the darks will increase exponentially with the same ISO as the exposure value decreases. It is not the ISO that is causing the increase in noise. Rather, it is the decrease in exposure value. This point is well demonstrated in your examples of low vs high ISO images. At first I thought that contradicted what you had said at 12:50 and I thought you misspoke. I had to go back and listen carefully to understand what you were saying. For that reason I think it is more clear to express that point by saying that noise in the darks increases exponentially as exposure value decreases

[emperorporus]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR DETAILED EXPLANATIONS

[RenmiyaAsakura]

I don't know how I came across this video. I was searching for manual focus. But this video is great and I really enjoyed it.

[vimalneha]

Good points, covers most issues well. 4th point is the most important.

[impistol]

Great video! Janine is even better in person. We captured superb images following her guidelines on our recent safari. My tip to to go on a safari with Janine!

[schneeaddict]

Just yesterday I was looking at a few of my favorite images I've taken and they were at 10, 000 ISO. That's when I realized just how important proper exposure is even if it required higher ISO... those images had more detail than most of my other photos at lower ISO. Then today I find this video with more explanation and examples. It's clear to me that ISO should be less of a consideration than it usually is.

[alankefauver]

On the R5 I want the full 14 bit dynamic range so avoid electronic shutter (12 bit). I shoot up to ISO 25.600 and don't worry about noise as I "develop" using DxO PureRaw which includes their Deep Prime NR which works fantastically. The evaluative metering in the R5 gives great correct exposures for normal situations. See you on June 23rd on the Chobe!!!

[jstephens]

I eliminated all noise from my images by turning off the sound on my computer. It works like a champ. I look forward to our trip with Pangolin in June!

[stevelewis]

Hi Janine!!! I know that this is a very late comment to your video from last year but I found your video as I was desperately looking for any help that I could find with the issue of noise. I just retired recently but over the last 10 years or so I have invested quite heavily into my camera gear so that this would become my “next chapter”. Your lesson on reducing noise was quite helpful but I am convinced that I will need to watch it again as I am still quite the novice. Thanks to you and all of the Pangolin photographers for all that you do to help novices like me but pros alike.

[JohnChubbSr]

Thank you! You make it all so clear!!!

[wildscapesph]

Wow. Thank you! That was worth my time. Will apply these in the field.

[janniekidson]

Yes I do have a challenge with noise on the dark areas. But I think I will have it sorted now..

[ManinderSinghDoon]

Thank you. A great tutorial on a complex subject from Pangolin. As usual.
I tried the suggestions in this lesson on photographs from an early morning 2 hour jungle safari in the sub Himalayan forests along with editing with Luminar Neo and finishing with their Noiseless AI and Supersharp AI. I had used manual setting + Auto ISO with BBF. With limitations of the season and the time limitations the shots were mostly forest landscapes and some smaller animals. Your inputs were a game changer. Thank you once again.

[pmhelsinki]

What a wonderfull explanation, I'm guilty has charged for trying to keep my ISO as low as possible. Although I dont shoot wildlife I am now going to try out your tips and see if I can improve. Thank you.

[stephenjudge]

That was great. Thank you! Very helpful. It’s going to take some practice though. Think I’ll save this one and watch it again a few times.

[MariaKarras]

You're delivery of difficult lighting and capture concepts is clear and easy to follow....thank you!