Most photographers adhere to the notion that you should employ the lowest ISO setting possible to achieve maximum image quality, and they routinely set the camera for ISO 100 when conditions permit. But as you’ll see in the tutorial below, one of our favorite outdoor photographers takes a different approach.

Instructor Ian Worth is a Welsh pro who considers himself a generalist when it comes to outdoor photography; in other words he does it all. In this episode he discusses seven reasons why you should consider raising ISO despite conventional wisdom to the contrary. He covers a variety of genres from landscapes to astrophotography, and more.

Worth begins with a quick oveerview of how ISO settings work to affect exposure and other critical variables of an image. While many of you are already up to speed on the basics, if you’re new to the game be sure to pay close attention to the first minute of this tutorial.

When it comes to the benefits of high ISO settings, Worth’s first point is a generalized one that covers many shooting scenarios. As he says, “Quite often we raise ISO to obtain a faster shutter speed when the ambient light is too low.” He provides an example of choosing at ISO with an aperture of f/8 to maximize depth of field. This yields a shutter speed of 1/25—too slow for many applications.

But by increasing ISO to 400 under the same lighting conditions the shutter speed for a correct exposure is a more reasonable 1/100. Worth then moves on to more specific reasons that  higher ISOs can be very useful. His first example is a shot of the nighttime sky for which he set the camera to ISO 3,200 with an aperture of f/2. He then explains several reasons this approach pays big dividends for astrophotography.

At this point you may be wondering about the interaction between ISO and dynamic range and how this compromise affects image quality. Here Worth admits that with most cameras dynamic range will decrease as the ISO setting is increased (which argues for keeping ISO on the lower end of the spectrum). Interestingly, though, he notes that “A lot of new cameras have dual-native (or dual-gain) ISO” capability the somewhat obviates the aforementioned concern.

Without getting too far into the weeds, Worth provides a simple graph to help explain what this means in practical terms. In may seem odd, but according to the numbers “you may get a cleaner image at ISO 500 versus ISO 400.”

Other topics of conversation in this eye-opening lesson include how raising ISO helps freeze motion and alleviate camera shake as well. He also demonstrates the importance of using higher ISO settings when shooting on windy days—particularly when there’s a telephoto lens on your camera. You’ll also learn about choosing the best ISO in combination with lens filters.

Worth’s instructional YouTube channel is a great resource for all outdoor photographers, so be sure to take a look. And don’t miss the tutorial we posted recently from an image-editing expert who explains how to edit landscape photos for a beautiful, realistic effect.

Yesterday we brought you a timesaving tutorial for streamlining Lightroom so the workspace displays all the tools you use in the order you want, with everything else hidden from view. We have another great trick today, this time it’s a simple hack for using the Histogram to achieve perfect White Balance.

Instructor James Pearce is a wedding photographer turned educator. He notes that many photographers are unaware how to use the Histogram to evaluate White Balance and make whatever adjustments are necessary if it’s not technically correct for the image at hand.

The goal of this lesson is to help prevent you from scratching your head in frustration, while saving time processing photos when colors don’t look quite right. Or as Pearce puts it, “By using the method in this video, even photos taken in horrific light will be fixed in a matter of seconds.

This technique works great with images captured indoors under poor illumination, as well as for outdoor photos like Pearce’s environmental portrait of a bride. There are no presets involved, and He illustrates the quick process using several images shot at a wedding. The first example was captured during an indoor reception, and there’s an unwanted orange cast throughout the frame because of the warm overhead chandeliers.

Orange tones are certainly not what you want on a wedding dress, white ceiling, or pristine tablecloth. Much the same holds true for other types of images where getting white right is super important—like with snow-covered landscape scenes or wildlife photos of white birds.

The magic takes place in Lightroom’s Histogram panel and the trick is so simple that we won’t bother summarizing it here, other than to note the importance of keeping your eye you on the numerical values under the graph as you use various sliders to adjust the tones. He describes the interrelationship between these numbers and the ratios he recommends.

Pearce then pulls up an outdoor shot of the bride and her bridesmaids captured outside with natural light. This shot requires a different approach, and in this case the required temperature change is very slight. You’ll watch Pearce enhance a few other photos from the shoot while illustrating the quick adjustments for each.

It’s important to note that “technically correct” White Balance is one thing, but personally it’s a subjective matter, and Pearce explains how to quickly tweak the adjustments so a photo conveys the specific look you want.

There’s much more to learn on Pearce’s popular YouTube channel so be sure to pay a visit. And don’t forget to watch the tutorial mentioned above for using an oft-ignored Lightroom feature for streamlining your workspace.