Aquariums and High ISOs

I had a bride and groom ask me on a recent meeting how I would photograph in a dark church without a flash. I answered them that many officiants have had me shoot weddings entirely without flash and even if given permission I to use flash I would do so only on the processional and recessional.

For the rest of the ceremony I would use the camera set to a high iso (800, 1600, or even 3200 if the conditions required it), with fast glass on my camera (I use f 2.8 a lot at many weddings). The professional cameras I have produce good results in higher ISO conditions than many consumer cameras would.

I photograph in a dark nightclub weekly without flash, and working for the newspaper has also put me in even darker conditions such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium. If you look closely you can see spots in both photos that were the results of the focus beams on cameras on people who did not obey the instructions to turn off their flashes on their cameras.


This is a very young shark. To give perspective, the turtle swimming next to him is a Great Sea Turtle.