Light on the Sensor

As we’ll see throughout this book, low light photography pushes limits. It pushes the limits of technique, demanding constant attention to steadying the camera, subject movement, and changing camera settings to suit the conditions.

It also pushes the technical limits, beginning with the sensor and lens. The special conditions found in many low light situations tend to highlight deficiencies of the sensor. Notable among these are blooming and noise. In effect, these operate at opposite ends of the brightness range; blooming is flare surrounding overexposed highlights, while digital noise is at its most apparent in the shadows, in longer exposures, or at higher sensitivities.

Blooming is the leakage from a photosite on the sensor ...

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