Tiger cubs at play

In the early days of digital cameras, noise was a huge problem. With the Canon 1Ds Mark II that I purchased in 2005, 1600 ISO was ridiculously noisy and 3200 was simply unusable. That forced me to use 1000 ISO or less to produce images with good quality. That, in turn, forced me to use flash in situations where I would normally prefer natural light. I photographed these tiger cubs at play in Ranthambhore National Park, one of India’s premier wildlife reserves, but in the thick vegetation and an overcast sky, the light level was low. Instead of raising the ISO, I used flash. Back then, I used to carry a flash with me when I traveled. Unfortunately the artificial light looks artificial, and I’ve never liked that, but at least I was able to take a sharp image with no noise. I used a 500mm f/4 Canon telephoto, and the picture is somewhat cropped from the original. I also removed a few offending grasses using generative fill. My settings were 1/250, f5.6, and 640 ISO. My next photo tour to photograph India’s stunning Bengal tigers is May, 2026.