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Dual gain sensors (Dual Native ISO) - reducing noise at high ISOs

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Ring-billed gull (left) and Foster's tern (right) photographed using my Z6iii camera I am not well-versed in electronics and do not have a good understanding of the word "gain" as it applies to digital photo sensors.  So I have had to do some research on this to understand what exactly gain is and what a dual-gain sensor is.   The voltage produced by electronic sensors that convert light into electricity is very low, and that's at a sensor's native ISO.  As ISO increases, those voltages become even lower.  The problem with high ISOs is that the background electronic noise that exists starts to interfere with the generated values produced, especially in shadows, which results in this thing we call noise.  I have written about this before ( click here to see good examples on noise). Gain is related to noise - the higher the ISO, the greater the need to boost the signal.  Boosting the signal (gain) results in brighter images (underexposed images from nat...
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iPhone Macro: when less is more.

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Alberta Jewel Spider photographed with my iPhone 15 Pro I discovered that my 3x lens on my iPhone defaults to using the ultrawide lens (0.5x) for close-ups.  The problem with this is that the ultrawide does not have the resolution of the main camera (1x), and getting really close physically blocks light.  The solution requires a few steps. The first step is to switch the camera to ProRAW & Resolution control (Settings > Camera > Formats) from the lower-resolution mode.  In your iPhone's Camera app, you can choose whether to use RAW or HEIF format.  I use RAW, but the HEIF format is also a good choice, especially if you can't deal with raw images.  Since I use Photoshop, it is not a problem for me. Then you have to turn off the automatic switching between cameras when doing macros.  You can find the Macro Control slider under the Camera app in Settings (Settings > Camera, then scroll way down).  Turn it off (slide the "slider" control to th...
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Loving my Nikon Z6iii and 180-600 zoom.

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Killdeer photographed in Red Deer, Leva Avenue Natural Area.  July 16, 2026. I have been shooting with my new lens and camera for two months now.  I have taken over 1600 photos with it on a variety of settings, although mostly in manual exposure mode.  The camera has performed well, and the 180-600 lens is reasonably sharp. On the upside, the 24 mp full-frame sensor produces low noise at modest ISO settings (an ISO of 800 produces images with little noise).  Although it lacks the resolution of the Z7, Z8, and Z9 series, I find the reach of the zoom at 600 mm adequate.  In the event that more magnification is needed, I can use a1.4x teleconverter.  Image quality takes a bit of a hit, and my minimum aperture turns to f/9 when using the TC.  Using a higher ISO to compensate for the light loss does not seem to affect the images. The downside of the Z6iii's sensor is that it lacks the dynamic range of other Nikon cameras.  Having said that, it has not ...
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Birds I photographed in Central Alberta

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Top:  Yellow-headed blackbird, Clay-coloured sparrow, Yellow warbler, Hairy woodpecker. Middle:  Bonaparte's gull, American goldfinch, Song sparrow, Double-crested courmarant. Bottom:  Red-winged blackbird, Foster's tern, Franklin's gull, Spotted sandpiper. There are about 270 species of bird regularly present in Alberta at some point during the year, and another 150 or so that are accidental, and another 30 or so that are migratory but not present for breeding or are residents.  There are a few more species not included in the above shot that I have photographed or just seen (including corvids, hawks, grebes, and gulls).  If I go back into my files from previous years, I am sure I could come up with about 100 species or so. The great thing about birding in Alberta is that there is such diverse habitat.  Mountains, large lakes, small lakes, ponds, potholes, prairie, woodlands, and more.  There are also very large parks dedicated as habitat for wildlife...
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Banning mobility aids; where's the line?

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1. My friend, Charles, in an enclosed mobility aid.  2. Walker with 2 wheels.  3.  4-wheeled walker with seat/wheelchair.  4.  Electric mobility aid.  5.  All-terrain mobility aid. Mobility aids.  They can be anything from a simple stick to a complicated, enclosed electric scooter complete with signal, head, and tail lights.  All of them have one purpose - to help those with mobility challenges get around.  So, why are some of them banned? It depends on the jurisdiction.  The main item drawing attention is the enclosed mobility aid, such as a weather-proofed personal cart that gives extra protection to the user, seen in the above photo (1).  They may be deemed too powerful, too large, or too fast.   A scooter/mobility aid does not require insurance to operate.  They are not legal on roadways, in the same way that pedestrians are not.  Yet, as they get larger, enclosed, or more powerful, their place on the si...
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Juvenile Praying Mantis - Colour depends on age and environment, not sex.

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Left:  Praying mantis photos from Oregon (top) and Florida (bottom).  Right:  Kelowna (my yard). My favourite insect is the praying mantis.  As a boy, I caught dozens of them in Ontario.  I never saw any while living in the Lower Mainland, but did manage to get photos of them in Oregon and Florida (insets).  Since we have been living in Kelowna, I have caught three or four, one just a few days ago (right image, taken with iPhone 15 Pro).  I haven't seen them for a while, not since our cold snap a few years back that killed the stone fruit for the year.  I had wondered if the insects had survived. The one I found recently was a juvenile (nymph); it was two, maybe two and a half, inches long.  It had another two moults to undergo before becoming an adult.  Oddly enough, it was sitting beside my front door when I saw it.  I took it to my backyard where it was placed on a raspberry plant.   The colour of an European praying ma...
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Playing with the shadows slider in Photoshop

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The Lordco Ladies photographed at Kelowna's Canada Day Celebration, 2026. Backlighting is a constant issue for photographers, regardless of whether your subject is human, animal, vegetable, or mineral.  Averaging light renders the foreground dark.  Exposing for the foreground leaves the background overexposed and incurs bloom.  Exposing for the background and filling with flash is often the best way to go, if you have a powerful enough flash.  But what if none of those options work for you?  What solution do you employ? Exposing for the background, especially when it is significantly out of focus as above, makes no sense, so having it slightly overexposed is fine.  This will leave the foreground modestly underexposed, but there is enough latitude in raw dark values to lighten them using a pixel editor like Photoshop.  Lightroom will do the same thing, as will iPhone editing software (although I find that iPhone raw images do not have the save dynamic r...
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