Sharpness vs. High ISO

I've been asked a lot lately about ISO and picture sharpness.  I have an opinion.  Just ask anyone that knows me.  They will tell you I do!  I know we are all sick of hearing this ....we all have our own way of doing things.  In photography there is no perfect condition, or equipment.  It's our our personal preference.  

That being said...high ISO does NOT affect sharpness(not considering low shutter speed, subject movement and camera movement).  At any ISO sharpness is up to the person holding the camera.  What confuses some is sharpness and "grain".  Let's pretend that graininess in a photograph is like a persons complexion.  Some lucky beautiful people have amazingly smooth, flawless skin.  Now let's add some grain.  A man for instance has a more "grainy" face.  The pours are more obvious along with the hair follicles.    There is a significant difference in the fine grained beautiful women and the more obvious course grained man.  In film the higher ISO-the more defined the grain.  The lower the ISO the less obvious the grain. 

Here's the gist.   A sharp picture is a sharp picture.  It does not matter how much grain there is.  Two different things. 

I prefer sharpness over the low ISO/low grain.  I feel much greater confidence in low light if I pushed up the ISO a little.  Many times my photo opportunity feels like one of a kind.  Only one chance to get "that one" shot.  It's like risk management.  I lower the risk of a photograph being not sharp with low ISO/shutter speeds.  Tripods are a must.  Bright sun helps.  Flash fill is good.  Then there is that one rainy day with the White Faced Ibis were  running and I wanted a sharp photo. Up went the ISO.

The picture above was taken late today in my front yard.  Just for the purpose of this demonstration I hand held the camera.  Low light macro shot.  It was shot at 1/250 of a second at f/11.  The ISO 3200.  Pretty dang sharp.