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kevinp

kevinp

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kevin
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Hello this is my first post, apart from one in the welcome thresd.
Anyway I am new to DLSRs previously just using point and shoot cameras.
I know I can do this with my new camera which is a NIKON D3100 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm + 55-200mm f/4-5.6G Telephoto Zoom Lens, but want to learn and try and get he best from it.

All this info on settings, focus, shutter speeds ect,ect,ect, has got me mind boggled.

I want to take the normal photoa of the family, kids etc, I also will be taking shots of my dogs running, hunting, jumping, fast moving ect,

So really my first question is, Please forgive me as will probably be a stupid one, but do I have to change settings for each individual shot, for example if I am taking photos of somthing still, then suddenley see a dog or horse galloping acrooss the field and want to take a photo of it do I have to set shutter speed, continuios shooting mode ect, before I can do so??????????????????.
Also lenses one of my lenses is a telephoto, got it so I can zoom when I cant get near, can I use this lens for a close up shot too??

Sorry for all these questions but like I say all this is quite new to me and has got me baffled.
 
that's really a loaded question and tbh, no one can give you a definitive answer because it really depends on many things, mostly the light available

Check out the tutorial section on the forums, lots of great threads, also check out Youtube for some tutorial videos.

Generally speaking, if you are shooting something that is moving fast, set the camera to S (Shutter priority) and make sure you've a fast shutter speed to freeze the moment. The camera will adjust aperture and ISO to try and get a good exposure.

Let the camera do some of the work for you. I personally started in Manual mode, it really gets you up to speed quickly but you do risk fluffing shots early on. Now I mainly use A or S unless i'm using flash.

Your zoom lens and close up shots, that depends what you mean by 'close up' shots? Yes, you can get close to something and zoom in/out to frame it, however it will have a minimum focus distance. If you mean macro shots like those to see a fly in detail you probably went get the results you hope, but again, there's lots of macro advice if that's what you want :)
 
You need to know about shutter speed/aperture/ISo etc. As HN says above read the tutorial secton on here. Also, if like me, you find videos a help there are plenty on youtube. Bryan Peterson has a few good ones. google his name with 'Youtube' after it and you will find some helpful stuff. Alot of people reccommend his exposure book, but it is a little old fashioned apparently. and I found I never needed it.

Bryan's vids also appear on Adorama with loads of other photographers tutorials, so google that too.
 
Harvey_nikon said:
that's really a loaded question and tbh, no one can give you a definitive answer because it really depends on many things, mostly the light available

Check out the tutorial section on the forums, lots of great threads, also check out Youtube for some tutorial videos.

Generally speaking, if you are shooting something that is moving fast, set the camera to S (Shutter priority) and make sure you've a fast shutter speed to freeze the moment. The camera will adjust aperture and ISO to try and get a good exposure.

Let the camera do some of the work for you. I personally started in Manual mode, it really gets you up to speed quickly but you do risk fluffing shots early on. Now I mainly use A or S unless i'm using flash.


Your zoom lens and close up shots, that depends what you mean by 'close up' shots? Yes, you can get close to something and zoom in/out to frame it, however it will have a minimum focus distance. If you mean macro shots like those to see a fly in detail you probably went get the results you hope, but again, there's lots of macro advice if that's what you want :)
Click to expand...

Thanks will try experiment with different shutter speeds, and let the camera decide the rest.
Close up shots will be just kids or animals standing still, and get what you mean that I can still use the same lens to frame it.

Thanks Again
:thumbs:
 
In answer to the telephoto lens regarding close up... Yes, but won't do such a great job as a dedicated macro lens.
 
On the Huh said:
In answer to the telephoto lens regarding close up... Yes, but won't do such a great job as a dedicated macro lens.
Click to expand...

Cheers Maate. Thought it would,
can change to the 18-55mm lens for that, should really start with this lens untill I learn a bit before I put the zoom lens on.
 
As far as changing settings for different types of shot is concerned, the answer is generally yes but again it depends.

What I would say is that you need to be conscious of your settings so that you can make a decision.

So in your example of shooting a family member and then seeing the galloping horse, you may decide to increase shutter speed to "freeze" the horse or you can leave the shutter speed as it is for the family member portrait (i.e. relatively slow) and use panning so the horse is more or less in focus with some motion blur but the background is blurred.

The linkies given above are a great place to start in understanding exposure. With time and practice, you'll be able to change settings on the fly without even taking your eye from the viewfinder.
 
OK. Finally got round to giving it a try. Her are some photos of some of my dogs.
Dont think thr shutter speeed was right, the close ups dont seem to bad to me but I dont know if I had the settings right or not.

Would love some feed back as how yous think they look and Where I have gone Wrong???

Thanks Kevin

DSC_0067.jpg


DSC_0066.jpg


DSC_0088.jpg


DSC_0094.jpg


DSC_0103.jpg


DSC_0119.jpg
 
Not knowing anything about Nikon I don't know whether your lenses have any stabilisation built in.
With #1 your shutter speed was probably too low given that you were shooting at 200mm.
#2 you had a high enough shutter speed so you either wobbled tremendously or simply missed focus, looks like the latter.

With the other still shots you've done better but with the running dogs the shutter speed of 250 was too low to freeze motion.

One little tip, when your photographing animals try and get down to their level by crouching etc. to get the shot.
Such a cute puppy aaawww:)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for advice.
Forgot to mention I had the 55-200mm f/4-5.6G Telephoto Zoom Lens on instead of the 18-55mm as I wanted to zoom in when they were not near.

Would this of made a big difference?
Also I had the camera set on A at f/5.6 so think I will try it on S next time and set the shutter speed myself.
Thanks Again all the help and advice is really Appreciated.
 
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