Guys, I've just got myself a nice little Nikon D3200 to play around with as it's my first DSLR. Now, I am a complete notice when it comes to understanding what changing the WB, shutter speed, ISO etc... will do and how it affects the picture, and what settings to use in the different conditions. So, can anyone recomend some online guide I can follow, or course I could go on in person etc... as I really want to understand how to get the best out of it. I'll be shooting away and changing the setting to see what they do anyway, but having a bit of an understanding would be a good start! Cheers
You just opened a can of worms in the middle of a minefield Barry. Most camera auto white balance modes are pretty good to be honest but nothing beats a custom white balance measurement at the start of any shoot. This, however promotes you to a new league of embuggerance each time. ISO should always be as low as you can afford to go and still get the shot you want. Shutter speed should always be a bigger number than the focal length of the lens to avoid shake and your aperture should be manipulated to control your depth of field. You now have more technical guidance than most 3rd year photographic degree students I deal with. What your camera does give you is the chance to experiment and screw up but see that you have right there at the shoot so you can have another punt. That's the beauty of digital to the beginner, it only costs you your kit, not any consumables, when you learn. I like this site. Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community There's loads on it for novices and techies alike. You can sign up for updates and you'll get each new tutorial as they publish them. Obviously, there are loads of others but I like how interactive the tutorials are on here.
Errrrr, what!? This is my point, I don't understand any of that. Take the low ISO for example. I understand what you are saying, but I have no idea why I need to do it and what effect it will have. Again with shutter speed and aperture.... Trial and error to start with I guess. I love photography, but having only ever owned a compact I've never needed to adjust anything. Always just point and shoot. It's going to be fun learning though, and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be mainly shooting pics when I'm out racing, so paddock/pit shots, mainly still's, but some moving too.
The ISO guide number indicates how sensitive your film or your sensor is to light. The higher the number, the less light you need to take your photograph. There is a trade off though. Higher levels of sensitivity mean less fine detail is recorded, so film 'grain' gets larger and sensor 'noise' gets more noticeable. Most of the current crop of digital cameras have had their R&D costs spent on reducing noise at high ISO settings to make the camera much more usable in low light conditions. The shutter speed is the length of time the camera is exposing the sensor to the scene it's recording. The faster the speed the less likely a moving subject is to blur as it crosses the lens. The aperture is the window inside the lens through which the image is exposed. The size of the window is given a value of 'f'. In the case of aperture, the larger the 'f' number, the smaller the window in the lens. The smaller the window the more of the image, front to back, will be in focus. The larger the window, the less of the image will be in focus. These three settings are the exposure triangle. The combinations of each of them will add different effects to the exposure of your image. By adjusting them to give 1 or 2 a bias over the other you can control how you want to make your image look. Caster sugar waterfalls (slow shutter speed), ugly background thrown out of focus (wide aperture). Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed It's a bit of a learning curve mate, but we're here to ask so don't panic.
That site looks good, I'll be glue'd to the ipad tonight I think! Thanks for the info, if won't be the last time I'm pestering for help I'll even throw up a few images when I can get out and take a few snaps.
Yep, I've been plagiarising them for lectures and seminars for years. that is between you and me though Barry.
Bloody nicely explained Mr Kpone. I paid for a city and guilds course loadsa years ago, and I never learnt that much on the entire course. Barry your going to love the DSLR but its gonna be like gibberish for a while, having said that the Auto settings are so good that you can shoot away for a while then just review your pictures and check out the settings to see what you like and what you don't. I can see a rookie photographer thread to go with my Dirty Bike thread, lol
Same as the zipster, Kpone.......that paragraph of knowledge has just turned on a dim light in my miniscule grey matter......much obliged
Cheers guys. I have to keep what I do simple so my clients can understand it. You know, lecturers, the press corps, members of the RPS. There are a lot of gifted photographers on this forum and a couple of really good professionals. Photographers love to talk about their work so I'm sure they'd fall over themselves to pass on their knowledge if you ask. I'm not a photographer, I leave that to those with a much better eye then me. I'm more of a photographic technician. Less and less in the 'analogue', 'wet' photography sense these days, more on the digital side. So I deal more with image repair and restoration, colour theory and support for our large format printing customers. I also do a lot of exhibition preparation and printing. Any help I can give you in any of the above I'm only too glad to offer.
that was one of the best things I learned about cameras when I first got into it and also helped me in photoshop when I went to edit them.
Thats really weird, I prefer using the curves, I find it easier to make sure the transitions are nice and smith. Having said that I mainly use for print matter and not so much photos (yet)
I completely understand and many of the people around me would agree with you but I always think off that line from the Matrix where Keanu and Joe Pantoliano are looking at the data stream on screen "all I see now is blonde, brunette, redhead". I can do that with histograms now.
helps also with entry level cameras that havent got a great display on the back, quick histogram check to make sure nothing it getting blown out.
So, advice time if someone is able to offer some!? I'm going to Brands Hatch this Sunday as they are holding a Rally event down there. Perfect opportunity to get my first motorsport fix of the year and test out my new camera! Most shots will either be pit lane shots (garages and close ups of engine and mechanical parts) and moving shots of the cars in action. Weather is supposed to be dry and bright, but cold (not that that will matter!). So what I'm looking for is advice on a good base setting for still detail shots of the cars, and another for capturing them in action. ISO, exp time, WB etc.... (I've no idea what I'm talking about, but I know you guys do! ) Cheers
If it is bright, keep the ISO low. That will reduce noise in your images. Let the auto white balance take care of business, its generally better than you at picking the right setting. Shutter speed is hard to advise you on as to manipulate it for different effects, such as speed blur takes a bit of practice and you could miss a lot of shots playing with it. There's an old rule of thumb that says never let it be a number smaller than the focal length of the lens you're using to ensure you don't get camera shake. Image stabilisers do away with that worry, if you have them, but some do soften the image so be careful of them. If you're that new to the kit mate, shoot on auto. It will teach you about the computers limits and let you concentrate on framing and composition. Once you're comfy with your camera then explore its manual settings, that way you'll be less likely to get caught out when it gets caught out by conditions outside its capabilities. Just have fun with it doing what all that R&D cost and shoot shit loads. Your card is your cheapest bit of kit.
