I am not a seasoned photographer by any means...however I have taken much better quality photos in the past. Am not having great results with my new camera...any suggestions??? I really wish to explore micro-world... I own a Nikon Coolpix L120.
I know this sounds silly, but have you read the manual fully? Sometimes, when I dont understand something about my camera, I look for tutorials on Youtube.. That could be a good place to start :)
Give it some time and play around and such like Michelle suggested. A lot of times it takes a bit before you start getting the most from your camera. It could also be that you just have a defective model. Do you have any photographer friends? It might help to have someone irl help you.
I felt the same way when I purchased my first DSLR. Play around with it and experiment. In my case it just took some getting used to and once I was more comfortable with the camera, I got better results.
@stephaniew I'm assuming it's the most current photo in your project that you're referencing. The one from 2 days ago is rather sharp and true color, and that was taken with the same camera. Looking at the EXIF, though, I suspect you're shooting on full auto. The latest shot of the breakfast bowl used ISO 800 - which accounts for the grain you're seeing - and the shutter speed was 1/6 of a second. Unless you're using a tripod, that shutter speed is too slow for a hand-held shot. I suspect that's where the soft focus is originating.
When you select full auto mode, the camera makes all of the selections : ISO, Aperture, and Shutter. It's only criteria at that point, is to come up with enough light for the shot to succeed. At the very least, I suggest controlling the ISO to achieve the level of grain (noise) that's acceptable. The lower the number, the less noise. Program mode will let you select the ISO, but it's still going to select aperture and shutter for you.
For the camera you're using, you want to get to at least a 1/30 second exposure for a hand-held shot. Depending on the zoom, even that might be too slow. Since that was an indoor shot, you'll need to increase the lighting in some other fashion - either using the camera's flash (which would likely have created an unsightly reflection in this shot) or by increasing the ambient light in the room, perhaps by shooting near an open window.
Definitely go through the manual and review the other settings available to you. I believe that camera has the full range of manual, aperture preferred, shutter preferred, program, and auto. Each gives you a different measure of control over the various settings.
One other setting for you to check is the size of the .JPG image you're saving on the camera. You want to select the highest quality the camera will allow. The smaller the image, the less detail is stored, and the lower the overall quality of the image.
I hope that helps. If you've other shots that you're concerned about, please post the link. It'll help us review what may be wrong.
Hi Stephanie, I'm only new at photography rather than snapshots. I have an ebook, I don't think it's in soft or hard cover, but it's called 'Improve your Photography: How Budding Photographers can get pro results' by Jim Harmer. I've found it easy to read and understand. He recommends leaving your camera on aperture priority, understanding the largest aperture or smallest f #, will let most light in to your camera, therefore small depth of field, the camera will adjust your shutter speed. The large f # will give large depth of field, good for landscape. If you put your camera on the smallest f# and zoom, it will change to the correct f #. He sugguest you leave it on Aperture priority for at least 6 months to fully understand your f stops. Of course there are all sorts of other factors. Hope this might be helpful, you can check him out on his web site, improvephotography.com/ for his hints.
@stephaniew another point to make is a lot of the photos on here are heavily edited and not straight out of the camera. It makes it more difficult when you try to compare. It's worth persevering though! Good luck with your 365.
I have the same camera and its not an dslr, and your not able to adjust aperture, just the iso and thats only possible in automode. Stephanie i have the same problems with indoor low light shots. To make a good shot then, you have to bring in more light and/or put the camera down on a table or something if you don't have a tripod (like me), that makes it more stable, so less blury.
What also works for me is to play with the zoom a little bit to get the things in focus that i want.
And in stead of keeping it in auto mode you have a lot of scene modes, with different shutterspeed, iso and aperture (i think), it helps to try a few of them when you take a shot, because automode doesn't always choses the right one
Hopefully this info helps you out a bit, because its a great camera! most of the shots on my page are made with the L120 so if you need help let me know!
Scenes, learn to use the scenes. They are for different distances. Even if you are using a DSLR, the lenses do the same things. On your camera, select a distance using the scenes, focus on your subject by pressing down the shutter part way, and then when you are satisified with the look, click. I suggest you set up something simple like a cup on the counter and play with the scenes so you won't need to spend time thinking about them when you are taking pictures. Your manual will help with all this but the only way to learn the camera is to use it. Have fun.
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When you select full auto mode, the camera makes all of the selections : ISO, Aperture, and Shutter. It's only criteria at that point, is to come up with enough light for the shot to succeed. At the very least, I suggest controlling the ISO to achieve the level of grain (noise) that's acceptable. The lower the number, the less noise. Program mode will let you select the ISO, but it's still going to select aperture and shutter for you.
For the camera you're using, you want to get to at least a 1/30 second exposure for a hand-held shot. Depending on the zoom, even that might be too slow. Since that was an indoor shot, you'll need to increase the lighting in some other fashion - either using the camera's flash (which would likely have created an unsightly reflection in this shot) or by increasing the ambient light in the room, perhaps by shooting near an open window.
Definitely go through the manual and review the other settings available to you. I believe that camera has the full range of manual, aperture preferred, shutter preferred, program, and auto. Each gives you a different measure of control over the various settings.
One other setting for you to check is the size of the .JPG image you're saving on the camera. You want to select the highest quality the camera will allow. The smaller the image, the less detail is stored, and the lower the overall quality of the image.
I hope that helps. If you've other shots that you're concerned about, please post the link. It'll help us review what may be wrong.
I have the same camera and its not an dslr, and your not able to adjust aperture, just the iso and thats only possible in automode. Stephanie i have the same problems with indoor low light shots. To make a good shot then, you have to bring in more light and/or put the camera down on a table or something if you don't have a tripod (like me), that makes it more stable, so less blury.
What also works for me is to play with the zoom a little bit to get the things in focus that i want.
And in stead of keeping it in auto mode you have a lot of scene modes, with different shutterspeed, iso and aperture (i think), it helps to try a few of them when you take a shot, because automode doesn't always choses the right one
Hopefully this info helps you out a bit, because its a great camera! most of the shots on my page are made with the L120 so if you need help let me know!
I know that before I had a camera that did stuff I would use flash all the time so that may be the answer
> leave it on Aperture priority for at least 6 months to fully understand your f stops.
6 months? Srsly? It's really not that hard, is it? Really?