I'm pretty new to more than point and shoot photography. I'm still using my camera on 99% auto mode, but here's a pic I took today, can you tell me what might make the same pic better in the future?
Thanks!
(for reference my equipment is Nikon d60, 35mm 1.8 lens - I also have an 18-200 and a 18-55)
I'm not so sure on how to improve that specific photo, but one thing you can do if you're looking to become more "pro", which doesn't involve scary camera settings, is shoot in RAW and start getting to grips with post production techniques. Your Nikon probably came with some RAW editing software, and if not, Adobe's Lightroom 3 (which I don't actually have shares in, @taidster :P ) is great for working with them.
The way I transitioned from Auto to Manual was first by figuring out Shutter Priority mode (possibly called Tv) so I knew what timings would work under which lighting conditions, then moving on to Aperture Priority (Av) to start figuring out depth of field and such, then finally going the whole hog and joining them together. Only took, oh, say, about... 365 days. :p
Hi Bison. There are several things you could play around with here. Try blurring your background more and focus on the woman picking the orange. Change the perspective...get higher or lower. Have fun and just keep trying things!
Hi! Start playing with your F-stops more. I would get the book "Understanding Exposure" if you would like to get more into Manual mode. Really made a difference for me.
thanks to both of you. at the time I was pushing my daughter in her stroller, so I was a bit limited with regards to taking multiple shots/getting higher/lower/finding a new place to shoot from but will keep that in mind in the future.
I'm reading about it but will put this book in my list :) thanks again all!
I'm generally on auto a lot of the time too. I think this is a good start for a photo -- it has an interesting subject, nice depth, good composition. You can use your photo editing software to brighten it up and saturate the colors just a bit.
I also think angle and perspective of shots can create some wonderful photos -- taking them from spots other than the standing eye level, zooming in to a point of interest, etc. This one, for example, a shot taken from table level might have been fun.
Just some thoughts. Most important -- have fun with them! The great thing about digital is that you can take a hundred shots and toss out 99 if you want to, so experimenting costs us nothing. :-)
You have a very good photo to work with. I would crop off the left side, looks like a heating duct or ventilation. That will let the eye move more freely over your subject and then back the line of shoppers behind her. You can also try bumping up your contrast a little to make your colors pop some. Love the concept of the shot!
yeah, as @eyebrows suggests use AV or TV first then go full manual. I would suggest AV first though because understanding what aperture to use is more important, IMO. And Lightroom rocks!
@vikdaddy@eyebrows I am fairly new at this as well, but I went full on manual starting when I started this project. Makes me wonder if I'm missing anything, or if I'll struggle once I get a DSLR? My camera doesn't have the full range of settings as DSLR has, but I do have the ability to set manual settings, use bracketing, etc. Aperture settings go from 2.8-8.0.
As for the photo, I think the person picking up the fruit is a little too centered.
@vikdaddy I have a Canon PowerShot SX20. It has manual controls. I set the aperture, timing, ISO myself, though am limited in the range of those values compared to DSLR. I haven't used auto since the first week I got it.
One more thing to consider is changing up your lens. It looks like you were going for a photojournalistic approach here. Use a wide angle lens and get in really close.
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The way I transitioned from Auto to Manual was first by figuring out Shutter Priority mode (possibly called Tv) so I knew what timings would work under which lighting conditions, then moving on to Aperture Priority (Av) to start figuring out depth of field and such, then finally going the whole hog and joining them together. Only took, oh, say, about... 365 days. :p
I'm reading about it but will put this book in my list :) thanks again all!
I also think angle and perspective of shots can create some wonderful photos -- taking them from spots other than the standing eye level, zooming in to a point of interest, etc. This one, for example, a shot taken from table level might have been fun.
Just some thoughts. Most important -- have fun with them! The great thing about digital is that you can take a hundred shots and toss out 99 if you want to, so experimenting costs us nothing. :-)
As for the photo, I think the person picking up the fruit is a little too centered.
Also: pretty impressive if you went full manual right from the off!
One more thing to consider is changing up your lens. It looks like you were going for a photojournalistic approach here. Use a wide angle lens and get in really close.