that would be good to teach me how to use my camera to take awesome pictures? For example I took pictures today and was playing with my settings and changed it to black and white but the picture is really dark. I know it could have been better but I don't know how to make it better.
I have been told to get 'understanding exposure' will that book tell me what mode to shoot in and HOW TO MAKE IT GO TO THAT MODE.
I use a nikon d40, I have the lens it came with then I have the 55-200VR
I need someone to tell me what everything means:
like ISO , F, what do the modes mean (M,A,S,P) and I know I turn the dial to change the (f) but what is F haha... maybe I need digital photography book for dummies :D
Understanding Exposure will explain the modes and what shooting in each mode will accomplish.
M-Manual (you control both the shutter speed and the aperature)
A-Aperature Priority (You select the aperature that you want and the camera will assign the shutter speed)
S-Shutter Priority (you select the shutter speed, the camera selects the aperature)
I would work in A or S. The book will explain what the advantages are of these two modes.
I , like Johnna recommend Ken Rockwell. He's, to say the least, a piece, of work, but he has practical (albeit opinionated ) ideas on how to take great pictures, and he also salivates over the D40.
I use a D40x, (same thing, more pixels, which I don't need). Rockwell will explain. But, a "Dummies book IS helpful.
The D40 is a GREAT camera. Sometimes just playing with it will help you figure it out.
Aperture (f stop) The higher the number, the more in focus, but the less light comes in (portraits look good with a lower "F" stop), as it keeps one specific thing in focus)
Shutter Speed: Faster = less light coming in, but more stop action (Sports)
I recommend playing around in "M". Back when I had hair, that's all we had. I learned on a Pentax K1000 ( anyone remember those?. I still have mine, and it is 30 years old!) Just balance the meter in your camera to somewhere near the middle ( I refer a little under exposure with my D40x. If the shutter speed gets below "30", make sure your hands are steadier, or you may get blur, even with a VR lens (vibration Reduction)
ISO is like film speed: The higher the number, the more light comes in (400 is good for indoors, 100 is good for outdoors). The higher the number, though, the "grainer", or "noisier" the image gets.
Bottom line, photography is all about give and take. To get an advantage in one area, you may be sacrificing something in another. It is a balancing act, and practice helps. At least with digital, you can just delete it. With film, you waited and learned from your mistakes.
Oh, not that I have been wordy enough, but the "P" mode on the D40 is great for quick shots, and you may not want to leave that most of the time. You should also have an "Auto" mode (It is green on the dial). That is when you want to use the pop up flash.
The little guy running on the dial is for fast shutter speeds, and smaller lens openings (f stops) Good for sports. The picture of the lady in the hat is good for portraits (slower shutter speeds, and a larger opening (for portraits). The mountains are good for landscapes.
You may not need to fool with much else. To many gizmos to play with!
I have a d40 and when i started delving into ithe menus and settings a bit more i bought this book below. Really good. its essentially giving much the same info as the manual but in a easier to undestand way. Plus the second half is more about general photo techniques.
Sounds like you need to understand the 3 basic settings in photography first, with out that anything you read will be a waste.
ISO is light sensitivity, in the day of film you bought your film based on its ISO for the conditions you would shoot. 100 for bright sunny days, 1600 for darker days or inside shooting. 400 was universal for the most part. The higher the ISO the more sensitive to light your camera will be but it will increase noise.
Aperture or F-stop or seen on your camera as f/x.x (ie f/8.0) is the opening of your lens. Think of it as your eye pupil for the lens. lower number the more open, the more light the less DOF. Higher number like f/32 is a pin hole and you will let in less light and get a larger DOF... DOF is Depth of Field think of it as Depth of Focus, how much of your image will be sharp.
Shutter speed is exactly that... how fast your camera captures the photo, the faster you shoot the more crisp or stop action you get.
These are the very very very basics of the camera functions and the foundation for photography. Read up more on these topics then branch out into color modes, flashes, camera settings etc. GL!
The Nikon D40 has lots of preset modes does it not?
why not try putting it on M, check your ISO is on the 200 Nikons like 200, Next is your F stop for example F8 its where most lenses are at there sharpest
then of course you have your shutter speeds
also depends what your photographing and how you want it to turn out
a nice landscape image a smaller DOF is best so F16 or above
for a shallow DOF like a bokeh effect a larger DOF so something like F2.8
Then you need your shutter speed so it would be no good shooting on a bright day with a shutter speed of 100 Aperture F2.8 because you would let to much light in
as a simple thing to remember try setting your shutter speed to the length of your lens
also then you get more in depth of knowing about exposure you will know your camera only sees in grey try it on a white sheet of paper, a black bit and a grey bit in M mode and your see every colour will be grey here is where your EV button comes in for whites + 2 EV for blacks -2 EV
Understand how your camera paints with light will open up a lot more interest in photography, Personally I always tell my camera what to do
I always recommend "National Geographic's Field Guide to Photography" to newcomers to photography. While it won't be D40 specific, it provides a nice overview of how camera's work and how things impact the final results.
A couple of Professional's recommended it to me when I was starting, and it really helped!
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/index.htm
http://www.shortcourses.com/
http://www.post1.net/biow/entry/digital_photography_tutorial_for_nikon_d40_dslr
Here are some good sites to get you started. Hope it helps.
M-Manual (you control both the shutter speed and the aperature)
A-Aperature Priority (You select the aperature that you want and the camera will assign the shutter speed)
S-Shutter Priority (you select the shutter speed, the camera selects the aperature)
I would work in A or S. The book will explain what the advantages are of these two modes.
I use a D40x, (same thing, more pixels, which I don't need). Rockwell will explain. But, a "Dummies book IS helpful.
The D40 is a GREAT camera. Sometimes just playing with it will help you figure it out.
Aperture (f stop) The higher the number, the more in focus, but the less light comes in (portraits look good with a lower "F" stop), as it keeps one specific thing in focus)
Shutter Speed: Faster = less light coming in, but more stop action (Sports)
I recommend playing around in "M". Back when I had hair, that's all we had. I learned on a Pentax K1000 ( anyone remember those?. I still have mine, and it is 30 years old!) Just balance the meter in your camera to somewhere near the middle ( I refer a little under exposure with my D40x. If the shutter speed gets below "30", make sure your hands are steadier, or you may get blur, even with a VR lens (vibration Reduction)
ISO is like film speed: The higher the number, the more light comes in (400 is good for indoors, 100 is good for outdoors). The higher the number, though, the "grainer", or "noisier" the image gets.
Bottom line, photography is all about give and take. To get an advantage in one area, you may be sacrificing something in another. It is a balancing act, and practice helps. At least with digital, you can just delete it. With film, you waited and learned from your mistakes.
Enjoy!
The little guy running on the dial is for fast shutter speeds, and smaller lens openings (f stops) Good for sports. The picture of the lady in the hat is good for portraits (slower shutter speeds, and a larger opening (for portraits). The mountains are good for landscapes.
You may not need to fool with much else. To many gizmos to play with!
i'd recommend it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-D40x-Digital-Field-Guide/dp/0470171480/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266533374&sr=8-1
ISO is light sensitivity, in the day of film you bought your film based on its ISO for the conditions you would shoot. 100 for bright sunny days, 1600 for darker days or inside shooting. 400 was universal for the most part. The higher the ISO the more sensitive to light your camera will be but it will increase noise.
Aperture or F-stop or seen on your camera as f/x.x (ie f/8.0) is the opening of your lens. Think of it as your eye pupil for the lens. lower number the more open, the more light the less DOF. Higher number like f/32 is a pin hole and you will let in less light and get a larger DOF... DOF is Depth of Field think of it as Depth of Focus, how much of your image will be sharp.
Shutter speed is exactly that... how fast your camera captures the photo, the faster you shoot the more crisp or stop action you get.
These are the very very very basics of the camera functions and the foundation for photography. Read up more on these topics then branch out into color modes, flashes, camera settings etc. GL!
why not try putting it on M, check your ISO is on the 200 Nikons like 200, Next is your F stop for example F8 its where most lenses are at there sharpest
then of course you have your shutter speeds
also depends what your photographing and how you want it to turn out
a nice landscape image a smaller DOF is best so F16 or above
for a shallow DOF like a bokeh effect a larger DOF so something like F2.8
Then you need your shutter speed so it would be no good shooting on a bright day with a shutter speed of 100 Aperture F2.8 because you would let to much light in
as a simple thing to remember try setting your shutter speed to the length of your lens
also then you get more in depth of knowing about exposure you will know your camera only sees in grey try it on a white sheet of paper, a black bit and a grey bit in M mode and your see every colour will be grey here is where your EV button comes in for whites + 2 EV for blacks -2 EV
Understand how your camera paints with light will open up a lot more interest in photography, Personally I always tell my camera what to do
DPS has "Photo Nuts and Bolts"
They also list what they consider to be the 10 essential photo eBooks here
David duChemin's books are great for getting you to think about the process of photography and how to see the world. They're available here
A couple of Professional's recommended it to me when I was starting, and it really helped!