Beginners Need Help??

[SimonCR]

Hey Everyone,

I love nothing more than teaching photography which I do from my studio in the UK. I wanted to start this thread to help people with their pictures at Disney. No Question is Stupid only the person who doesn't ask it.

Looking forward to you picking my brains.

Si

 

[dbenlee]

First, thanks for starting this thread and your willingness to share your knowledge.

I have a Nikon D3200 that I have been learning to use in manual mode and have been pleased with my results so far. I am having a problem finding a resource explaining the use and settings of an attachable flash. Also can you recommend a decent attachable flash for occasional use that won't break the bank.

 

[SimonCR]

Well that is a massive question for my 1st one LOL

OK so first off the D3200 is a great camera for a beginner starting off in manual. Would love to see some of your results please share them.

Flashguns are a minefield when you first start. There are a couple of other things you realistically need in order to use your flash effectively.

1. Some kind of soft box (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altura-Soft...388?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35df96d75c) for example

2. A Flash Meter - This does not have to be anything expensive. I even take mine to the parks with me to use.

3. A flash trigger cable or remote flash trigger - This means your camera does not have to be attached to your camera

One of the big mistakes people make is they fire the flash directly at the subject, however think about natural light is that horizontal, of course not! It is best to try and fire your flash 45o to the subject (left or right) and 45o down. This will give you a more realistic look. Your other option is to bounce the flash off the ceiling or a wall.

Have a look at Bernie's video its quite good

For settings check out Karls Video - a great guy to work with

Now regarding purchasing a flashgun that is another endless question. If I am honest I always purchase Nikons Speedlights, however this is a great gun that won't break the bank - Neewer VK750 II TTL Speedlight Flash.

I hope this had been of some help and please feel free to keep firing your questions at me.

Simon

 

[SimonCR]

Just thought I would post some of my shots. Please feel free to comment.

Title: The Meeting of Minds

 

[dbenlee]

Thanks for your response. Sorry it was such a minefield for your first one, but I really appreciate the information and the videos. They have given me some good information to work with. I like the pictures you posted. One of my next projects is to try fireworks shows. I've got my notes and suggestions, its just a matter of going to a fireworks show now.

Here's a few of my photos. Any pointers or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Aulani June 2014


Aulani Balcony looking at see at dusk (2014)


Dolphin in Galveston Bay


Lunar eclipse April 15, 2014


Lunar eclipse (blood moon) April 15, 2014

 

[Belle612]

Hello! I have a Nikon D3000 and in addition to the lens it came with, I also have a Nikon-55-200mm Non-Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens. I need some tips on how to take better shots in the dark rides, and also the fireworks and nighttime shows. I really struggle with figuring out the correct settings for both of these. I see a lot of people posting awesome shots of dark scenes indoors and nighttime shots, and am wondering how I can achieve this. Perhaps it would be necessary to use another lens all together? Thanks!

 

[boBQuincy]

Hello! I have a Nikon D3000 and in addition to the lens it came with, I also have a Nikon-55-200mm Non-Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens. I need some tips on how to take better shots in the dark rides, and also the fireworks and nighttime shows. I really struggle with figuring out the correct settings for both of these. I see a lot of people posting awesome shots of dark scenes indoors and nighttime shots, and am wondering how I can achieve this. Perhaps it would be necessary to use another lens all together? Thanks!

There is a dark ride thread that may help:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/help-out-a-beginner-photographer-dark-ride-shots.3393569/

The simple answer is that your lenses (assuming the one not listed is the 18-55 kit lens) are not really good for dark ride photography. This is one of the most demanding situations for equipment and also requires some special techniques. A f/1.8 or faster lens is usually required for most dark rides.

Some photographers set the shutter speed to the slowest they feel will give acceptable results and deal with the occasional underexposure, some set the aperture wide open and take whatever shutter speed it gives. Either way the ISO is usually set to maximum.

With a small lighted area often surrounded by a lot of dark our meters have difficulty figuring out a good exposure. I like spot metering for this. Also spot focus since there is often not a lot to focus on other than one small lit area. And if the photos are not what you wanted, well darn, you just have to ride again!

 

[sk8jdgca]

Hello
I have a Nikkon d3200 also. I bought one additional lens for it (Nikkon 18-55mm)

I find it hard to take pictures inside in a dark area ( for example in an aquarium) I'd also like to be able to be able to take pictures of my daughter dance recital we can't use a flash.

What settings should I be using? Is there a good reasonable priced lens I should be buying? I keep trying to read everything but just keep getting confused

 

[havoc315]

Hello
I have a Nikkon d3200 also. I bought one additional lens for it (Nikkon 18-55mm)

I find it hard to take pictures inside in a dark area ( for example in an aquarium) I'd also like to be able to be able to take pictures of my daughter dance recital we can't use a flash.

What settings should I be using? Is there a good reasonable priced lens I should be buying? I keep trying to read everything but just keep getting confused

You need to get more light into the camera. There are 3 parameters that control the amount of light.

1 -- ISO. You can manually boost the ISO as high as possible. The downside, high ISO is lower image quality. You get to a point where images become noisy and grainy.
2 -- Shutter speed. If you use a slower shutter, you let more light into the camera. The problem is, if you are handholding your camera, and if your shutter speed is too slow, the tiniest tremor blurs the photo. You can get around this with a tripod -- In the aquarium for example, even a small portable tripod will let you use a very slow shutter speed, getting in more light. You can take very very slow shutter speed shots, and thereby use low ISO and any aperture you want (see below).

For example, this Museum shot was taken with a shutter speed of 13 seconds. (not 1/13.. 13 whole seconds):

museumnightrx-29.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

2 seconds:

museumnightrx-35.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Problem with a super slow shutter speed -- Even if you have a tripod, your subject can't be moving. So this method is useless for a dance recital. For a dance recital, you will be shooting at speeds like 1/200 and faster.

3-- Aperture. Your lens is a hole that lets in light. The bigger the hole, the more light it lets in. You can change the size of the hole on the lens, though each lens has a maximum size hole. Premium lenses have bigger holes. To add confusion, this "aperture" is measured in reverse -- a large number is a small hole, and a small number is a large hole.
Your 18-55 lens is "variable aperture" -- meaning the maximum hole size is dependent on how zoomed in you are. At 18mm, the maximum hole size is 3.5 -- which is ok. At 55mm, the maximum hole size is 5.6 -- which is pretty poor.

Within the lens you already own -- you want to set the aperture at it's smallest number (which is the biggest size). And you will be able to get a smaller number, if the lens is totally zoomed out.

This is also the best spot to upgrade lenses -- for under $200, you add the 50/1.8g lens. This lens has a single focal length -- 50mm, so it's about the same as when your 18-55 is zoomed in. But the maximum aperture is 1.8 -- So it can let in about 8 times as much light as your 5.6 lens. So yes... letting in 8 times as much light is a big upgrade. And you will be able to get shots completely impossible with your existing lens.