How can I get brighter indoor pictures?

[Aidensmommy22]

I have a Nikon D3000 with the kit lens. I always use the auto setting but hope to take some photography classes one day to learn more about manual settings. When I take pictures, especially indoor pictures, they turn out dark. Do I just need an external flash? I'm not even sure what I should be looking for. Not wanting to spend a ton since I just use it for recreational purposes. Any help would be much appreciated.

I would also love to take more crisp pictures like some I have seen here on the disboards. Is a certain lens needed to achieve this?
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43656239&postcount=2199

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Most of those pics seem to have the ISO turned up quite high, which would be a great place for you to start. Then try opening up your aperture as much as you can to get the longest shutter speeds you can...

 

[wbeem]

The problem with auto modes is that you don't think about your exposure. Then when you want to solve a problem, you don't know what to change.

Learn to work in Manual mode. It forces you to think about the problems with your exposure and, with some experience, you immediately know what to do in order to fix your problem.

With your auto mode, you don't know what ISO, Aperture or Shutter speed the camera is setting. The camera doesn't know if you're shooting a pizza or a person, either. You can't trust it to make a good exposure decision in poor lighting.

Start using your light meter. You can see from it whether you're overexposed or underexposed. Then you can decide if you need to raise your ISO, if your aperture is open enough, is your shutter speed high enough, etc.

For food photography, one of the best things you can do is shoot it with sunlight - either outside or using window light. If you take it outside, be careful about the time of day because of the harsh shadows midday.

 

[photo_chick]

I have a Nikon D3000 with the kit lens. I always use the auto setting but hope to take some photography classes one day to learn more about manual settings. When I take pictures, especially indoor pictures, they turn out dark. Do I just need an external flash? I'm not even sure what I should be looking for. Not wanting to spend a ton since I just use it for recreational purposes. Any help would be much appreciated.

I would also love to take more crisp pictures like some I have seen here on the disboards. Is a certain lens needed to achieve this?
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43656239&postcount=2199

Learn how ISO, aperture and shutter speed work to make an exposure. Understandng this is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your photography, and it's free. Once you know that, it will tell you how to get the shots you want. You can get indoor shots in average lighting with a kit lens without using a flash, but you will have to get off auto.

 

[Aidensmommy22]

Thanks everyone for the info. Can anyone tell me a good place to start? I know nothing about the manual modes. Is there a website that can help me to learn things? I'm sorry, I feel like such a dummy because I don't know anything about my camera. All of the settings scare me to death. I have got to figure it out somehow though.

 

[boBQuincy]

Auto mode tries to make the picture look like it was taken in bright light. In dim lighting Auto should increase the exposure and/or ISO to get a picture that is brighter than the scene actually was. I am not sure why your camera is turning out dark pictures but Auto mode is probably not to blame. *Unless* there are some bright lights in the scene, then the cameras meter takes those into account and averages the entire scene, underexposing the dark parts.

Following the meter reading and setting the exposure accordingly will give the same exposure in Auto, Aperture, Shutter, or Manual. It is the same meter no matter what mode the camera is in. The key is our interpretation of the meter reading and setting the exposure to something other than "0".
Try Program mode and use + exposure compensation to add more light to the exposure. Look at the histogram to see if the exposure is shifted towards the left (dark side), if it is then more exposure is usually required.

 

[photo_chick]

Thanks everyone for the info. Can anyone tell me a good place to start? I know nothing about the manual modes. Is there a website that can help me to learn things? I'm sorry, I feel like such a dummy because I don't know anything about my camera. All of the settings scare me to death. I have got to figure it out somehow though.

Your camera manual has a lot of great information to start with.

 

[wbeem]

Thanks everyone for the info. Can anyone tell me a good place to start? I know nothing about the manual modes. Is there a website that can help me to learn things? I'm sorry, I feel like such a dummy because I don't know anything about my camera. All of the settings scare me to death. I have got to figure it out somehow though.

PM your email address to me and I'll send you a free ebook to get you started.

 

[mom2rtk]

Reading "Understand Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is another great place to start.

 

[Shutterbug]

Learn how ISO, aperture and shutter speed work to make an exposure. Understandng this is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your photography, and it's free. Once you know that, it will tell you how to get the shots you want. You can get indoor shots in average lighting with a kit lens without using a flash, but you will have to get off auto.

Yes! The photographic triangle! Learning how when you change one point on the triangle how it affects the other two points. Once you get it, you will have one of those "A HA" moments!

 

[Bonniec]

Reading "Understand Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is another great place to start.

This is a great book for learning.

 

[handicap18]

Thanks everyone for the info. Can anyone tell me a good place to start? I know nothing about the manual modes. Is there a website that can help me to learn things? I'm sorry, I feel like such a dummy because I don't know anything about my camera. All of the settings scare me to death. I have got to figure it out somehow though.

"Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I bought it years ago and still refer to it occasionally.

There is absolutely nothing to be scared of. You won't break anything.

Till that book arrives on your door step, get a tripod....

Put the camera on the tripod and take a bunch of pictures of the same thing, each time changing the numbers to see what happens.

Start with the ISO. Start with 200, then go through all the f/stops (put the camera on A). Then go up to ISO 400 and go though all the f/stops again. Then 800, etc... till you get to your highest ISO (3200 maybe).

Then do the same with Shutter speed (S). Again start with ISO 200 and go from there. Start with 1 second and speed up from there till you get to 1/4000th.

If you don't have a tripod then set your camera up on a few books near the edge of your table and find a stationary subject, i.e.: big stuffed animal/doll, flowers, big bottle of soda, anything.

Also do the same thing with the flash. Turn the flash on and run through the settings.

Using the same subject in the same spot for this will give you an understanding of what each setting does and will also show you that you can't break the camera by using all the different buttons.

Have fun.

 

[Aidensmommy22]

"Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I bought it years ago and still refer to it occasionally.

There is absolutely nothing to be scared of. You won't break anything.

Till that book arrives on your door step, get a tripod....

Put the camera on the tripod and take a bunch of pictures of the same thing, each time changing the numbers to see what happens.

Start with the ISO. Start with 200, then go through all the f/stops (put the camera on A). Then go up to ISO 400 and go though all the f/stops again. Then 800, etc... till you get to your highest ISO (3200 maybe).

Then do the same with Shutter speed (S). Again start with ISO 200 and go from there. Start with 1 second and speed up from there till you get to 1/4000th.

If you don't have a tripod then set your camera up on a few books near the edge of your table and find a stationary subject, i.e.: big stuffed animal/doll, flowers, big bottle of soda, anything.

Also do the same thing with the flash. Turn the flash on and run through the settings.

Using the same subject in the same spot for this will give you an understanding of what each setting does and will also show you that you can't break the camera by using all the different buttons.

Have fun.

Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I can't find my original owners manual that came with the camera. I will definitely be getting this book to help me out. I have been too scared to mess with too many buttons in fear that I will break something but you have reassured me that I won't do that, lol. Thanks so much!

 

[Aidensmommy22]

I'm looking on Amazon & it looks like there are 2 different books. Which one should I get?

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding...7126/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326683477&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding...9390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326683632&sr=8-1

 

[My2Girls66]

the second link, the book with the sunset cover, is the newest version.

 

[LordAthens]

The lake / sunset cover, that is the newest, 3rd edition.

 

[lucifie]

"Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I bought it years ago and still refer to it occasionally.

There is absolutely nothing to be scared of. You won't break anything.

Till that book arrives on your door step, get a tripod....

Put the camera on the tripod and take a bunch of pictures of the same thing, each time changing the numbers to see what happens.

Start with the ISO. Start with 200, then go through all the f/stops (put the camera on A). Then go up to ISO 400 and go though all the f/stops again. Then 800, etc... till you get to your highest ISO (3200 maybe).

Then do the same with Shutter speed (S). Again start with ISO 200 and go from there. Start with 1 second and speed up from there till you get to 1/4000th.

If you don't have a tripod then set your camera up on a few books near the edge of your table and find a stationary subject, i.e.: big stuffed animal/doll, flowers, big bottle of soda, anything.

Also do the same thing with the flash. Turn the flash on and run through the settings.

Using the same subject in the same spot for this will give you an understanding of what each setting does and will also show you that you can't break the camera by using all the different buttons.

Have fun.

I love this idea! I'm a recreational photographer (and I use the term "photographer" very loosely) and I have a nicer P&S. I mostly use it on Auto, but I've been starting to play around with different settings. I need to try this to learn more about what the manual settings do. I've never been thrilled with the camera, but I'm sure some of it, maybe even most of it (although my previous camera had similar features and I was happier with the photos I got from that one) is me.

 

[NLD]

You have great suggestions here already.

Since you mentioned the manual...

You can download a pdf manual for the D3000 here.

For me, the "aha!" moment came after reading Understanding Exposure. I had read my manual first, but it wasn't much help at that point. The manual teaches you how to use your camera--what each button and menu item does--but it doesn't really teach you the fundamentals of photography. So it didn't help me to know how to increase ISO on my camera until I knew what ISO was and why I would want to increase or decrease it.

So with that said, I'd suggest starting with Understanding Exposure. But keep the manual and camera onhand, so that as you begin to understand the exposure triangle, you can take what you learn in the book and apply it to your particular camera. That way when you read "decreasing f stop results in xyz effect," you can grab your camera and manual and try it yourself, on the spot.


Have fun! It's confusing at first, but once the lightbulb moments start coming, you'll be so glad. And they WILL come.

 

[YesDear]

I have something you can do that is fun and easy to do.

Go and get you an inexpensive stuffed black bear and white bear. Put them in a scene that you would want to take a picture normally. Inside, outside, in shade.

Using manual take a picture of the white bear at different fstops and shutter speed combinations. Then do the same with the black bear, then do the same with both of them together. Write down each setting then look at the pictures and pay attention to the results.

I am a visual learner and this forces you to actually do the different shots.

Like I said it can be fun!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have a Nikon D3000 with the kit lens. I always use the auto setting but hope to take some photography classes one day to learn more about manual settings. When I take pictures, especially indoor pictures, they turn out dark. Do I just need an external flash? I'm not even sure what I should be looking for. Not wanting to spend a ton since I just use it for recreational purposes. Any help would be much appreciated.

I would also love to take more crisp pictures like some I have seen here on the disboards. Is a certain lens needed to achieve this?
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43656239&postcount=2199

Your post is a great example to people thinking that getting a "better" camera is automatically going to improve their pictures.

When realistically, what's going to improve your pictures more than anything is learning the basics of photography and camera operation - regardless of whatever camera you have.

This is great news for people who really don't want to jump into the world of large, expensive, complicated gear. Learn principles of photography/exposure and you will improve your pictures significantly with the camera you already have (with some limitations).

I'm not even sure what I should be looking for.

I also think, and I can assure you I've been there myself, that hearing terms like metering, f stops, manual controls, etc., is absolutely confounding to people who have no clue what any of those mean, as I suspect is the case for the OP. Am I on the right track, Aidensmommy? Hey, there's no shame in not knowing. When you're really new to this, you don't even know what you don't know.

Bottom line: you have a great camera, and are certainly capable of getting shots at least as good as that pizza shot. The key is, you just need to learn how. For some, that means taking a class. For others, it means reading and studying on your own. And for others, it means getting out there and playing around with the camera, learning as you go. For most, it's a combination of these. But there's no substitue for putting the time in.

Not wanting to spend a ton since I just use it for recreational purposes.

I know you meant money, but I'm substituting it with time.

Can you get decent pictures, on Auto, with kit lenses, with a camera like yours? Sure you can. Will you be really frustrated sometimes? Sure you will. Just about everyone is, even those who do put the time in. But truly, it's when you put the time in (and for many, when you also add some better lenses) that the magic begins.

Understanding Exposure is a great place to start, as is doing exercises like the ones suggested here. If there is a Dummies book for your camera, that can be really helpful, too. Good luck in your quest for better photos!