Please tell me it gets better...

[MsSpinShady]

I'm sitting here totally bummed out, and I know that you guys are probably the only ones that will understand.

I'm trying to teach myself how to use my Nikon D80 in manual mode. I took it to my DD's school this morning for Grandparents/VIP day, and almost every photo is horrible. The lighting is all wrong or the shots are blurry.

I'm so discouraged right now, but refuse to give up. I will continue to keep shooting in manual, darn it! (Hopefully I'll actually "get it" before the kids all grow up and move away ).

Can anyone else relate?

MsSpinShady

 

[Furgus]

It gets better, trust me. I use, most of the time, A priority. You might want to try some of the different modes that you control. I took a class and our teacher said, "you don't have to control everything, just make sure you control something." Learn your light meter in the viewfinder, that will help you out a lot in manual mode. When it is in the middle, you should have a good exposure. Take some time to practice with it, but don't try something new when it is important, that is almost always a sign of disaster
Just keep trying and learn you camera as best as you can, and your pictures will be great.
Good luck.

 

[KrazyPete]

It gets better!

Shooting in manual mode is a good way to learn how all those camera settings affect exposure. I do the same thing. Check the LCD and the histograms constantly while you are experimenting. I don't consider major family events to be learning opportunities for me and my camera. I switch back to a program mode during important situations.

 

[DVC Jen]

It gets better. I promise. You might want to invest in some books to help out (if you haven't already) I highly recommend Bryan Petersons Digital Photography or Understanding Exposure. They helped me ALOT!

 

[jann1033]

just one thing i have found..on photos i really want i don't experiment. i do experimenting when i am just going out shooting..then i don't really care if they turn out or not cause it's just a learning experience. otherwise it's to depressing to have something i can't repeat not work

 

[YEKCIM]

I *rarely* use manual, for this reason: my camera's meter and electronics are WAY smarter than I am and WAY faster than I am. I shoot in Aperture Preferred or Program virtually all of the time and leave the "driving" to the electronics.

~YEKCIM

 

[jann1033]

I *rarely* use manual, for this reason: my camera's meter and electronics are WAY smarter than I am and WAY faster than I am. I shoot in Aperture Preferred or Program virtually all of the time and leave the "driving" to the electronics.

~YEKCIM

you know this is true of all of us and sometimes i wonder why we ( myself included) insist every shot has to be as difficult as we can make it. we pay tons of money for a camera with a ton of features and then don't want to use them obviously i'm not talking about when you need to know how to adjust something to get the shot you want but really what is wrong with using the p mode sometimes? ( not that i practice what i preach either )

 

[tinksdad]

Great comments so far!! I shoot manual "most" of the time if I have time and the ability to make the tweaks I want by checking the histogram to verify. If things are moving fast then Program will be your best bet.

I like the Furgus's comment of using shutter priority for things that move or aperture for scenes that you want to control DoF as a start to get used to the camera and the process. After awhile, you do tend to get a "feel" for what works.

 

[boBQuincy]

I agree with Yekcim, there is not much reason to use manual except in rare circumstances.
P mode, in conjunction with exposure compensation and program shifting, gives almost all the flexibility of manual without much danger of totally messing up the exposure.

I use manual sometimes for fireworks or moon photos, where the meter has trouble with the dark background. Probably 99% of my photos are taken in P mode, most of those have some exposure compensation or program shifting. The results seem to be good so I see little reason to use manual.

 

[handicap18]

I wouldn't get discouraged. Like others have said it does get better. If you are going to shoot in manual then you have to pay real close attention to the meter in the view finder. If the bars go either side past zero then you might have to make adjustments to get it back to zero.

I don't use manual very often. Only when I know exactly what I want and also know that the camera's functions wont give it to me (ie: long exposures at night).

I mostly use Aperture priority and Program. Aperture when I'm pretty sure of the lighting and know I can get good shutter speeds and depending on what lens. Some lenses are sharper at certain apertures than others. Typically I like to use f/5.6-11. Which also happen to be the "general" f/stops or "who cares f/stops", but also get very sharp results.

A lot of times I'll just put it in Progam and only choose which ISO I want to shoot with and more often than not the camera's meter will get the shutter and aperture correct.

As someone already said, the meteres in today's dSLR's are very good. No harm in letting it do the job for you. Don't kill yourself and lose pictures trying to get things done in Manual. No harm in experimenting in that mode and knowing how to use it, but no one will fault you for not using it all the time either.

Keep up the learning. We all are continually learning this thing called photography.

 

[photo_chick]

I *rarely* use manual, for this reason: my camera's meter and electronics are WAY smarter than I am and WAY faster than I am. I shoot in Aperture Preferred or Program virtually all of the time and leave the "driving" to the electronics.

~YEKCIM

I agree, that meter knows more than I do! If I want to shot full on manual I will get my old Pentax out!
I use program or a single priority mose often so I can change one thing that I want to. Like if I want a wide aperture, or a slow shutter speed... I choose to change jsut that and let the camera adjust everything accordingly. I dont use the total manual mode very often. Only if I use my hand held light meter or for another special reason, but I still go off the readings I get from a meter, I don't normally just pull it out of thin air.

Of course I do bracket around what the meter tells me often, but again my starting point is still what the meter says.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I would suggest that you learn one control at a time rather than jumping straight into Manual Mode.

Try shutter priority mode and spend time learning about shutter speeds. Try aperture priority mode and time learning about apertures. Try program mode and mess about with exposure compensation to learn about exposure levels. Try program mode and mess around with ISO to get a sense for how each ISO performs.

Everyone learns differently, so you'll have to determine what works best for you. For me, I learn best when I concentrate on one thing, get comfortable with it, and then move on to the next thing. Once I've gotten all the basics down, I start combining things. If I try to master everything all at once, I just get confused and frustrated.

I'm going through the same process right now with a new video camera. I'm overwhelmed by all of the controls and things to worry about. Instead of getting upset, I'm just taking it slowly and trying to deal with just one or two things for each outing. It's tempting to jump in and try and do it all at once, but I know that I can't do that and succeed.

 

[Lizziejane]

Oh yeah, I can relate! And please don't interpret my reply as a self-proclamation that I'm "there", because I'm still very much a beginner. But like everyone else has said, it does seem to get better!

The first time I used my 400D, I was so excited because when I viewed them on the camera, they looked great. You can imagine my dismay when we got home from vacation and discovered at least 2/3 of them were totally useless - blurry, too dark, blown out, etc. etc. I was in manual the whole time.

I've since learned, if shooting something that's a "take it now or it's gone forever" type of picture, get out of manual! Use an auto mode best suited for that situation. I recently tried to catch shots of birds hopping around the yard and quickly discovered that sports mode suited it best - not only did the camera adjust the shutter and aperature, but also the ISO and focus lock. All I had to worry about was trying to control my camera shake! Sports mode shoots at higher shutter speeds so shake is greatly reduced.

Having said all that, I honestly think I've learned more by spending the last two months in mostly manual mode. At first, it feels like nothing is sinking in, then slowly you'll notice you're starting to piece things together. I'm still not even close to consistantly decent shots, but when I do get one good one in manual, boy, there's no feeling like it! Remember - you'll learn far more by the mistakes you make!

And I don't know why, but I was holding off using a tripod for the longest time. My brain kept saying something stupid like "...real photographers don't need tripods". D-uh! The difference is incredible - if what you're shooting allows you to use a tripod, do it. Obviously there are instances where it won't be possible, so in those situations, take several shots. I read one tip that suggests using continuous shooting because if you take 5 or 6 at rapid speed, chances are one of them will be nicely in focus

Take a few shots and check the histogram. Even though I was following the exposure meter in the view finder, I've discovered (at least with the kit lens) that it consistently under-exposes. I've learned that in some situations, I need to ignore what the camera tells me to do, and instead compensate the exposure a little over what it recommends, and the results have been better. I can't repeat this enough because this is where I've learned the most - check the histogram!!!

Jane

 

[claribella]

I don't have a Nikon but I can say I was also frustrated when I got my Kodak. I couldn't get the setting right and the first time I took it to Disneyland I got nothing but blur and blah!

I read up and learned the settings and I'm doing better now. Still having trouble with night shots but doing better. You'll get the hang of it. Practice. Thank goodness it's digital because you can just delete bad ones.

 

[jann1033]

i just thought of something...op do you mean the m setting on the dial or the av/tv/p side of the dial? i was thinking the m but maybe you are talking the creative modes? just wondering

 

[DizneyNutz]

I'm sitting here totally bummed out, and I know that you guys are probably the only ones that will understand.

I'm trying to teach myself how to use my Nikon D80 in manual mode. I took it to my DD's school this morning for Grandparents/VIP day, and almost every photo is horrible. The lighting is all wrong or the shots are blurry.

I'm so discouraged right now, but refuse to give up. I will continue to keep shooting in manual, darn it! (Hopefully I'll actually "get it" before the kids all grow up and move away ).

Can anyone else relate?

MsSpinShady

Let me start out by saying that I am a beginning photographer also. I have the Canon Rebel XTI (recently purchased). With that being said, did you photograph in RAW mode? If so, your pictures that are special to you may not be a total bust. Raw mode is not meant to be a crutch for us less than knowledgeable about how to use our cameras, but it has helped me save many photos taken of our new grandson, that we can never relive that moment. If you shoot in RAW and get a program such as photoshop elements or many others, then you can often save those mostly discardable photos that you can't re-shoot, while we are still learning to use our camera. JMHO. Hope it helps save your memories.

 

[photo_chick]

Yes, RAW can be pretty handy to help with exposure and white balance issues. I pretty much only shoot RAW now.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I *rarely* use manual, for this reason: my camera's meter and electronics are WAY smarter than I am and WAY faster than I am. I shoot in Aperture Preferred or Program virtually all of the time and leave the "driving" to the electronics.

~YEKCIM

Same here... I shoot in aperture mode as well. I control the depth of field and let the camera do the metering for exposure. THen check the histogram often to see how well each shot is exposed.

Mikeeee

 

[boBQuincy]

I'm not sure what the big thing is about using manual exposure, maybe it's a sign that we have "arrived" as photographers.
I have been involved with photography since when manual exposure was all we had and although it is sometimes essential to have this feature I sure don't miss the old days. Auto exposure is great! And it is not exactly auto.

By twirling the dial on the back of the camera (30D) the exposure can be adjusted up or down by up to 2 stops. By twirling the dial on top of the camera the exposure can be shifted, to select any appropriate combination of shutter and aperture. By doing this, any reasonably correct exposure that can be set in M (or Av or Tv) can also be set using P and the two dials.

Not in every case, but in the vast majority of cases, and the exceptions are usually apparent, like fireworks or the moon, where there is a largely predominant background that greatly contrasts with the main (but very small) subject.

The next reason that Auto is not really automatic is the metering depends greatly on where the camera is aimed. Aim at the sky and it is likely to result in underexposure for most of the scene, aim at the shadows and overexposure is likely.
For this reason, my thought is: learn manual, but use auto.

 

[jann1033]

Let me start out by saying that I am a beginning photographer also. I have the Canon Rebel XTI (recently purchased). With that being said, did you photograph in RAW mode? If so, your pictures that are special to you may not be a total bust. Raw mode is not meant to be a crutch for us less than knowledgeable about how to use our cameras, but it has helped me save many photos taken of our new grandson, that we can never relive that moment. If you shoot in RAW and get a program such as photoshop elements or many others, then you can often save those mostly discardable photos that you can't re-shoot, while we are still learning to use our camera. JMHO. Hope it helps save your memories.

not sure why you thought this was flame worthy but the only thing i don't know if raw would help the op with is one problem she said were her photos are blurry,which must be from to slow a speed and/or camera shakeand /or subject moving i guess( maybe something else i don't know) rather than an exposure etc problem she could correct with raw... i totally agree, raw covers a multitude of sins and since i started shooting in it i have a lot less clunkers...would love to think it was because i was wising up but..well at least i've wised up enough to shoot raw