I want to earn the term 'photographer'

[jess9021]

i really :heart: photography and i have the passion on it. when i was i kid and until now and one time my friend advices me about the filmschool in mactan, you can learn a lot in filmschool they will teach basic photography up to the highest level that you can really say worth the cost coz you can really exercise your talent.. and passion in photography.. so if ur interested visit the http://www.filmschool.ph. .......

 

[kdabbagh]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Sideburns, I was able to use the wheel to change the F stops, but does that mean I can't change the shutter speed?

 

[kdabbagh]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Sideburns, I was able to use the wheel to change the F stops, but does that mean I can't change the shutter speed?

 

[kdabbagh]

well what do you wana know the combined experience of everyone on this forum is much better than any book, i can tell you that!

well heres a low down on what you mentioned at the top!

HDR: High Dynamic Range - its a technique where you take (for example) one shot underexposed, one shot exposed as the meter shows it and one shot over exposed. You then combine them together in a final image which therefore has a MUCH greater dynamic lighting range. Thats not a great explaination.. but its the jist of it!

Panning: When you follow the subject with your camera in a smooth horozontal motion (usually anyway) and select a slightly slower shutter speed than usual... maybe 1/60 of a second in stead of 1/250... therefore the background becomes blurred, giving a sense of movement but the subject stays sharp due to you following it in a "panning" motion.

Shutter speed and aperture are essentially the two elements that determine how much light is let onto your camera's sensor for how long.

Shutter speed is measured in 10ths 100ths and 1000th of a second usually... and then into seconds when its a long exposure (for night landscapes for example).

So a fast shutter speed (to capture a footballer maybe) would hve to be about 1/500 of a second in order to totally freeze him - and get no blur.

A slow shutter speed of like 1/8 of a second might be needed to capture a darker a scene like a party. remember though that at this sort of speed, it becomes hard to hand hold it without blur. so either use a tripod or increase the ISO (which makes the sensor more sensative to light, and thus allows faster shutter speeds to be used... remember this increases noise in the photo though)

Aperture is the part of the camera that determines how much light gets into the camera. Confusingly, smaller numbers let in more light, and larger numbers let in less Aperture is measured in "F-Stops"

SO for example an aperture of F/1.8 is a very large aperture and therefore lets in a lot of light. Whereas an aperture of F/22 is a small aperture and lets in a small amount of light!

Aperture (along with things like distance from subject) effect a thing called "DEPTH OF FIELD". A large DOF is obtainted by using a small aperture (like F/22) so in a shot taken at F/22, most of the secene will be pin sharp... great for lanscapes etc.

In comparision, if you wanted to get shallow DOF, you would use a large aperture like F/1.8 or F/3.5 or something. This would result in the subject in focus comeing out pin sharp, but the background (and sometimes bits of the foreground) drifting into a pleasing blur.. a nice technique for isolating a subject for a portrait.

theres a start lol.... hope it kinda helps... you may well allready know alot of it


Dave

Dave, to be specific in what I want to know, for Panning for example, how do I select this slower shutter speed. Is that done by selecting a higher apeture? like F22?

 

[Doulos]

Dave, to be specific in what I want to know, for Panning for example, how do I select this slower shutter speed. Is that done by selecting a higher apeture? like F22?

No. Your camera has different modes. Apature Priority(A) where the camera will automatically select the shutter speed and pure manual where you can set both. Go to M Mode and poke around on the menus, there is a way to set both in pure manual.


Greg

 

[Fate]

You can go to your shutter priority mode to select the slower shutter speed needed to do a good pan.

It'l usually be an "S" on the dial.

 

[Mav]

The best thing you can do is just post some samples of photos where things went wrong, state what you were trying to accomplish, and be sure to leave the EXIF (shot) data in the photo so that we can grab it, or post it manually:

ie
- shooting mode (P/S/A/M, or the scene modes)
- lens you were using
- shutter speed
- focal length
- aperture
- ISO

Set up properly the D40/x will give you tons of great photos, although panning shots of things in motion is definitely going to be very tricky to get right! (at work right now where the firewall blocks most thigns, so apologies if you did already post some samples. Will take another look when I get home)

 

[NikonLady52]

Probably the best thing you can do is carry your manual (you got with the camera) with you at all times. I have mine with me 24-7..It is a useful tool and explains every feature of your camera and what it does.. Experiment, shoot lots of photos, take notes on the settings you used and learn from your mistakes. It is the best way to go about it..

 

[Bevel Heaven]

dood

read your manual

Ad go pick up a DVD by MAGIC LANTERN DVD GUIDES - get the one that says for NIKON D40 and D40x

It is easy to follow and will get you doing all the things your D40 can do. I am a learn by doing kind of guy so naturally that is what I preach...

Get the DVD, read your manual, take lots of photos........ EZ and fun too.

 

[paterson00]

Hey, i got the D40, (6.1 rather than the 10.1) but basically the same camera.

The manual will of course tell you all you need to know, but you wanna get out there and shoot right? not sit there reading a book? Behind the shoot and focus button are two more buttons, The dial on the back of the camera to the top left of yoru screen will do the adjusting of the settings for most things. In manual mode the dial will adjust the shutter speed and then holding down the right one of the two buttons i just mentioned and turning the wheel will adjust the apature / opening / f stop value, ie how "open" the eye of the camera is, again, lower number wider eye, more light = quicker shutter speed capabilities = more able to take a less blurred shot, great when shooting moving objects or shooting without a tripod to take up the "shake" in your hand. Dont dispear i have only had my D40 about 6 weeks and already know loads about it from doing exactly what you are doing,,,, asking around.... stick at it. Check out kenrockwells website for a great breakdown on your camera here. The camera is a D40 which is exactly the same as yours with a slightly worse pixel level http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/index.htm