Beginner Mistakes To Avoid?

[CrazyChef]

Hey!

I just picked up a Nikon D3300 package, as well as the WU-1a wireless adapter and a Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G macro lens. My only experience with photography so far has been with my Galaxy S6 phone.

What mistakes are commonly made by people like myself who are new to photography, and what are the best habits to get into early on?

Thanks!

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
The biggest mistake would be to drop the camera before taking your first image .
What kind of images do you want to create?
The 40mm f2.8 Macro is a great lens, but it won´t take images with the same field of view that your phone did. So there are wideangle, standard and telephoto lenses. Yours is in the standard range, while smartphones usually are in the wideangle range.
Other than that, there are no real mistakes to be made.
Read about aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get a basic understanding of what you can do with your DSLR and how each of these factors can change the look of your image and not only changes the brightness.
Especially slow shutter speed is often a reason for blurry images due to camera shake or objects in the scene that move. Same goes for Auto-Focus. There are different settings in your camera. Most people use Auto, but since your camera doesn´t know what your preferred object in a scene is, it may choose the right object, or it may not. If you want to control the sharpness, get yourself familiar with the auto-focus options your camera offers.
That´s just a few points to start out.

 

[tirediron]

You've acquired a camera so you've already made the biggest mistake any beginner can!

At this stage, there are no mistakes, just learning opportunities. Take heed of the advice @photo1x1.com has posted and keep practicing!

 

[Derrel]

Hmmmm...mistakes....so many potential mistakes. Over-sharpening images, using too much noise reduction, being afraid to move the ISO to 400 to 1600 in bad light; stubbornly sticking to ISO 100 or 200 when that means blurry shots due to too slow a shutter speed; failure to use flash or a reflector in many situations where the light is weak or poor; not making backups of precious digital files; shooting in JPG-only mode on important shoots; failing to understand the camera's operational modes; not reading the manual fully; a number of other bad habits can be found.

Good habits? Knowing the camera's various modes; making backups; shooting in RAW capture mode; using flash as needed; learning how to develop RAW Files using Lightroom; learning how to approach shooting situations with the knowledge learned from the millions of others who've gone before you; realizing that shooter education and practice is the key to improving one's photography more so than new gear or new lenses; learning how to SEE lighting conditions, and learning how to USE LIGHT in different ways; understanding the fundamentals of photography as taught by the late great John Hedgecoe in his 32 how-to books on classical photography.

Photographic technique and theory has not changed much in 50 years; the **cameras** are different, yes, but photography as taught in the Hedgecoe books is a field of endeavor. Newer books and YouTube are long on digitial imaging concepts, but lean on photography techniques and theory and practices and ways of approaching LIGHT.

Learn about photography from the books of the previous 50 years. Photography is the key to making good pictures. Digital imaging is the tools and the software, but not the theory of the field. Digitial imaging is to photography as the microwave oven and frozen box meals are to fine cuisine and French cooking. Most beginners get wayyyyyyyy too obsessed over digitial imaging buzzwords like "workflow", and "Photoshop", and so on, when what they really ought to focus their efforts on is classical photography concepts, like perspective; depth of field; lens selection; composition; wide-angle lens use; telephoto lens use; basic optical fundamentals like extension tubes and focusing properly, and routine field methods like tripod use, and flash bouncing, and how to get people to relax in front of the camera, how to direct people, and so on.

 

[CrazyChef]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies!

My main purpose is to shoot close ups of coils - I own a custom vaping coil business. Most of these coils are about 8-10mm in length, and maybe 4-5mm in width. Additionally, I would like to take photos of other vaping products I sell, as well as product detail close ups for Instagram pics.

 

[Derrel]

I would spend $5 on this and browse through it, looking at the hundreds of illustrations and their brief captions and how-to instructions. You will learn a huge amount about photography.

John Hedgecoe's Complete Photography Course: John Hedgecoe: 9780671475017: Amazon.com: Books

Not digital imaging, but real, traditional, classical photography. The stuff we do today with a d-slr, instea dof a film camera.

 

[table1349]

Biggest mistake, coming back in two weeks wanting to know what you need to do because you have decided you are ready to become a professional photographer.

 

[CrazyChef]

Biggest mistake, coming back in two weeks wanting to know what you need to do because you have decided you are ready to become a professional photographer

Yeah, I have a habit of jumping in to things head-on and full force. Fortunately, I won't have time for a photography career with the vaping business.

 

[photo1x1.com]

I had to google vaping coils .
So buying a macro lens was a good choice! Your lens has a 1:1 reproduction ratio. So the 8-10mm of your coils can be reproduced at a size of 8-10mm on the cameras sensor. Since the Sensor of the D3300 has a height of 15,6mm - that would mean that your coils will take up around half of the height of the final image - if you get as close as possible to the object. The close focus distance of your lens is 163mm - that is usually measured from the sensor. Subtract 68mm from the lens and around 10-20mm (a guess) from sensor to the opening of your camera, that would result in 85mm. So you can achieve the maximum magnification when the object is 85mm from the front of your lens.
That makes it rather difficult to light. Some use a macro ringlight for that purpose.
You will find out that getting this close, your depth of focus is very shallow (the front of the coil may be sharp, but the back is not). Closing your aperture (increasing the aperture number) will increase the depth of focus. But when you close the aperture, less light will be captured by your sensor (like closing the blinds of a room). You have to compensate that with a longer shutter speed (the longer the shutter is open, the brighter your image gets).
Next you will find out that if you use rather long shutter speeds, you can´t hold the camera stable enough to not shake it and create blurry images. So you need something to place your camera on (the best option is a tripod, but you can find workarounds if you are on a budget). Keep in mind that just touching the camera to release the shutter (even if it sits on a tripod) can introduce camera shake to an image. So you´d better use the self timer of your camera to take the image.
So, that´s probably a lot to digest for the start. Don´t get overwhelmed - just take your camera and start shooting. And yes like Derrel suggested: reading the manual helps a lot

 

[CrazyChef]

Thanks! You can see the pics I'm talking about on my website - PureCoils.com and on my IG @purecoils
They were all taken with a Galaxy S6 phone.

I bought a LimoStudio 16" x 16" Table Top Photo Photography Studio Lighting Light Tent Kit and the LimoStudio Acrylic Black & White Reflective Display Table Riser from Amazon. The D3300 bundle includes a standard tripod and a tabletop version. From what I understand, I can use the WU-1a phone app for the shutter release to help decrease any movement that may be going on.

Also, I've delved just a bit into photo stacking to help keep the whole image in focus in it's final format before cropping, etc.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Thanks! You can see the pics I'm talking about on my website - PureCoils.com and on my IG @purecoils
They were all taken with a Galaxy S6 phone.

I bought a LimoStudio 16" x 16" Table Top Photo Photography Studio Lighting Light Tent Kit and the LimoStudio Acrylic Black & White Reflective Display Table Riser from Amazon. The D3300 bundle includes a standard tripod and a tabletop version. From what I understand, I can use the WU-1a phone app for the shutter release to help decrease any movement that may be going on.

Also, I've delved just a bit into photo stacking to help keep the whole image in focus in it's final format before cropping, etc.

I just checked your site - why do I have to enter my birth date to view it?
I am no privacy freak, but I could think that this could scare quite a few potential customers.
Anyway - from what I see without submitting this info, I´m impressed by the galaxy s6 - or better say your photography skills .
So you are off to a great start and withheld quite some info
In regard to the app: I still prefer the old fashioned self timer - on most cameras there is a 2sec option, which for me is more convenient than using an app. If I mount the camera on a tall tripod, etc. the app does make absolute sense for me. But when I don´t need it, I´d rather save the battery of both the phone and the camera.
Focus stacking is a great option. I haven´t done it extensively yet, but from my experience it takes quite some precautions to get good results (camera on some sort of rail/track which is preferrably geared in some way). Did you consider anything like that? I´m curious about your first stacking images - please keep us posted.

 

[CrazyChef]

why do I have to enter my birth date to view it?

I sell regulated (over 18) products, so my credit card processor requires it.

In regard to the app: I still prefer the old fashioned self timer - on most cameras there is a 2sec option, which for me is more convenient than using an app.

Yes, that does sound like a better option.

As far as stacking is concerned, the distances are quite minute - 0.5mm for instance, so a rail system probably won't work for my purposes. Just refocusing with the camera in the same position as the other photos.

 

[CrazyChef]

I´m curious about your first stacking images - please keep us posted.

Most of the coil images on my Instagram page are stacked.

 

[photo1x1.com]

why do I have to enter my birth date to view it?

I sell regulated (over 18) products, so my credit card processor requires it.

Interesting. I haven´t seen anything like that ever before. I just thought I´d mention that.

In regard to the app: I still prefer the old fashioned self timer - on most cameras there is a 2sec option, which for me is more convenient than using an app.

Yes, that does sound like a better option.

As far as stacking is concerned, the distances are quite minute - 0.5mm for instance, so a rail system probably won't work for my purposes. Just refocusing with the camera in the same position as the other photos.

Long ago I bought something like this used on ebay: canon auto bellows Now I thought about using it for focus stacking (either mount the subject on it, or the camera). But I need to find time to create something to fix the camera to. I don´t want to buy any professional focus stacking stuff, because I will hardly use it. I spend too much money for equipment anyway

 

[photo1x1.com]

I´m curious about your first stacking images - please keep us posted.

Most of the coil images on my Instagram page are stacked.

Are those DSLR images or did you stack smartphone images