Feeling overwhelmed

[Sammie_Lou]

I just feel like I'm missing a lot. lol And I'm totally not sure about the metering thing. I just take practice pictures until it looks clear and lit enough. lol I figured there was probably an easier way to do it and everyone kept talking about metering, but I have no idea what that means.

The camera meter is what determines the exposure in an automated mode and what gives you a reference in manual. Look in your view finder. At the bottom, there will be a bar graph of sorts. While looking through the view finder, fiddle with the shutter speed and watch the line at the bottom move. When it is in the middle, you are shooting at what the camera thinks is the right exposure. That is the meter most people are talking about.

There are also external light meters which you don't really need at this point.

THANK YOU. lol

 

[Sugarbug2]

I'm right here with you But your pics look awesome, so you are being too hard on yourself for the amount of time you've been doing it!!

 

[Raian-san]

Just continue to practice, don't be discourage. Learn at your own pace and know that there are many who takes longer to learn than other, just like anything else in life. Your picture is fine, I've seen worst. Just tone down the saturation a bit in the pool picture because that's a bit much.

 

[OrionsByte]

Well this could be bad advice or good advice, depending on your learning style, but I tend to "file stuff away" for later when things start to feel overwhelming. For example, one of the biggest things I'm trying to learn right now is controlling light using flashes, modifiers, and reflectors. Right now I only have one flash and I'm trying to learn to use that as effectively as possible before picking up another flash. There is a lot of information about multiple-flash techniques out there that I tend to run across or people will tell me about, but the thing is, it's all over my head at the moment. So I can either let myself get overwhelmed by all that information, or I can "file it away" and let myself grow as a photographer until I'm actually ready for that information.

In your case, using white balance as an example, if you feel like the white balance is fine on most of the shots you take, you're probably don't need to learn how to fine-tune it. As you practice more and more, you're going to start getting "pickier" about what looks good and what doesn't, and then you'll start to really notice what messing with the white balance can do. Now I'm not saying you should just leave your white balance alone completely until then, but at least for me, I find that the knowledge and the desire for that knowledge comes pretty organically if you let it.

Trust me, not too very long from now you'll be thinking in f/stops and shutter speeds without any effort. Practice, practice, practice!

 

[tyler_h]

Trust me, not too very long from now you'll be thinking in f/stops and shutter speeds without any effort. Practice, practice, practice!

I walk around thinking it terms of the dynamic range of what I'm looking at lol.

It's like any thing, the more you expose yourself to it the more you generally thing about it until it becomes automatic for most of the basic stuff (I'm sure there would be a good number of people on here who could go out, and set ISO/aperture/SS and get a decently exposed shot without relying on anything for the camera or an external lightmeter). It's all about experience; the more you get the easier stuff will become, even for things you already know.

 

[Raian-san]

Trust me, not too very long from now you'll be thinking in f/stops and shutter speeds without any effort. Practice, practice, practice!

I walk around thinking it terms of the dynamic range of what I'm looking at lol.

It's like any thing, the more you expose yourself to it the more you generally thing about it until it becomes automatic for most of the basic stuff (I'm sure there would be a good number of people on here who could go out, and set ISO/aperture/SS and get a decently exposed shot without relying on anything for the camera or an external lightmeter). It's all about experience; the more you get the easier stuff will become, even for things you already know.

I agree. Every shoot that I did, which is like 2 so far but I've learn a lot from it. How much shutter speed should I use so I can avoid blur in my photo because I've missed some great shots because of the blur. Like I read someone said on here before, don't hesitate to bump up your ISO so you can get a higher shutter speed so you won't miss any shots. Just keep practicing and you'll get to the point one day to know exactly what needed to be done. Right now I can just shoot and know what needed to be done. I do do check shots to make sure it's the right exposure I"m looking for but after that it's just automatic. You will be fine, continue doing it. You only learn by experiences and trials and errors.

 

[WesternGuy]

I've had my D3000 for a couple weeks now and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. I bought some books on how to operate the camera and all of that, like you all suggested. I now have an okay understanding of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I get how they work...it still takes me a few shots and a few minutes to figure out what settings I should be using a and tweak them. But the more I read the forum (the beginner forum!), the more discouraged I get. I keep reading of metering, different filters, white balance and all of that stuff...the books I read must have been VERY beginner books, because they don't really go over that. I guess what I'm asking is this...when did it start getting easier?? Was there a time that the huge amounts of information being thrown your way finally clicked and you got it?? I sure hope so, because I'd really like to get the hang of this...

Photography is one of those areas where you have to go at it one step at a time. You seem to be getting a reasonable grasp of the basics for someone just starting out. Try and stick to one thing at a time. Put your camera on Auto or Program mode and concentrate on getting the focus down, then maybe move to Aperture Priority and play around with that setting for a while and when I say "play around" I mean it - experiment, maybe keep a few notes, although all the data should be in the EXIF info with the image, see what works and under what conditions. Forget about filters and some of that other stuff for a while and concentrate on learning about your camera. If you haven't seen it, get a hold of a copy of Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" - 3rd Edition/Revised and Updated and work through that.

Don't expect to know and understand everything all at once, because it can be overwhelming as you are finding out. You might want to think about joining a local camera club, if there is one, or finding a buddy to share this learning process with - it all helps. Remember though, you can only learn so much from books and from the web, the best teacher is experience and you only get that by going out and experimenting. I often take an afternoon and drive to a local park and walk around for an hour or two and just fire away at things that look interesting - try different exposure combinations to get a feel for depth of field and shoot the same thing from different angles to get an understanding of various aspects of composition. The nice thing about digital is that if it doesn't work or give you the result you expected, then you can always delete it - one suggestion on that though - don't delete anything in the camera - wait until you get back to your digital darkroom because things always look different on the back of the camera than they do on your monitor.

I had a look at your posted images and they don't look to bad...they are quite sharp and the colours are good with one exception (at least on my calibrated monitor)...the skin tones of the people look a little on the pink or red side (sun burn? ) and the colours look a little saturated - if you are not using a calibrated monitor, then you may want to research that on the web...again, take it easy on the details at first, as some of the websites on monitor calibration can get very techie and there is more than one way to accomplish this...any questions, post back here and I am sure you will get some answers.

Last, but not least, don't let the volume of data, information and techniques overwhelm you, because it will if you let it. Just keep working away at it...:thumbup:

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[Derrel]

Looks like from those three photos that you are doing "okay", or better. Maybe even "fair to middlin'!" Not quite "knocking them dead", but you can clearly "hold your own". Hmmm...lemme see...any more tired, shopworn cliches....oh, yeah: "hold you head high!", "stick to it!", "keep at it!", "don't get your dander down!", and "all good things come to those who shoot Nikon." Whew!!!

Things will get easier. Three months is not even enough to wear the new off the shutter release button!!! By the time the camera develops some slick spots on the body covering, where you grip it all the time, you'll be an old hand.

 

[Kbarredo]

Hey I didn't know how to control depth of field until last august.

 

[o hey tyler]

I totally agree. I just thought that forcing myself to learn manual would make me see the way that aperture/ISO/shutter speed are tied together and how I have to adjust to make it work for me. Once I get that, I plan to only use manual when I have to.

I'm going to disagree with Tyler_H's statement. I don't find that it's better for an inexperienced photographer to learn about the exposure triangle in a semi-auto mode. I think that once one has a firm understanding of exposure, and how it all works together (in addition to metering modes), then semi-auto modes are good tools if you prefer to shoot that way. I can't say I do. I enjoy shooting manual all the time.

 

[tyler_h]

I totally agree. I just thought that forcing myself to learn manual would make me see the way that aperture/ISO/shutter speed are tied together and how I have to adjust to make it work for me. Once I get that, I plan to only use manual when I have to.

I'm going to disagree with Tyler_H's statement. I don't find that it's better for an inexperienced photographer to learn about the exposure triangle in a semi-auto mode. I think that once one has a firm understanding of exposure, and how it all works together (in addition to metering modes), then semi-auto modes are good tools if you prefer to shoot that way. I can't say I do. I enjoy shooting manual all the time.

I never stated for either way to be better for learning. I only commented for how some people seem to think there is greater value in their photo cause they shot in all in manual. Sure, shoot manual if you wish too but it can be equally relevant to use A or S depending on the situation. That was all I was commenting on. "Not always useful" is not equivalent to don't use it.

 

[Kerbouchard]

Sammie_Lou, perhaps a book like Digital Photography Masterclass would be something you would find beneficial. It goes through the applicable techniques and functions, and then gives a shooting assignment. It is laid out pretty well and might give you some sort of structure that you seem to be missing while you are learning all the basics. Taking it step by step in a more structured manner may help you with feeling overwhelmed.

 

[kundalini]

When I started out with my first digital camera, I got several objects (tape measure, box of colored pencils, something black, something white, different shapes, etc.) and sat them on a bar stool. I musta shot well over a thousand frames of those items with different (every) settings, under different lighting conditions and different PoV. I made mental notes, but more importantly, I made actual notes in a journal I kept with details of each session and the purpose of each session. It was quite theraputic and eye-opening for me since the exercise offered immediate feedback. Using the Table of Content in your user manual, make an outline of the setting, function or command you are practicing. Tick it off as you go when it becomes fairly clear. You don't have to know all the ins-and-outs about it, but you have at least some familiarity with it....... AND YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS IN YOUR MANUAL FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. (not shouting, only emphasising) The user manual is your friend.


As far as your WB concerns go, my suggestion is to use the cameras presets. If you're shooting on a cloudy day, set it to Cloudy.... bright daylight, Daylight and so on. I believe you said you shoot in RAW, so if you don't like the outcome, tweak it in post. For S&G's, try the incandescent, fluorescent and tungsten settings on the same scene to see the effects they give.

Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time.

 

[gsgary]

For 2 weeks those are spot on, it makes a change to see shots in focus in the beginner section

 

[AgentDrex]

and "all good things come to those who shoot Nikon." Whew!!!

Oh no you didn't *shakes head while waggling finger slightly