i am new. i have a few questions.

[jbjohanna]

i have a nikon d40. if i turn off the flash my camera takes 2 pictures, and if someone moves in the picture or i move the camera it comes out blurry. is there a setting that i can change to make it not do that?
thanks

 

[Light Artisan]

You lost me.

But I think what you are describing is slow shutter speed... what I don't get is when you say you shut your flash off and your camera takes 2 pictuers... it does this on its own?

 

[jbjohanna]

also what settings should i use to take pictures of stars?

 

[JoshC.]

Well just to start out, set the camera to Auto. But on Auto, if there isnt enough light the flash will pop.
Instead, begin learning Manual mode, or perhaps Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.
The blur comes from too long a shutter speed. Try using a shutter speed of like 1/60 or faster.

 

[Patm1313]

But I think what you are describing is slow shutter speed... what I don't get is when you say you shut your flash off and your camera takes 2 pictuers... it does this on its own?

I'm with you on this one. I think the OP is describing the sound of a shutter opening and closing, which I guess could be mistaken for the sound of two higher shutter speed pictures being taken.

OP, when you go into the playback mode, do two pictures actually show up? I'm pretty sure that there isn't any setting on the D40 that would cause two photos to be taken in sucession.

 

[scotch59]

the blurrieness like everyone else mentioned is from too slow of shutter speed, to capture movement (people walking or just casual movement) at least 1/60th of a second, if your trying to shoot high speed movement then you will probably need a faster shutter speed than that.

and to shoot stars and have them turn out crisp, and be noticeable, you will most likely need a tripod, or something to hold the camera completely still, and a good multi-second exposure.

 

[Patm1313]

also what settings should i use to take pictures of stars?

Do you have a good tripod? If so, you can dial down your shutter speed to something along the lines of 10+ seconds and open up the aperture all the way. Also, turn your ISO up to maybe around 800.

If you're taking pictures of the stars by hand, however, you may need to turn the ISO up higher and turn up the shutter speed to above 1/60 of a second. However, I don't even know if this is possible as you still may not be able to get the right exposure. And even if you pull off the shot, it's going to be grainy as hell from the high ISO.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

A good place to start is to learn about the exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings.

One of the best books you'll ever read is the manual that comes with your camera.

Have a look at the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is a good place to start.

Don't be afraid to search Google and YouTube for vinfo on all kinds of photography...

 

[scotch59]

and incase you didnt know to get the shutter speed to be in the seconds, turn the dial far to the left, until the numbers start to have a end quotation mark around them, like 1.3" any number with the end quotation mark around it means that number of seconds.
if that makes sense