My misrable life with Nikon and Photography

[480sparky]

Ever hear of manual?

 

[pixmedic]

Ever hear of manual?

yea, thats what i was referring to.
although, shutter priority might be a good starting point too.

 

[480sparky]

yea, thats what i was referring to.
although, shutter priority might be a good starting point too.

What baffles me is why somebody would spend 2 years taking oof photos before finally doing something about it.

 

[gsgary]

Nikons are atheist

Some of us at least!

Count me in, if there was a God he would not have let my Dad die like he did

 

[nycphotography]

Guys, the OP, while frustrated with Nikon, is also coming in with a substantial dose of personal responsibility and humility, and even some shame and guilt as well.

I suspect that if we put our minds to it, we can find a way to help without the usual snark.

 

[nycphotography]

And to the OP... I'm hearing a bit of angst as what you "know" is challenged and you're looking for quick "fix my game" solution. However, I'd suggest you might want to consider a complete "reset" here. Start over, assuming you know nothing, and build from the ground up with lessons or tutorials that you can do on your own and away from the pressure of trying to deliver on the the needs of the church.

You've stressed yourself out, and in the process created a can't win situation for yourself. You've essentially "gone pro" before learning to play the game... and now that you're struggling, you're so focused on "winning" that you can't really work on your basic blocking and tackling (American football analogy).

Step back and just work on the basic skills first... and do it COMPLETELY separate from the church activities. In fact, if I were there to mentor you, I'd forbid you from taking your camera to church while you work on the basic skills.

* Exposure. (aperture, shutter, light (+ flash) intensity, and ISO)
* Spot, CWA, and Matrix metering.
* Composition.
* Depth of Field.
* Capturing Motion.
* Flash, fill flash, flash compensation together with exposure compensation, bounce flash, bounce cards, and softening light.
* Selecting the AF point.

Once you've worked through ALL of these, THEN go back to the church and try again from a completely fresh perspective.

 

[chirantha7777]

And to the OP... I'm hearing a bit of angst as what you "know" is challenged and you're looking for quick "fix my game" solution. However, I'd suggest you might want to consider a complete "reset" here. Start over, assuming you know nothing, and build from the ground up with lessons or tutorials that you can do on your own and away from the pressure of trying to deliver on the the needs of the church.

You've stressed yourself out, and in the process created a can't win situation for yourself. You've essentially "gone pro" before learning to play the game... and now that you're struggling, you're so focused on "winning" that you can't really work on your basic blocking and tackling (American football analogy).

Step back and just work on the basic skills first... and do it COMPLETELY separate from the church activities. In fact, if I were there to mentor you, I'd forbid you from taking your camera to church while you work on the basic skills.

* Exposure. (aperture, shutter, light (+ flash) intensity, and ISO)
* Spot, CWA, and Matrix metering.
* Composition.
* Depth of Field.
* Capturing Motion.
* Flash, fill flash, flash compensation together with exposure compensation, bounce flash, bounce cards, and softening light.
* Selecting the AF point.

Once you've worked through ALL of these, THEN go back to the church and try again from a completely fresh perspective.

Thanks for the advice, I'm already good at getting my exposures just right and stopping motion. But the bad fact was that the P7000 mislead me in so many ways than one. It limited my abilities and freedom with the exposure triangle and DOF. I believe my D5100 is compensate for that.... I just wanted to share my story! I mean one day someone else might stumble onto this and say "wow, at least I didn't screw up like this!"....

Simple fact is.... If its not APS-C it should not be a camera for learning photography... Never buy something less than APS-C to venture into a studying photography. And never store lenses in a cupboard with ants living in... (yup I found out how the ant got in my camera body... problem is... is it only ONE?) Lessons learned...

 

[flow]

Simple fact is.... If its not APS-C it should not be a camera for learning photography... Never buy something less than APS-C to venture into a studying photography. And never store lenses in a cupboard with ants living in... (yup I found out how the ant got in my camera body... problem is... is it only ONE?) Lessons learned...

Oh yes, those guys will find a way into ANYTHING! I've fought that battle. Good luck getting rid of them.
You can learn without APS-C though - as long as you know not to expect it to be there for you.