Practicing on people shots; cc

[Derrel]

The guidebooks written by Young, Hogan, or whoever, offer some really good, in-depth help. Make no mistake: today's higher-end bodies are COMPLEX, and many times the manuals the manufacturers furnish are NOT "all that easy" to understand, and they are, well...basically written in Japanese English, from an engineer's point of view, and are, quite honestly, often terribly done. Not to sound flippant, but a lot of what MLeeK us describing in the above post....is NOT that up-to-date on Nikon cameras that have 3-D Color Matrix light metering abilities...modern Nikons, all of which are fully color-aware, can easily meter a tricky scene and determine what is supposed to be "white" or "bright", and not screw up the metering and exposure....modern d-slrs shoot "one kind of film"....and exposure with negative film, and exposure with color reversal film (aka 'slide film') is almost backwards in terms of how one sets highlight exposure points. Matrix metering on a D800 is much smarter than what MLeeK's generic post on metering shows in its examples. Her theory is...how can I put this delicately...a little bit at odds with the way newer Nikon, 3D, color-aware, distance-aware, computer-aided metering systems actually work.

One of the biggest advantages of the camera-model-specific guide books is that the authors all write about an EXACT MODEL of camera, and how THAT model performs. And, they help the user understand the exact piece of equipment, and all of THAT models' quirks and foibles and features. When the book arrives...check out the AUTO ISO sections he has. REALLY, and I mean really, give it a good, long trial. Again...the D800 is NOT an earlier-generation camera, and you have some of Nikon's absolute finest, professional-grade lenses. You're NOT limited by your camera the way many,many shooters are.

 

[MLeeK]

You have a Nikon D800. It has EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD High-ISO performance, and one of the absolute BEST-performing sensors in all of photography. You need to learn to USE AUTO-ISO. Unlike it was a few years ago, AUTO ISO on the top-performing Nikon bodies is an amazing, amazing thing. What MLeek is telling you above is the way a seasoned shooter approaches EVERY single photo situation: you need to determine what the necessary shutter speed is for a good, sharp shot, based on lens focal length, speed of the action, the direction the action is in relation to the lens axis, and how far away the action is, and how large the subject will be in the final image. You also need to determine the f/stop needed to get the kind of depth of field you want to have.

For example, shooting across a dinner table...with a short zoom lens...say you want enough DOF to avoid having to focus ULTRA-precisely. Set the lens f/stop to f/5.6. Focal length 20mm on FF. Shutter speed of 1/60 second, which is 3x the focal length, so, pretty safe, and a heck of a lot safer than say, 1/15 second. Your D800 using its AUTO ISO setting can elevate the ISO or drop the ISO, instantly, as needed, to make sure that f/160 at f/5.6 is the PERFECT exposure for the lighting, wherever the camera is pointed, whatever the light does.

Until I got a recent, high-level full-frame Nikon pro body, I was not sold on AUTO ISO. Also, Nikon's implementation of AUTO ISO is far better than that found in most other brands and most other camera models. THe thing that has made AUTO ISO truly useful in my opinion is the 13.7 to 14+ EV dynamic range, and the rich color saturation that the pro-level Nikon FX bodies offer at ISO levels far above the base ISO values. So...you might hear people badmouthing AUTO ISO...but pay no attention. Your camera is now MUCH,much better in performance than 95% of all other cameras in the world at high ISO values. You need to leverage that, and if you have problems with overthinking things, and it seems you do, you need to LEVERAGE the fine equipment you have, and start learning more about the cutting edge benefits the newest FX NIkons bring to the table, especially when paired with the fine lenses you have.

Once you decide on the NEEDED shutter speed, and the desired f/stop, the AUTO ISO range that the D800 has is a HUGE advantage. You need to dig into the manual, and learn how to set up the AUTO ISO settings. trust me...once you see first hand what a modern, high-end FX camera can do in AUTO ISO, when set right, you will be amazed.

I just received Mastering the Nikon D800 by Darrell Young in hopes of doing what you have stated. I do over think the process and actually become agitated. It is much more enjoyable and successful when I am relaxed. I am hesitant to say too much more as I do not want to come across incorrectly. There is a lot of very useful information from You and MLeeK that I need to digest. Thank you both!

A guidebook to your camera isn't a guidebook to how to achieve exposure with it. You KNOW how to create exposure and the basics. You just need to work on relaxing. Your wife is a great subject to practice on. She's your wife and there's no pressure from her. You have her there at your leisure. The more you practice the process the easier and more relaxed you will become. Kind of like a baby learning to walk. They're wobbly and tend to fall down. THey go back to crawling a LOT before they walk and don't crawl anymore. You've walked for so long in life it requires no thought and no pressure. It'll become the same with people photography, you just have to practice to get there. For now just stick to photographing people you are able to relax and take your time with.
It will come and eventually it will come naturally.

 

[myvinyl333]

The guidebooks written by Young, Hogan, or whoever, offer some really good, in-depth help. Make no mistake: today's higher-end bodies are COMPLEX, and many times the manuals the manufacturers furnish are NOT "all that easy" to understand, and they are, well...basically written in Japanese English, from an engineer's point of view, and are, quite honestly, often terribly done. Not to sound flippant, but a lot of what MLeeK us describing in the above post....is NOT that up-to-date on Nikon cameras that have 3-D Color Matrix light metering abilities...modern Nikons, all of which are fully color-aware, can easily meter a tricky scene and determine what is supposed to be "white" or "bright", and not screw up the metering and exposure....modern d-slrs shoot "one kind of film"....and exposure with negative film, and exposure with color reversal film (aka 'slide film') is almost backwards in terms of how one sets highlight exposure points. Matrix metering on a D800 is much smarter than what MLeeK's generic post on metering shows in its examples. Her theory is...how can I put this delicately...a little bit at odds with the way newer Nikon, 3D, color-aware, distance-aware, computer-aided metering systems actually work.

One of the biggest advantages of the camera-model-specific guide books is that the authors all write about an EXACT MODEL of camera, and how THAT model performs. And, they help the user understand the exact piece of equipment, and all of THAT models' quirks and foibles and features. When the book arrives...check out the AUTO ISO sections he has. REALLY, and I mean really, give it a good, long trial. Again...the D800 is NOT an earlier-generation camera, and you have some of Nikon's absolute finest, professional-grade lenses. You're NOT limited by your camera the way many,many shooters are.

I have the book open now. AUTO ISO is where I am headed. The D800 will be with me @ all times as well. Thank you.

 

[myvinyl333]

Still needs major white balance touch. Reduce the color temp slider a bit until you see the slightest bit of blue on her face, then bump back just a light touch toward yellow. You'll need to reduce the magenta tint a bit, but not as much.

I am going to try this to see.

I followed the above suggestions in LR4, I hope