Shooting with a tripod is not easy for me

[redbourn]

I have a decent camera - Nikon D3300 a pretty good lens and a tripod.

Am shooting photos for a cookbook that I'm writing and although a 5 month newbie some are probably looking good enough for 7.5 x 7.5 " photos.

So what's the problem?

I find it much much easier to compose photos on my cellphone.

And they more often than not look better than what I shoot on the Nikon.

Not talking quality but set up.

I can move around the food, zoom in and out with my Galaxy until I see what I like.

And maybe shoot from a few different angles.

Any help with this issue would be much appreciated.

Michael

 

[Overread]

A few thoughts:

1) Use the phone to "scout" out the best angle and then use the camera to take the photo properly with the right lighting. This is a commonly used method and many photographers will use a general "scout" camera of various kinds to take test shots.
In portraits outside many will use things like an 18-200mm and take shots to get a feel for different backgrounds, bringing out the higher end gear when it comes to the shot itself knowing that they've already had a go with some different angles, apertures and focal lengths.

2) Many photographs of food are done with fake food; this is because food loses its visual quality quite quickly once cooked. Peas, for example, will fast start to wrinkle and lose their original ripe fresh moist round shape once left to cool for a few moments.
It's a visual change we expect in reality, but which when showing food is not always what is desired.

Certainly for the A, B, C steps you can use real food as if you're showing method stages chances are you're just shooting a standard angle all the time so its more about method than visual quality; but for the final dish display that is when the ideal perfect is needed.

3) What kind of lighting setup are you using?

 

[Derrel]

The Galaxy is offering you a semi-wide-angle view of what you take photos of. The Galaxy also has a small sensor that uses a very short focal length lens; because of the small sensor and the commensurately short lens, the images made with the smartphone have quite deep, expansive depth of field, which is something the Nikon camera does NOT have to the same degree. As overread mentioned, you can use a scout camera to sort of preview images that will later be re-shot using another camera. You could ALSO I think, use camera support and actually take some good images using the smartphone camera.

To get the same degree of depth of field with the Nikon, your lens will need to be shot at very mall aperture sizes, like f/22 or even f/32; otherwise, the images will have less that is in-focus than what the smartphone can capture; this is something that's surprising to many people, that some types of images are actually easier to make with a smartphone than with a so-called real camera.

The last part is just being unfamiliar/inexperienced with how to position a camera using a tripod. The best solution is to figure out EXACTLY WHERE the camera needs to be positioned, and then to adjust the tripod to get the mounting plate in the right place to get the lens where it needs to be; this is best done in two stages. Stage One does not involve the tripod. Stage Two involves the tripod. Perhaps you've been trying to mount the camera and only then to discover the right location for the camera, to get the desired shot.

The last leg of this is the lens angle of view; the smartphone offers a single lens and a single angle of view, whereas with the Nikon you might have the option of a narrower angle of view BEHIND the subject, by using telephoto lens lengths, or the option to WIDEN OUT the view that is shown behind the subject by using shorter lens focal length settings. If you want to use the Samsung as the scout camera, you'd want to calculate/discover the same angular view on the Nikon's lens, to get the most-accurate and most-similar preview images.

The last idea: use continuous lighting and use the Samsung phone with a tripod and very careful camera work, and actually use the smartphone images.

 

[480sparky]

Why not just use the D3300, hand-held, to 'scout' the location and take some test shots? Then when the 'right' spot is found, bring out the tripod?

 

[redbourn]

Why not just use the D3300, hand-held, to 'scout' the location and take some test shots? Then when the 'right' spot is found, bring out the tripod?

That's a good idea.

I didn't know that many experts do scout shots.

Thanks.

 

[ronlane]

Why not just use the D3300, hand-held, to 'scout' the location and take some test shots? Then when the 'right' spot is found, bring out the tripod?

That's a good idea.

I didn't know that many experts do scout shots.

Thanks.

maybe they do, it's just you don't see or notice that they scout. With them being and "expert", they know where the best or good angles will be from experience.

 

[redbourn]

The Galaxy is offering you a semi-wide-angle view of what you take photos of. The Galaxy also has a small sensor that uses a very short focal length lens; because of the small sensor and the commensurately short lens, the images made with the smartphone have quite deep, expansive depth of field, which is something the Nikon camera does NOT have to the same degree. As overread mentioned, you can use a scout camera to sort of preview images that will later be re-shot using another camera. You could ALSO I think, use camera support and actually take some good images using the smartphone camera.

To get the same degree of depth of field with the Nikon, your lens will need to be shot at very mall aperture sizes, like f/22 or even f/32; otherwise, the images will have less that is in-focus than what the smartphone can capture; this is something that's surprising to many people, that some types of images are actually easier to make with a smartphone than with a so-called real camera.

The last part is just being unfamiliar/inexperienced with how to position a camera using a tripod. The best solution is to figure out EXACTLY WHERE the camera needs to be positioned, and then to adjust the tripod to get the mounting plate in the right place to get the lens where it needs to be; this is best done in two stages. Stage One does not involve the tripod. Stage Two involves the tripod. Perhaps you've been trying to mount the camera and only then to discover the right location for the camera, to get the desired shot.

The last leg of this is the lens angle of view; the smartphone offers a single lens and a single angle of view, whereas with the Nikon you might have the option of a narrower angle of view BEHIND the subject, by using telephoto lens lengths, or the option to WIDEN OUT the view that is shown behind the subject by using shorter lens focal length settings. If you want to use the Samsung as the scout camera, you'd want to calculate/discover the same angular view on the Nikon's lens, to get the most-accurate and most-similar preview images.

The last idea: use continuous lighting and use the Samsung phone with a tripod and very careful camera work, and actually use the smartphone images.

A few thoughts:

1) Use the phone to "scout" out the best angle and then use the camera to take the photo properly with the right lighting. This is a commonly used method and many photographers will use a general "scout" camera of various kinds to take test shots.
In portraits outside many will use things like an 18-200mm and take shots to get a feel for different backgrounds, bringing out the higher end gear when it comes to the shot itself knowing that they've already had a go with some different angles, apertures and focal lengths.

2) Many photographs of food are done with fake food; this is because food loses its visual quality quite quickly once cooked. Peas, for example, will fast start to wrinkle and lose their original ripe fresh moist round shape once left to cool for a few moments.
It's a visual change we expect in reality, but which when showing food is not always what is desired.

Certainly for the A, B, C steps you can use real food as if you're showing method stages chances are you're just shooting a standard angle all the time so its more about method than visual quality; but for the final dish display that is when the ideal perfect is needed.

3) What kind of lighting setup are you using?

I use some additional software on the Galaxy and some of the photos actually look very good.

The software offers many of the options that my Nikon does, except it can't change the aperture of course.

I am tempted to use some of the smartphone photos since the photos in the book will only be about 7.5 x 7.5"

Quite soon smartphones will be using liquid controlled lenses, a mixture of oil and water, which will change the aperture size.

Will Smart-Phones Soon Been Using Liquid Lenses? - Latest Hi-tech Info

Thanks for the advice on setting up the tripod. I've only been doing photography for a few months so there is so much that I don't know.

Until now I've only use natural light which works pretty well because I have white sheer curtains, but I don't get shadows of course, and winter is coming.

I actually started a thread a few days ago asking about lighting.

What one light setup to buy? | Page 2 | Photography Forum

Thank you.

Michael

 

[redbourn]

A few thoughts:

1) Use the phone to "scout" out the best angle and then use the camera to take the photo properly with the right lighting. This is a commonly used method and many photographers will use a general "scout" camera of various kinds to take test shots.
In portraits outside many will use things like an 18-200mm and take shots to get a feel for different backgrounds, bringing out the higher end gear when it comes to the shot itself knowing that they've already had a go with some different angles, apertures and focal lengths.

2) Many photographs of food are done with fake food; this is because food loses its visual quality quite quickly once cooked. Peas, for example, will fast start to wrinkle and lose their original ripe fresh moist round shape once left to cool for a few moments.
It's a visual change we expect in reality, but which when showing food is not always what is desired.

Certainly for the A, B, C steps you can use real food as if you're showing method stages chances are you're just shooting a standard angle all the time so its more about method than visual quality; but for the final dish display that is when the ideal perfect is needed.

3) What kind of lighting setup are you using?

I like the idea of scouting and have tried it a couple of times and it really helps.

The main problem is that what I see through the Galaxy is not what I see through my Nikkor 1.8G

Maybe I will scout with my Nikon. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that had the tripod 'problem'

 

[redbourn]

A few thoughts:

1) Use the phone to "scout" out the best angle and then use the camera to take the photo properly with the right lighting. This is a commonly used method and many photographers will use a general "scout" camera of various kinds to take test shots.
In portraits outside many will use things like an 18-200mm and take shots to get a feel for different backgrounds, bringing out the higher end gear when it comes to the shot itself knowing that they've already had a go with some different angles, apertures and focal lengths.

2) Many photographs of food are done with fake food; this is because food loses its visual quality quite quickly once cooked. Peas, for example, will fast start to wrinkle and lose their original ripe fresh moist round shape once left to cool for a few moments.
It's a visual change we expect in reality, but which when showing food is not always what is desired.

Certainly for the A, B, C steps you can use real food as if you're showing method stages chances are you're just shooting a standard angle all the time so its more about method than visual quality; but for the final dish display that is when the ideal perfect is needed.

3) What kind of lighting setup are you using?

Thanks for the help!

I started a thread a few days ago about lighting.

What one light setup to buy? | Page 2 | Photography Forum

Michael

 

[idcanyon]

I didn't know that many experts do scout shots.

maybe they do, it's just you don't see or notice that they scout. With them being and "expert", they know where the best or good angles will be from experience.

I think it tends to be just the opposite. Amateurs just stand there and shoot at head height. Pros "work the scene" to find the best perspective. And nobody sets up a tripod until they've found something worth shooting.

 

[480sparky]

I think it tends to be just the opposite. Amateurs just stand there and shoot at head height. Pros "work the scene" to find the best perspective. And nobody sets up a tripod until they've found something worth shooting.

Agreed. Newbies see something interesting, immediately stop to raise the camera to their eye and *click*, check the camera..... "Yep, got it!" and move on.

 

[TCampbell]

As mentioned, the phone uses a wider angle lens with shorter focal length and a much smaller chip. This translates into a VERY broad "depth of field" which means you won't be able to blur backgrounds, etc. (if that's important to you.)

Here's a sample from a shoot I did a month or so back...


Pasta Carbonara by Tim Campbell, on Flickr

This was shot using a full-frame camera and a 100mm macro lens at f/4 (I wanted a bit more depth of field than f/2.8 provided). But to get similar angle of view on your D3300 you would probably shoot this with Nikon's 60mm f/2.8 macro (Nikon uses the term "micro") -- and you would want the "AF-S" version of the lens.

 

[pgriz]

I use a tripod all the time, but as others have already mentioned, I don't set it up for the first shot. Take your time, walk around your subject and study the distribution of highlights and shadows, what's in the foreground, midground and background. Alter your viewing angle - high, low, front, back, sides... Once you got the right angle and perspective, THEN set up your tripod to give you good control over the framing, composition, low shutter control, and critical focusing potential. Even so, you may need to move it around a bit before you get it right.

 

[Jasii]

Can we please see some shots taken by the Samsung and the Nikon?

 

[Tailgunner]

Why not just use the D3300, hand-held, to 'scout' the location and take some test shots? Then when the 'right' spot is found, bring out the tripod?

That's a good idea.

I didn't know that many experts do scout shots.

Thanks.

Sure, I use my cell phone to scout out shots or angels all the time before deploying my gear. It's quick and simple.