Sometimes i go for the Inexpensive Canon..

[jansch]

1. Set your ISO. Is the subject well lit? Low ISO. Is it dark? High ISO.
2. Set your aperture. Small F/number = shallow depth of field/more light enters, allows faster shutter speed. Big F/number = great depth of field/less light enters, requires slow shuter.
3. Meter your subject and set your shutter speed accordingly.
Image too bright, increase shutter speed. Image too dark, lower shutter speed.

Ok. So that is essentially pointing the camera at the subject and pressing the shutter button half way down- Adjusting the shutter speed till you get to a neutral (0) exposure??

What did one of the previous posters mean when he/ she said they meter the grass or the hand and use the same settings on the subject?

When I use manual mode, I generally start with aperture, shutter speed- leave the ISO as it was- then alter the ISO first, then tweak the shutter speed a little till I get the right exposure. BUT that is always when I'm pointing at the subject. Am I doing it right? And why meter the grass or the hand, a little confused?

Thanks...

 

[mrpink]

until you get all that into your head you still need something to guide you at that moment....

That would be the light meter.


1. Set your ISO. Is the subject well lit? Low ISO. Is it dark? High ISO.
2. Set your aperture. Small F/number = shallow depth of field/more light enters, allows faster shutter speed. Big F/number = great depth of field/less light enters, requires slow shuter.
3. Meter your subject and set your shutter speed accordingly.
Image too bright, increase shutter speed. Image too dark, lower shutter speed.

thanks thanks thanks... thats all i need.... thanks,...

LOL.




p!nK

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Yes, to your first question.

I gave the very basic, what you need to know.
There are many variables, though.

Generally, you can set your ISO for your location and leave it.
BUT, when you need to get your shutter speed up, to stop motion, or avoid camera shake, you need to start playing more.

If you are using a 200mm lens, to avoid camera shake, you want to set your shutter to at least 1/200, or greater. But at your widest aperture (smallest number) your shutter speed for "proper" exposure is only 1/100. Now is when you want to raise your ISO making your sensor more sensitive, allowing you to raise your shutter speed.
It's a general rule that, for sharp images, you want your shutter speed equal or greater than your focal length.
50mm lens, at least 1/50
100mm lens, at least 1/100th.

Pointing at the grass and metering, I believe acts sorta like a gray card. gsgary can expand on that.

 

[mrpink]

Pointing at the grass and metering, I believe acts sorta like a gray card. gsgary can expand on that.

I use a form of this when Nikons matrix metering is lying to me. For example, bright sky or window in frame and subject or focal point in shadow. The meter is going to be reading over due to the large amount of light, if you center your meter in this situation, your subject will be under exposed. I switch to center weighted metering, center my subject and use the AE-L (exposure lock), recompose and center my meter if needed and shoot. Once you get used to this, it is very fast and effective. Always check your histogram when shooting in these types of situations.

Bitter is right, ISO is something I adjust first and leave alone unless really needed. I set it as low as I think I can while still getting the shots I want, you will get very used to doing this. It looks like you photograph mainly outdoors so a ISO 200 (I think that is as low as the D5000 will go) will work. Cloudy or dusk type lighting might require a 400, especially if you are shooting a subject with dark fur.

Shutter speed over focal length is a good guide, but I find myself breaking it often with acceptable results. I find it needed more when you are at the max length of your lens.

A question I have is... is there any time to play around with Exposure Value? I have read a lot on exposure triangle and such, but there is little mention of adjusting EV.






p!nK

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

A question I have is... is there any time to play around with Exposure Value? I have read a lot on exposure triangle and such, but there is little mention of adjusting EV.






p!nK

You mean exposure compensation?
If you shoot in manual, YOU compensate the exposure.
If you shoot in semi auto/ auto, it can be helpful.
Using exposure compensation, is saying you disagree with the cameras decisions.

 

[Dominantly]

I never touch exposure compensation. It may be my lack of experience, or rookie experience, but I've never found a use for it.

 

[mrpink]

A question I have is... is there any time to play around with Exposure Value? I have read a lot on exposure triangle and such, but there is little mention of adjusting EV.






p!nK

You mean exposure compensation?
If you shoot in manual, YOU compensate the exposure.
If you shoot in semi auto/ auto, it can be helpful.
Using exposure compensation, is saying you disagree with the cameras decisions.

Situation time.

Track meet @ noon, sunny ass day. You want a shot of someone running but want a very shallow DOF due to other events in the in field of the track. You set your ISO to it's lowest setting, 100. Your shutter to it's highest, 1/4000. You set your aperture to 2.8 and you are overexposed by say 2 stops. You left your nice new B+W ND filter at home. Could you compensate by dropping the exposure compensation (my Nikon calls it EV) to -2.0 without any image quality issues?





p!nK

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

NO.

In manual, there is no Exposure Compensation.

If you are at all the limits trying to get a good exposure, and can't, EC can't do anything either.
Exposure compensation doesn't do any other magic than raise or lower your shutter speed, in auto/semi auto modes.
That's why there is no EC in manual, because you control everything.

 

[Dominantly]

Tried this out just right now, pointed the camera down the way, shot, and posted.

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV 0

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV -5

 

[mrpink]

Tried this out just right now, pointed the camera down the way, shot, and posted.

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV 0

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV -5

Well that solves that. :thumbup::thumbup:

So ND filters will be the only saving grace in the above situation.

ok, I will un-hijack this thread now. back to talking about dog pictures or something.....





p!nK

 

[mdtusz]

No you could always stop down past 5.6 to darken your scene if you wanted. EC just shifts what the camera "sees" as correct exposure so it will only work in auto, Av, Tv and P modes. It's so if you are taking a picture of someone on a white wall in Av, you could set the compensation to +1 or whatever so the person is correctly exposed.

 

[jansch]

I had no idea about the shutter speed: focal length relation- That will be very helpful, thanks a lot!

 

[Dominantly]

I had that problem in my first skate park shoot a couple weeks ago. I had the 50mm f/1.4 out there with me, but the light was so strong I couldn't use it to it's fullest potential. So with the shutter as fast as it would go (1/4000), I had to keep stopping down until I had a proper exposure. This extended my DOF, giving way to a distracting background in most shots.
A bit of a benefit of the more expensive bodies like the D300s is the fact you can go up to 1/8000 shutter, thus allowing you open up the aperture another stop.

 

[mrpink]

A good ND filter is cheaper than a D300s. (this is going to be my solution)






p!nK

 

[Photo Lady]

wow thanks so much everyone.. for this extensive lesson..... so much information i will be studing for awhile...................appreciate all of it............