Subject too dark?

MlHazim · Jun 2, 2014

So I'm very new in the DSLR world, I've always loved photography and i got some amazing shots with my point and shoot cameras or my iPhone's camera and thought i should improve my skills and get a DSLR. only yesterday i received my brand new Nikon D5200 with the 18-55mm Kit and out of excitement i went out to try the camera and practice to improve my skills and understanding of photography.

here's how it went. i was on a roof in Dubai looking at the beautiful city lights and tall towers, i wanted to focus on a wall in the roof on a very small area of the frame and use a low aperture around 4.0 to get the lights in the background "the towers and city lights" to be blurry as i believe they would have looked great. i used a relatively high shutter speed around 1 second to get more light in as the wall was a bit dark and a higher ISO around 3000 because it was night time and again, wall is dark. i put it in M Mode and i try to focus and shoot but the camera won't shoot! (Subject is too dark) it keeps saying and it'll not shoot.

another scenario was taking a picture of a specific building that i believe looks beautiful, what settings should i use when shooting a building? what should i focus on? there are trees around it, parking and so many objects, should i focus on one of those? but then would the building still be sharp? should i use a higher aperture? F16 maybe? please advice.

i know it's my mistake not the camera's but i hope someone around here can help me out and tell me how to take such a photo in this kind of situation so i can understand this more and improve my skills as I'm still learning.

Thank you, and awaiting your replies

480sparky · Jun 2, 2014

The camera probably didn't fire because it could not obtain focus confirmation, not anything to do with exposure. If it was too dark, it would simply record a very dark image.

Going from f/4 to f/16 will make it darker still.

It sounds like you don't fully understand the Exposure Triangle. .... the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

tirediron · Jun 2, 2014

Some great tutorials here on how exposure actually "works".

MlHazim · Jun 2, 2014

480sparky said:
The camera probably didn't fire because it could not obtain focus confirmation, not anything to do with exposure. If it was too dark, it would simply record a very dark image.

Going from f/4 to f/16 will make it darker still.

It sounds like you don't fully understand the Exposure Triangle. .... the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

yes that is true, i keep reading here and there to develop my understanding. i'm learning still. in a case like the 1st situation, u said the "focus confirmation" what could i have done differently for that to happen ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MlHazim · Jun 2, 2014

tirediron said:
Some great tutorials here on how exposure actually "works".

thanks alot, i'll go through the things in the link ^^

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Virgil · Jun 2, 2014

MlHazim said:
480sparky said:

The camera probably didn't fire because it could not obtain focus confirmation, not anything to do with exposure. If it was too dark, it would simply record a very dark image.

Going from f/4 to f/16 will make it darker still.

It sounds like you don't fully understand the Exposure Triangle. .... the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

Click to expand...

yes that is true, i keep reading here and there to develop my understanding. i'm learning still. in a case like the 1st situation, u said the "focus confirmation" what could i have done differently for that to happen ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just set your camera to manual focus and it should fire..

MlHazim · Jun 2, 2014

thanks, i'll give that a try at night time, still 6pm here in dubai. thank you [emoji4]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Civchic · Jun 3, 2014

I wouldn't recommend starting with night shots. They are a challenge (do you have a tripod?). With that kit lens (I have the Canon version) you need to have reeeeaaallly long exposures to get good bright city lights. This was my FIRST (so not saying it's good!) attempt at night city shots: https://www.flickr.com/photos/106621223@N02/13796352403/ That's a 10 second exposure, with the aperture wide open, on a tripod. And it doesn't hold a candle to a lot of the night shots I see here at TPF.

The best place to start is page 1 of your manual, with your camera in your hands, in a brightly lit area outside. Do everything the book says. Take a picture of the same flower at each and every aperture on your camera to see what happens to depth of field, etc. Once you get through the manual you'll have a really good understanding of what your camera is capable of, and where you can compromise. Also I'd recommend starting with aperture or shutter priority to get your feet wet, rather than full manual. It's a little easier to remember one or two variables than all three.

And have fun!

Light Guru · Jun 3, 2014

MlHazim said:
what settings should i use when shooting a building?

Your question implies that you think there is a universal setting used to photograph buildings. There is not. Settings are determined by the light in the scene and the light on your building is not going to be the same as the light on every other building, this is why there is no universal setting.

Think of it this way. You are not photographing a building you are photographing the light on the building. Every situation will have different settings.

MlHazim · Jun 3, 2014

thanks for the reply, and yes i did understand this part the "lighting", but my question is more about if there is a specific point to focus on when shooting landscape or buildings since there usually are much in the scene unlike when shooting a portrait or a specific subject when u focus on that specific subject. sorry for the too many questions, i'm new here and to the world of photography but i really want to learn and any advice will help ^^, thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Light Guru · Jun 3, 2014

MlHazim said:
my question is more about if there is a specific point to focus on when shooting landscape or buildings since there usually are much in the scene

Well that entirely depends on what you want to have in focus in the final image.

HitenNainaney · Jun 3, 2014

Before you proceed any further, give a good read to this website and understand how various features of cameras and how the exposure triangle works,

And as mentioned above, the camera probably didn't fore because the focus was unable to lock at any point probably because of how dark it was. Try putting the focus to manual and give it another go.

But before you do visit www.cambridgeincolour.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HitenNainaney · Jun 3, 2014

MlHazim said:
thanks for the reply, and yes i did understand this part the "lighting", but my question is more about if there is a specific point to focus on when shooting landscape or buildings since there usually are much in the scene unlike when shooting a portrait or a specific subject when u focus on that specific subject. sorry for the too many questions, i'm new here and to the world of photography but i really want to learn and any advice will help ^^, thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depends entirely what you want your picture to be about, for instance, if you want to show how a tree is stuck between man made architecture- focus on the tree, if you want to show how the massive building shadows over the tree- focus on the building.

There's no hard and fast rule, it's all about what your subject is and the feeling you wish to evoke in the viewer.

Hell it might not even be about the viewers feelings, you could just shoot what pleases you.

Have fun exploring!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk