Trying something different....................

[fjrabon]

I think part of your issue with getting advice here is you pick at random bits, but sometimes ignore the most helpful tips, maybe because you can't tell what tips are most helpful.

When shooting moving subjects, you almost never want to shoot in manual. I know pro sports photographers who shoot in shutter priority mode. You also probably don't want to shoot in manual unless you have a very good reason. You can shoot in aperture priority mode 99% of the time, and just use exposure compensation if you need to (you probably won't need to use EC that often).

I'd almost say to just go out and buy scott kelby's books, and go through them backwards and forwards, and ignore advice here. It's not that advice here is bad, but more that I think you're having a hard time assimilating the number of vastly different voices into a cohesive whole. I don't think Kelby's books are perfect by any means, but he gives a consistent voice, and his system generally works for most people who've used his books. I think YOU would do better with that than trying to put together all these people who are generally giving you good advice and trying to help, but giving you too many points of view for you to really put it all together. YOu end up taking weird bits and pieces from a lot of different people, that might all work, to some extent, but don't work as well when put together.

It's kind of like you bought 4 different ikea couches, jumbled all the parts together, and are randomly alternating which instruction manual you are reading. You probably need to just find one comprehensive voice to listen to, really nail down, and go from there.

I'd advise Kebly's books 4 Digital Photography Guides: Amazon.com: Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 (9780321839954): Scott Kelby: Books and also maybe J. Dennis Thomas's guide to the D7000; Amazon.com: Nikon D7000 Digital Field Guide (9780470648643): J. Dennis Thomas: Books

Really delve into the first two volumes of the kelby set and Thomas's D7000 guide, use them for all your general advice for a few months. Then maybe start coming here for C+C after that. Because for now you don't really need C+C, you need somebody to be showing you what to do. C+C is at its most helpful when you basically know what you're doing, but need a couple of flaws pointed out. Not when you keep missing focus or are shooting blurry, underexposed pictures and you have no idea why.

 

[pgriz]

Amoment, if one of the issues for you is getting the focus right, try this exercise: put your camera in aperture priority mode, select the largest aperture (f/2.8 or even less if your lens is capable of it), and practice shooting in good light.

First step, put a high-contrast target in the center of your viewfinder, focus on it (noting exactly what point you were focused at), make sure there is nothing in the foreground that can distract the AF mechanism, and take a shot. Upload. Examine if the zone of maximum sharpness is at the point you focused on. If yes, proceed to the next step. If no, you'll need to figure out whether your camera is front/back-focussing.


Step 2: Assuming the first shot was perfectly sharp, put something in the foreground, say on the 1/3 line in the viewfinder, halfway between you and the original target. Now, focus on the same target, same point and take an image. Upload. If the original point still just as sharp as in the original photo, proceed to the next step. If no, chances are that the AF settings are giving priority to whatever AF point is closest to the camera - check if the foreground object is sharp. If it is, then you need to learn how to control the AF points so that the subject you want sharp is the one the camera does its AF on. If neither the original target, nor the foreground objects are sharp, then your AF is not working, and you will need to figure out why.


Step 3 : Take a series of shots where you alternate the point of sharpness between the original target and the foreground object by using either the appropriate AF point, or by using the center AF point and reframing after achieving focus. Keep track of where you were focusing, and verify upon upload that the zone of sharpness is where you want it.

Step 4-6. Repeat the above with targets that are lower in contrast. You'll find that the camera may have difficulty achieving the precise focus you were able to achieve with a high-contrast target.

Steps 7-9. Repeat the above with light that is less than optimal. You'll find that not all AF points are equally sensitive, and some become useless in low light. Learn which points are still effective and know that those are the ones you have to use in low light.

BUT!!!!

Do this experiment in a sequential manner, so that you develop a clear idea of what you can expect. Otherwise, the effort will be wasted.

 

[IByte]

Thanks....that was really sweet of you. I sincerely thank you. I agree that I shouldn't shoot kids ..especially mine when practicing. In all honesty it is SO hard for me to shoot still life because I don't have a creative eye or interest for it. I guess a simple vase in sight could work for exposure learning but what drives me to my camera is my love and enjoyment with it and I LOVE to photograph kids, people, etc. I actually enjoy photographing other people more as my 3yr old is a tough customer, but that is not always possible with my schedule of 4 kids...etc....etc....etc.

You shouldn't be worried about being creative until you got the technical aspect of photography down first. It's a process enjoy it.

 

[fjrabon]

one other thing, when we advised you to work on post, it was mostly to fix your white balance, crop, sharpen, etc. ie basic fixes, not using actions. Don't even begin to worry about actions yet.

This is a pretty good example of you taking one little bit and turning it into something completely different that would probably be a really bad path for you to go down at this point.

 

[IByte]

In all respect OP, I really think you should take a step back, breathe and consider taking a formal college class from beginner through advance. I plan taking an advance class next spring. I cannot wait.

 

[Kerbouchard]

I am so confused...

What does 'work on focus' mean? You move the focus point to the part of the scene you want in focus. You make sure you have adequate DOF and you are beyond MFD. Then you push the button.

Honestly, what is there to work on?

As far as exposure, manual is no more difficult than aperture priority or shutter priority. Most of the settings are selected for you by the scene. Outdoors in broad daylight...okay ISO 200, don't have to worry about that one anymore. Pick an aperture that will give you the DOF you want. Okay, don't have to worry about that one anymore. Pick a shutter speed that will balance it out. Done. Take a shot...not what you expected? Adjust your shutter speed. Now you should be done. Indoors, same scenario, except you start around ISO 1600, you no longer get to pick your aperture, since you will pretty much need to be wide open. Again, only one thing to adjust, your shutter speed. If your shutter speed is still too low, you add flash or put up your camera.

Honestly, the technical parts of this aren't that complicated. I don't know why people are consistently making this out like it's some sort of rocket science.

If this was film, it would be very much different, but you get to look at the back of an LCD right after you take a shot. As long as you have a basic understanding of what the functions do(which you do), than it should be very, very easy.

I'll give you a personal example. A few weeks ago, I did a backyard wedding, at 2 in the afternoon with the worst dappled light I have ever seen. Literally one extreme to another. I was shooting very inconsistent and never seemed to have enough time to adjust between the extremes. Even tried aperture priority hoping the camera would be able to adjust faster. Still inconsistent. You know what I did? I picked one. I picked the one I thought would be most flattering, adjusted my camera for that scenario, and then took the photo when my subject was in the scenario i wanted them to be in. Throughout the day as the sun went down, I either tweaked the ISO or the shutter speed to compensate. Again, not that complicated.

If you are feeling you have to work on focus, you either have serious flaws in your technique that are probably not focus related, you are shooting too shallow DOF, or your camera is defective.

Focus is easy. The only time it is difficult is when shooting at a very, very shallow DOF, or when you are letting the camera choose what to focus on.

Just my .02

 

[MTVision]

I am so confused...



Honestly, the technical parts of this aren't that complicated. I don't know why people are consistently making this out like it's some sort of rocket science.
.02

You are right. It's not that complicated and it's not rocket science. But.....the OP has been having the same issues over and over again. She got a new camera and did focus tests with her lenses which were accurate.

 

[Kerbouchard]

I am so confused...



Honestly, the technical parts of this aren't that complicated. I don't know why people are consistently making this out like it's some sort of rocket science.
.02

You are right. It's not that complicated and it's not rocket science. But.....the OP has been having the same issues over and over again. She got a new camera and did focus tests with her lenses which were accurate.

And she was also given advice to enable all of her focus points and let the camera decide what to focus on...The first part I agree with. The second part leads to having to 'work on focus'.

If you have a non-moving subject, and you put a focus point over the part you want in focus, and you take a shot with adequate DOF when you aren't drunk and wildly swaying back and forth, the part you put the focus point on should be in focus. If it's not, there is a problem with your equipment.

I don't care how many camera bodies or lenses she goes through. The above scenario should be accurate with properly functioning gear.

On a side note, she should be set up in focus priority rather than release priority.

 

[AMOMENT]

okay, I am going to try the specific focus exercise. I actually spent the day shooting still life. I tried comparing what I chose for M exposure and then took the same shots in A and S. I also varied my aperture to get a real good sense of DOF. I understand the concepts.....I really do. I get that wider aperture, focal length, and distance to subject impacts DOF. I get that you shoot AF-C with a moving subject and that higher levels of ISO enable you to raise your shutter or widen your aperture if possible. I get that there are several similar ways to expose and get the same results. I get that when outside, and dealing with a wide variety of things on the grey scale, for example a very bright sky, you would want to meter off of someones skin or the sky to expose right for it. I understand that improper exposure can result in noise and blur and faster shutter speeds like over 1/200 are better for moving subjects. If you need more light in these circumstance, raise the ISO or stop up your aperture; but this can reasult in a narrower DOF so if you need a wider DOF, step back. I get that an SLR AF system works best by detecting parts of high contrast so fousing on the nearest thing with highest contrast that you want to be sharpest, is what you are supposed to do.

It's just applying it when I'm trying to get shots in a rush. I will post some of my still life photos.

 

[AMOMENT]

I think the real problem is not that I'm not listening, it's that I'm trying to do everything at once and instead of filtering the advice and choosing one thing, I'm combining it all. I have posted several of the exercises people have told me to do and I thank you for them. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.....=)

I really understand it, I'm just struggling with applying it when I don't have enough time. Since being a proud mom is a huge flaw of mine, lol, I really shouldn't just practice on my active kids but I'm also at home right now so they are always there...always...lol

 

[cgipson1]

Scraig, I DID..and posted the photos. Actually, i got positive feedback on them; thanks!! However, as per your advice I shot in aperture priority and this time around I played around with Program mode. =)

Wierd, but I actually went to Best Buy, I know terrible but it's the closest ANYTHING with ANYTHING photgraphic in my area except for the city which I'll have to find time to do.......and one person there, an actual passed photographer could not figure out why my images were not sharp in a lot of modes. She actually took the camera and did test shots. That was discouraging because she said on her camera, she never has these problems. I have a new body so, no way is it the camera! Just wierd..............

Just because it's a new camera doesn't mean there couldn't be issues with it. Not saying there is issues but new doesn't necessarily mean perfect

The issue is that the problems she is having are the same problems she's had on like 4 different lenses and two different camera bodies. I guess in theory she could have gotten bad samples multiple times, but in reality, that's extraordinarily unlikely.

We have proven several times that the lenses and bodies are ok. Amoment has actually done some of the things she was asked to do.. to test the equipment. And when she followed those instructions, she got sharp, clear photos. The problem is that she then does something else entirely... and it usually results in her starting over with the same issues.

AMOMENT!!! I think you need to pick a single source of advice.. either TPF, or ONE of your many other forums, or ONE photographer friend..... and only accept input from that one source (and NOT listen to anyone else, not ask anyone else, etc!). I suspect you are getting conflicting advice on too many different forums and from too many friends, on too many different subjects, and may not know enough to be able to pick the good advice from the bad. We have tried to help repeatedly, and for some reason... it just doesn't seem to help! What do you think?

 

[cgipson1]

It's just applying it when I'm trying to get shots in a rush.

That takes practice.. and a lot of it! And also understanding why you are doing what you need to do.....

 

[fjrabon]

Just because it's a new camera doesn't mean there couldn't be issues with it. Not saying there is issues but new doesn't necessarily mean perfect

The issue is that the problems she is having are the same problems she's had on like 4 different lenses and two different camera bodies. I guess in theory she could have gotten bad samples multiple times, but in reality, that's extraordinarily unlikely.

We have proven several times that the lenses and bodies are ok. Amoment has actually done some of the things she was asked to do.. to test the equipment. And when she followed those instructions, she got sharp, clear photos. The problem is that she then does something else entirely... and it usually results in her starting over with the same issues.

AMOMENT!!! I think you need to pick a single source of advice.. either TPF, or ONE of your many other forums, or ONE photographer friend..... and only accept input from that one source (and NOT listen to anyone else, not ask anyone else, etc!). I suspect you are getting conflicting advice on too many different forums and from too many friends, on too many different subjects, and may not know enough to be able to pick the good advice from the bad. We have tried to help repeatedly, and for some reason... it just doesn't seem to help! What do you think?

Yep, definitely agree. I dont even necessarily think much of the advice she's been given has been wrong, but she puts a lot of things that might work in isolation, but don't really work together, and tries them at the same time. A single source would serve her very well.

 

[IByte]

It's just applying it when I'm trying to get shots in a rush. I will post some of my still life photos.

You cannot rush when you're learning, that's why earlier posts they said to use bricks. I'm not sure about your schedule, but if you're rushing that maybe a key issue of your problem.

 

[Kerbouchard]

okay, I am going to try the specific focus exercise. I actually spent the day shooting still life. I tried comparing what I chose for M exposure and then took the same shots in A and S. I also varied my aperture to get a real good sense of DOF. I understand the concepts.....I really do. I get that wider aperture, focal length, and distance to subject impacts DOF. I get that you shoot AF-C with a moving subject and that higher levels of ISO enable you to raise your shutter or widen your aperture if possible. I get that there are several similar ways to expose and get the same results. I get that when outside, and dealing with a wide variety of things on the grey scale, for example a very bright sky, you would want to meter off of someones skin or the sky to expose right for it. I understand that improper exposure can result in noise and blur and faster shutter speeds like over 1/200 are better for moving subjects. If you need more light in these circumstance, raise the ISO or stop up your aperture; but this can reasult in a narrower DOF so if you need a wider DOF, step back. I get that an SLR AF system works best by detecting parts of high contrast so fousing on the nearest thing with highest contrast that you want to be sharpest, is what you are supposed to do.

It's just applying it when I'm trying to get shots in a rush. I will post some of my still life photos.

You have memorized a lot of things. Now you need to figure out what aspect of it that you still don't understand.

IMO, that is where your error is. You have the right answers, but without understanding why they are the right answers, you will continue to struggle.