Beginner Afternoon photos

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val d5000

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So when I'm taking photos in the living room in the afternoon so its not that bright i open the aperture to 3.5 its lowest so this means adjust shutter to such a long time i will get hand shake or get a flash just would like to confirm that these are my choices. Thanks Val
 
You can increase the ISO which will raise your shutter speed. Other options include flash, tripod or use a lens which has some kind of stabilisation such as VR or VC etc.
 
•
First option is higher ISO.
Second is a bounced flash.
Third option is a combination of #1 @ 800 ISO and #2.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
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First option is higher ISO.
Second is a bounced flash.
Third option is a combination of #1 @ 800 ISO and #2.
Click to expand...
I prefer bounced flash as my first option.
 
Hi Val,

To answer your question, no. iso is the 3rd side of the exposure triangle.

one shortcut to finding a working exposure triangle is to put your D5000 on to the no flash auto mode (next to the green camera on the dial) take a shot and review it to see what the Nikon engineers have given you regarding shutter speed aperture and iso. Use these as your starting point in manual and adjust accordingly to suit your needs.
 
Wow this is a lot of trial and error until you get to know roughly what is right and just a little thing I want to get these super sharp so it looks a bit pro can I do this without going through the light room or photo shop fiasco
 
What I do when shooting indoors in low light. My curent cameras do not have an inbuilt flash.

#1 Shoot RAW (more options when post processing)
#2 Have a fast lens on the camera - say an f2 or f2.8 (if using a zoom)
#3 I usually start with a high ISO- Say 1600 + (if using a camera with auto ISO I will set it to a maximum of 6400)
#4 Aperture priority with the lens wide open or near wide open
#5 Look through the viewfinder and see what shutter speed you are getting
#6 if it is fast enough to stop unwanted camer motion then you are in the ball park.
If it is too slow then you will need to open up the aperture and/or increase the ISO
If you have a faster shutter speed than what you need you may want to consider using a smaller aperture and/or reducing the ISO

Regarding the shutter speed for hand holding;
keep in mind the 1/focal length (in 35mm terms) guide. IIS/VR will help sometimes with unwanted camera movemnt.

#7 Dial in exposure compensation if needed (a live histogram in the viewfinder helps a lot here)

Once you have set the camera up you do not have to be continually make major changes. And getting in the ball park only takes a few seconds.

I can post some examples along with exif data and shooting conditions, with your permission.
 
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val d5000 said:
Sorry just to let you know I upgraded to a d5200 ta
Click to expand...
Excuse the bluntness:
This is your problem. A new camera won't help with your problem.
What you need is to learn to understand lighting, pick up the book 'the speedlighters handbook' by Syl Arena, there's some Canon specific stuff in it, but the principles are sound. Then look into adding some lighting to your kit, what you need will depend on your specific circumstances.

Whether you buy lighting or not, understanding light is fundamental.
 
@val d5000 I strongly recommend getting to grips with the exposure triangle, these sites are very useful


Understanding ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding ISO - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding Aperture - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding Shutter Speed - A Beginner's Guide



Plus a couple of other really useful things to learn.

Understanding Metering and Metering Modes
Making the Most of Natural Light in Photography
The Basics of Light for Photography - Pinkbike




Also, this book is good. Goes over a lot of the stuff from the links above, but nice to have as reference. I got it for a tenner off amazon so worth looking to see if it comes up on offer.

Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera: Amazon.co.uk: Bryan Peterson: Books


And finally, this book on flash photography is really useful too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understandi...=8-1&keywords=understanding+flash+photography


You say that you want to shoot like a pro without the use of photoshop etc, well in order to do that you need to understand lighting. But a very easy simple lighting technique is bounced flash as already mentioned, it can make a huge difference compared to direct flash, see here.

flash photography - bouncing flash behind you - Tangents
Can E-PM1 do "TILT-BOUNCE" flash trick like GF1, GF2, GF3, E-PL2?: Micro Four Thirds Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Also look at the first two shots in this example. Look how dark it is without flash and just imagine how slow you'd have to have your shutter without flash, or high you'd need your ISO and therefore how noisy it would be.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/bouncing-flash/
 
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snerkler said:
@val d5000 I strongly recommend getting to grips with the exposure triangle, these sites are very useful


Understanding ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding ISO - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding Aperture - A Beginner's Guide
Understanding Shutter Speed - A Beginner's Guide



Plus a couple of other really useful things to learn.

Understanding Metering and Metering Modes
Making the Most of Natural Light in Photography
The Basics of Light for Photography - Pinkbike




Also, this book is good. Goes over a lot of the stuff from the links above, but nice to have as reference. I got it for a tenner off amazon so worth looking to see if it comes up on offer.

Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera: Amazon.co.uk: Bryan Peterson: Books


And finally, this book on flash photography is really useful too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understandi...=8-1&keywords=understanding+flash+photography


You say that you want to shoot like a pro without the use of photoshop etc, well in order to do that you need to understand lighting. But a very easy simple lighting technique is bounced flash as already mentioned, it can make a huge difference compared to direct flash, see here.

flash photography - bouncing flash behind you - Tangents
Can E-PM1 do "TILT-BOUNCE" flash trick like GF1, GF2, GF3, E-PL2?: Micro Four Thirds Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Also look at the first two shots in this example. Look how dark it is without flash and just imagine how slow you'd have to have your shutter without flash, or high you'd need your ISO and therefore how noisy it would be.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/bouncing-flash/
Click to expand...

I those articles were really good were those photos untouched. Val
 
Those 2 good flash photos are something else i need so much time to practice and read watch
 
RichardTaylor said:
What I do when shooting indoors in low light. My curent cameras do not have an inbuilt flash.

#1 Shoot RAW (more options when post processing)
#2 Have a fast lens on the camera - say an f2 or f2.8 (if using a zoom)
#3 I usually start with a high ISO- Say 1600 + (if using a camera with auto ISO I will set it to a maximum of 6400)
#4 Aperture priority with the lens wide open or near wide open
#5 Look through the viewfinder and see what shutter speed you are getting
#6 if it is fast enough to stop unwanted camer motion then you are in the ball park.
If it is too slow then you will need to open up the aperture and/or increase the ISO
If you have a faster shutter speed than what you need you may want to consider using a smaller aperture and/or reducing the ISO

Regarding the shutter speed for hand holding;
keep in mind the 1/focal length (in 35mm terms) guide. IIS/VR will help sometimes with unwanted camera movemnt.

#7 Dial in exposure compensation if needed (a live histogram in the viewfinder helps a lot here)

Once you have set the camera up you do not have to be continually make major changes. And getting in the ball park only takes a few seconds.

I can post some examples along with exif data and shooting conditions, with your permission.
Click to expand...
Yes Richard can you send me them to peruse them just as a reference
 
# 1 Canon 5D (full frame body) with a Canon 35mm f2 lens.
1/200 @ f2 and ISO 1600 - no flash and hand held.
Large ~25'x12' room with white walls. Main light is a floor to ceiling 4' wide window, which is fully shaded, by a verandah off to my right.
There is a single ceiling light, probably it was on, in the middle of the room.

Mother & daughter by Richard Taylor, on Flickr.

#2 Same room but different position in the room (I was roughly in the middle of the room. Similar lighting.
Canon 70D (crop body) with a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens
1/250 @ f2 and ISO 3200 - no flash and hand held..

A helping hand by Richard Taylor, on Flickr

#3 You can see the room in the background where the previous pics were taken
Large room with floor to ceilng windows behind me for the whole wall north wall (same as a south wall in the northern hemisphere). Full shaded by a verandah. Shot around 2:15pm on a slightly overcast day
Canon 5D (full farme) with a 35mm f2 lens
1/160 @ f2 and ISO 1600 hand held - no flash.

Christmas dinner by Richard Taylor, on Flickr

These were all shot last christmas.

My son, who is not photographer but his wife owns a DSLR, "asked how come your camera doesn't need a flash, dad?"

Similar principals apply to most indoor photography without a flash, however you do need to understand the exposure triangle.

Lots of pics, including indoor ones, on our "Family" album on Flickr. Exif data is available for most of them
 
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This will give an idea where most of the light comes from during the day. It is the northern wall of the house and by around lunchtime the verandah is fully shaded I think.
The back of the house, southern side also has a verandah running the full lenght of the house so there is only sklight on the rear windows.
Shot at 9:52am in mid winter on the front verandah..

After a walk. by Richard Taylor, on Flickr
 
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