New to photography. Where to begin???

mulge

mulge

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Kerry
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Hi,

Im new to photography in the sense of how to get the best out of my Nikon D3000.

Where do I begin? I have a basic understanding of aperture, speed etc. The knowledge I have gained is from magazines and reading the Internet. I would like to get to the point where I can go out take a picture and not miss the opportunity because I'm to busy trying to think about the correct settings.

I have an 18-55 and a 70-300 lens. How am I best to use them?

I really enjoy taking pictures of nature and people.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Kerry
 
Welcome to the forum :D

I've been into photography for a few years now and I still miss the shot because I can't get the settings quick enough.

One thing I did pretty early on was to have some walk around settings, which are as follows;

Aperture priority
Aperture set to f/8
ISO Auto set to max ISO800.
Auto White Balance
Single focal point in the middle

With these settings you can at least get the camera to your face, compose and shoot and get a half decent picture. If you've got more time, then you can think about a wider aperture to get a nice depth of field.
 
mulge said:
Hi,

Im new to photography in the sense of how to get the best out of my Nikon D3000.

Where do I begin? I have a basic understanding of aperture, speed etc. The knowledge I have gained is from magazines and reading the Internet. I would like to get to the point where I can go out take a picture and not miss the opportunity because I'm to busy trying to think about the correct settings.
I have an 18-55 and a 70-300 lens. How am I best to use them?

I really enjoy taking pictures of nature and people.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Kerry
Click to expand...


Get out there and practice, practice and practice some more.
 
Thanks BarryG that is some great advice i will definately give that a go, thanks :)
 
Welcome.

Excellent advice there already.

Only thing I'd add is, as the data on aperture, ISO, shutterspped is recorded with every photo you can also do a bit of analysis of what worked and what did not.

Dave
 
I reckon (a) read the maunal that came with the camera back to back (b) read up on exposure (c) go on youtube and look at tutorials on all of these things (d) get out there and take pictures (lots off) (d) learn how to work with pictures in post production
 
Hi Kerry,

Just remember that if you use single point focus, the lens will focus in the centre of the frame. If the main point of interest is 'off centre', then focus on that part first with the first pressure of your finger ........ keep the pressure on and 'frame the shot....... then fully depress to take the shot.
 
Get out and use it them you know What you understand and don't and its more fun
 
I'm still learning (a lot), and experimenting with the various settings, although I still find that I put it into auto when I really don't want to miss a certain shot. I am hoping to move away from that though.
 
just learn how to use the mode first, like aperture and shutter priority once you get used to that you should be more efficient and familiar about which one to use in priority
 
yannick_reveur said:
just learn how to use the mode first, like aperture and shutter priority once you get used to that you should be more efficient and familiar about which one to use in priority
Click to expand...

Most cameras have a bracketing facility which takes 3 shots, one correct exposure and the others under and over exposed I find that quite helpful especially in AP.

Another tip ,just get out and shoot away, its free, I have just got my first real digital (not a point and shoot) and am just taking pictures of anything, trying the same shot using all the settings available. The software you got with your camera probably has some kind of photo browser with it so you should be able to view the EXIF info on what the camera settings were for each shot on your pc which is much easier than doing it on the camera.
 
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I'm very new to all this aswell and realised I'd spent too much time reading up and not enough time actually getting down to taking photos.. A camera club is a great suggestion and something I'm hoping to find in my local area!

Another thing.. I tried this weekend playing with aperature priority, but I left shutter priority set on a reasonably fast speed ?160-200ish and then I knew that if a quick shot came up id just have to change mode and potentially up the iso i and the shot should work!

Get out and try it ! :)
 
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I'm also new and think you can spend too much time reading (and browsing forums until the early hours) and end up not taking many photos. I've definitely been guilty of this and really need to spend more time taking and analysing the shots I take.
 
As said before, practice practice practice! Definitely try and get familiar with each of the basic/semi auto modes first and it will make manual seem a lot more logical later
 
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