Quick photography crash course (obvious newbie questions)

Nicola.P

Nicola.P

Suspended / Banned
Messages
266
Name
Nicola
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi :wave:

Well I am new to this forum and very new to photography. I had a compact camera and enjoyed taking snaps (in auto, I never strayed from auto) I would always be soo pleased when something came out well and so disappointed when it didn't look how I wanted it to.
So I jumped in both feet first and last week bought a DSLR (Nikon D40X with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lens)
I have been reading up on aperture and shutter speeds and iso etc and think I understand what each of them do, however when I go out to take photos I never know which setting I should use?

How do you know which aperture to use or which shutter speed? (confused :shrug: )

I have seen some reviews for 'understanding exposure' so I have that on order :)
 
Well, I usually set my camera to Av mode, which is basically aperture priority.

I'm assuming that you understand that the higher the aperture, the lower the f/stop number?
i.e. on the Canon 50mm f/1.8, the highest aperture is 1.8, which is its lowest f/stop number?

When the aperture is high, the depth of field is shallow, meaning only very few things will be in focus, and also it means the lens can get more light, meaning you can use faster shutter speeds while still retaining a fast shutter speed.
When the aperture is low (high f/stop number such as f/16) the depth of field is great, and more things will be in focus, but it also restricts how much light comes into the lens, meaning you'll have to use slower shutter speeds.

Basically, dependent on how much you want in focus, you make a compromise using Av mode.
If you want a lot in focus, and you want to use f/16, but the shutter speed isn't fast enough to stop camera shake, you reduce the aperture until you get a usable shutter speed.

When you can't get a usable shutter speed with the aperture you want, you can then raise the ISO to make the sensor more sensitive to light, meaning the shutter speeds will increase due to the fact that the sensor is more sensitive. Because the sensor is more sensitive, it usually creates 'noise' in the images, decreasing image quality, so raise the ISO wisely.

Hope this makes some sense to you!
 
Thanks that did make sense to me :)

I am having problems looking at what I want to photograph and deciding which F stop to use. How do you know what to set it as? In a sense of 'this is what I want to photo, I will use F stop such and such' How do you know?

(I am also confusing myself while trying to explain what I mean :lol: )
 
Think portraits when wanna get blurred background f2.8-f5.6-though this depends on the focal length of the lens. The wider the lens-say 24mm will be hard to get background out of focus even at f2.8 unless the subject is close and the background far away-whilst a focal length of say 200mm will be easy to blur at f2.8 even if the background is closer as the depth of field decreases the longer the lens you use.

Think about it in 3 easy steps.

only small amount in focus say a person f2.8-or the lowest f you have.

say 1 person and a train behing him in focus f5.6-f8

say 1 person and the train and the bridge behind the train f8-f22

Get the idea
 
A good way to learn settings is to do it in stages. All at once can be quite overwhelming.

Start of by using P mode (not sure if it's the same on Nikon). Mess about with some ISO settings to get used to which ISO is good for which situation. Also test out different focus types to see how the camera focuses in different modes.

Then move on to Tv (Shutter priority) mode and play around with different shutterspeeds. Take loads of different photos of the same subject at different shutterspeeds, review the photos after and you can see which is exposed correctly.

After shutter speed set your camera to Av (Aperture priority) and play around with apature settings. Another thing to note about apature is the depth of field.

With regards to deciding what settings you should use for a photo, it's all about experience. Once you fully understand what all the settings are and how to use them, you can implement your knowlage and eventually you will know exactly what kind of settings to use (and soon after that you will CONSTANTLY be thinking of camera settings, even when you arn't even using your camera. I do that all the time).
 
What a great group of folks here. Great advice from all. I tend to lean to the ''p'' setting myself as it will still give you some flexibility with ISO and EV comp...All in all though, Peterson's book ''understanding exposer'' that you mentioned is a great place to start. It is easy to read and understand...
 
Also on shutter speed, aim for 1/length of lens as an aboslute minimum.

For example, 50mm lens, use 1/50th of a second.

If you want to catch something moving you'll need faster - I try to use 1/500th+ when photographic my kids.
 
Not much to add really, as it's already been excellently described and you will find the book a great help. I would just add.......relax and don't panic! Photography is meant to be FUN!!

Get posting up here ASAP and everyone will then guide you as to what's good and what can be improved. Looking forward to seeing your shots.
 
foodpoison said:
When the aperture is high, the depth of field is shallow, meaning only very few things will be in focus, and also it means the lens can get more light, meaning you can use faster shutter speeds while still retaining a fast shutter speed.
When the aperture is low (high f/stop number such as f/16) the depth of field is great, and more things will be in focus, but it also restricts how much light comes into the lens, meaning you'll have to use slower shutter speeds.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that aswell FP :thumbs:
 
foodpoison said:
When the aperture is high, the depth of field is shallow, meaning only very few things will be in focus, and also it means the lens can get more light, meaning you can use faster shutter speeds while still retaining a fast shutter speed.
When the aperture is low (high f/stop number such as f/16) the depth of field is great, and more things will be in focus, but it also restricts how much light comes into the lens, meaning you'll have to use slower shutter speeds.
Click to expand...

Sound advice but I think the 'high' and 'low' are misleading. We are talking about the size of the hole for light to pass inside the lens so I'd suggest wide instead of high and narrow instead of low.

It has all been said above. only thing I'd add is to try the same scene at a range of apertures (use Av mode) and compare the results - it will help you understand how to choose settings.
 
RebertP - You have confused me now :lol: Damm and i thought i was doing quite well this morning :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top