blackstaff 488 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for all your help guy's I feel like i'm cheating a little and having a free crash course in photography I took the camera out again today and took some pic's i'm pretty happy with. Don't want to keep posting them nd boring you all with them though :lazy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romany 1,065 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Had a look at your pics on photobucket and a lot of them seem to be pretty well-focused, so I doubt there is a major problem with the camera or lens, but it's hard to tell at small size. There is a pic of a bird with a red head that looks well sharp! With the piggy shot I'm guessing the pig moved just out of the focus area (or you moved) just as you took the pic. The longer the lens, the more any little focus problems will show up. Regarding the exposure - some of the pics have come out a bit dark but some of them could be corrected with a tweak on the levels in photoshop or similar. It looks as if it wasn't the best light on the day in question, and tbh I think you and the camera have done pretty well For most I suspect the main problem is that you were using spot metering. For the pic of the trees I'm guessing that the camera meter reading was taken from a fairly bright area of the sky. Digital cameras have a habit of trying to turn everything a nice neutral grey, and in this case it's done a good job... I'd suggest changing the metering mode on the camera from spot metering to evaluative/average metering. I think this may be called "matrix" on Nikons? the one that meters for the whole scene. Spot metering will only cover a very small area in the centre of the viewfinder (or where your focus point is on some cameras) and if this area is much brighter or darker than the rest it will affect the overall image quite a lot. Centre-weighted metering can be useful if your subject has strong backlighting, but spot metering is very precise which is okay if you only want your main subject to be perfectly exposed. If you are shooting in tricky light conditions try auto-bracketing the exposure (taking 3 or more shots at different exposures) then blending them together (or simply selecting the best one!) HTH. Take something from this, especially about the matrix metering, as I also mentioned before..you are using spot meetering, this and centre wighted which are other options on this camera are to be worked up to, and the matrix metering is very, very good in the magority of situations..from the exif data on the canada goose, I also see you have the camera set in P..where the camera does everything for you, supposidly, until your firing into bright light, lots of contrast in your pics etc and then you have to trick the camera a bit..get on to A mode, this is much better, I almost never use P..Read your manual around exposure compensation too, the button top right hand corner, with a + and - on, this can be very helpfull in the situation you said you were shooting in.. There is NO problem with the camera/lense I can assure you..master the settings. As I said earlier, looking at the thumb nail of your pics, you have done ok in such a short time with a large number of them pics. Get used to shooting wildlife in rapid fire too, expecting to take consistantly good shots firing single shots with wildlife just dosnt work..read writing by the likes of Andy Rouse or Moose Petterson regarding this, and other useful tips on wildlife photography,if the bird blinks thats it, you cant go back for another shot..On static birds I shoot 4-6 fps, on flying shots I shoot at 6-8 fps.. Got a feeling where going to see some good stuff from you in the future.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romany 1,065 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for all your help guy's I feel like i'm cheating a little and having a free crash course in photography I took the camera out again today and took some pic's i'm pretty happy with. Don't want to keep posting them nd boring you all with them though :lazy: Not cheating at all, take the info, wish I had been helped along when I got my Fuji S2 pro many moons ago..Ive done 3 photography courses too, have a look at your local college or school for night classes, these help around all the technical stuff, and usually incorperate photoshop, my camera club is running an advanced course in June, my name is down already..Pity you didnt live closer, could have had you sorted setting wise in one day.. Everyone on here that puts up decent pics has served an apprentiship, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blackstaff 488 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Cheers Romany I think its just a case of getting out there with the info people have given me, the manual for quick referance and taking as many pic's as i can Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MuttleMcTuttle 21 Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks for all your help guy's I feel like i'm cheating a little and having a free crash course in photography I took the camera out again today and took some pic's i'm pretty happy with. Don't want to keep posting them nd boring you all with them though :lazy: Post away - we won't look if we're bored Feedback on your pics is quite important when you're learning. If you're very keen why not sign up to a dedicated photo site and put some pics on there as well? There's no cheating - I learnt a lot from other photographers - you'll find most are pretty helpful, if a bit grumpy sometimes. Photography tends to be a rather solitary occupation and it's good to be able to share your pics and get advice online. The best way to learn is to use your camera and experiment with settings etc. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blackstaff 488 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 The trouble if i join another forum is it will be alot more time on the laptop, whereas i can kill 2 birds with 1 stone here ( pardon the punn ) by getting my hunting fix and photography ' coaching ' all in 1 place I'll keep at it with the camera settings and advice i've been given and see how i can improve The other set of pics http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x372/blackstaff2/Devils%20Dyke%20Feb%2011/?albumview=slideshow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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