Any helpful hints on how to better use the Nikon D3000? - 1
My dad just got me this camera for my birthday I guess he thought I needed an upgrade. I'm going to a photography school and he wanted to get me somthing real special. However I'm still in the learning process and I really don't know what to do with it. I got a UV lense and a wide angle lense it came with the DX 18-55 lense I believe I've had fun trying to learn it all day but i wanna go out and take some pics of my sister tomorrow for her senior pics. Any Ideas on how to use it quickly for some good shots!
Yes…
1) Learn the manual side of photography.
-Learn about shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and how they work together. Yes, Auto works fine for 90% of the shots taken. But the other 10% tend to be "THE" shot.
2) Learn to compose well.
- http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm
3) Look for great lighting to hold an image.
-Try to use as much natural lighting as possible, meaning when ever possible do NOT use that pop-up flash!
4) Practice, practice, practice!
I own the Nikon D3000.It's such a great camera!
I recommend you to use it with a lot of lightning because it produces very grainy photos when you shoot in dark conditions. You're saying you have just received it and you want to take some good shots, so, try to use the automatic mode.It's not a good idea if you want to start in photography but you can do that now and then, shoot in manual mode so you can practice and discover how great it works.
Read the user's manual, but also, read about photography in general. There are thousands of sites about this amazing world.
Don't be afraid of using it in automatic mode, many photographers do that when they know they don't have enough lightning or time to focus correctly a shot because conditions aren't good enough.
Take a lot of photos, have fun!
PD: Photos look very different on a computer screen. I say this, because I use to see that some photos look awful on my Nikon D3000 screen and I see them great on my computer.
Install Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom CS4 (or CS5). You can shoot in manual mode with. NEF (RAW) + Basic and use both Photoshop and Lightroom to edit your photos (I prefer Lightroom).
They'll give you have thousands of options in order to improve the quality of your photos.
For your sister, if you can't learn photography that fast, set the camera to Auto mode, Auto ISO, AF-S, Single AF point at the center, Centerweighted Metering, Auto flash and 0 EV. Take lots of pictures to be safe.