Nikon D3000 settings
I have a Nikon Digital Camera D3000 and a AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G lens, and I want to do a photoshoot by a motel. The only light I want to use is from the motel signs/lights. What settings would I have to use to take good lighting photos without flash? I try many different settings but if there ever is a good one it comes out blurry because the shutter takes too long. Any ideas?
Set the white balance to incandescent
Raise the ISO to 3200
That will be a good starting point or you could just take a class in photography. You will learn how to use the cameras light meter and how to balance the ISO, shutter speed and lens aperture
http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/
Lets take a step back and go to what the definition of photography means
photo means light
graph means to draw
so the literal meaning of photography is "to draw with light"
you need light to draw with. A motel sign is NOT a good source of light. To get an adequate amount of light to get a correct 0ev exposure, you will need to
A. Use a slow shutter speed
B. Use a larger aperture
C. Raise the ISO
if you want to do handheld shots, you will want your shutter speed to be at least 1/30th of a second (assuming you are a very steady person). Set your aperture to the largest it can be, and then raise ISO accordingly
if you want high quality shots, get a tripod
you need to learn these basic concepts if you want your photography to blossom. There's no one correct setting for anything. Manual mode is where the photographer wrangles control and does what he or she wants. That is what you should use.
If you are shooting low light without flash the first thing you need is a tripod.
Failing that:
Don't hold the camera out at arms length using live-view. Hold it to your eye and use the optical viewfinder. Press your shoulder to a tree or a wall to increase your steadiness.
Use aperture priority mode and set aperture to F/3.5 or whatever the max is at your chosen focal length
Set ISO to at least 400
Set to under expose by 1 or 2 stops - that will give a dark background with colored lights. The autoexposure will try to give a grey background with burnt out lights.
Using a tripod and firing the shutter with remote shutter release and the mirror locked is THE way to get camera shake free long shutter (ie slower than 1/15 sec) shots.
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