Photography noob needs some help

[Bpearl2010]

Nice man..


I just picked up my Nikkor 35mm f1.8 about 3 days ago.. Love that Little Lens great len for the price.. also have the Nikkor 18-135mm. .. My baby.. Next len's is a FishEye Wide Angle lens

I would buy the Sb-600 Soon.. It's just a Great flash.. I love mine..

I just got into Photography as a Hobby late last month, and since day one, i have only Used MANUAL mode.. The first Day or two i used the Priorities: Aperture, Shutter.. But after the Second day i just learned what each does.. and it really help.. Manual mode is the best, i feel that i am in control of the camera and just not point and shooting..

There is a Youtube person with many video's..

Nikon Online Hotline/or Help.. Great place..

[C.Johnston]

haha +1.. my SB600 just took a shit on me last weekend though, just over a year old - good thing it's still under warranty. The SB600 is also discontinued for those who don't know, and the SB700 that replaced it is rumoured to be getting replaced already as well.

[Withers]

I think my first upgrade will be the sb600 because ive already had a few instances where my stock flash just wasnt enough.

Eesh, you should just forget that the built-in flash is even there.

[Bavaria-guy]

Glad you listened to me it's a great lens for that camera, I used to own one. Having fast glass allows for more opportunity to shoot, which is why I recommended it - and both would AF on your D3100. Just be careful of where you are focusing because of the shallow depth of field (DOF). For example, the dog photo focused on the rope whereas the focus should have been on the dogs eyes. Of course, it is all part of learning and there are so many things to keep in mind while shooting at first you forget a lot of them - I forget things all the time lol. But yeah, glad you like the 35 1.8. I sold mine to a friend and am looking for a used one at the moment.

To have the object in focus sharp and other areas out of focus you can also move the object away from a background to create even more depth.

Here is an example of mine where you can see how out of focus things get as it moves away from the subject.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5336722954_b4fc28de77_z.jpg

This was shot at 200mm at f2.8 through a glass sliding door (what.. it's cold outside)

Thats a great pic, yea im still figuring out all the focus techniques. Thanks for the advice, I love the lens.

[C.Johnston]

Glad you listened to me it's a great lens for that camera, I used to own one. Having fast glass allows for more opportunity to shoot, which is why I recommended it - and both would AF on your D3100. Just be careful of where you are focusing because of the shallow depth of field (DOF). For example, the dog photo focused on the rope whereas the focus should have been on the dogs eyes. Of course, it is all part of learning and there are so many things to keep in mind while shooting at first you forget a lot of them - I forget things all the time lol. But yeah, glad you like the 35 1.8. I sold mine to a friend and am looking for a used one at the moment.

To have the object in focus sharp and other areas out of focus you can also move the object away from a background to create even more depth.

Here is an example of mine where you can see how out of focus things get as it moves away from the subject.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5336722954_b4fc28de77_z.jpg

This was shot at 200mm at f2.8 through a glass sliding door (what.. it's cold outside)

[Bavaria-guy]

Actually I got mine a couple months ago as well. Im loving it, the new lens is great.

A nice quick lense is a good starting purchase, good call.

[Ownagespot]

Haha its been two days and you already got a new lens?

I just picked up a D3100 a few months ago also, and im lovin it. Still gonna hold off on getting new lenses so i can learn the most about what it has now. Anyways good luck and have fun with it

[Bavaria-guy]

Ok so i've been taking alot of pics the last few days and decided to pick up a 35mm f1.8 lens. I was really impressed right off the bat. I love the way the backgrounds look really smooth and not just blurry (if that makes sense). It was a relatively inexpensive investment but I think it was worth every penny. Now I want to take pictures of everything lol. Here are a couple pics with the new lens. (remember im still fairly new to this)

[B. Aust]

We can agree to disagree then, obviously we have 2 very different teachings from 2 different time periods. But you make valid points regardless.

OP its really on you how you want to learn, but I HIGHLY stress not upgrading or buying new lenses or gear for a few weeks at least, make sure you really want to spend money on this, (its not a cheap hobby, and if you don't like it you are wasting a ton of money).Get out and shoot as much as you can, learn how the camera works, get to a point where you are comfortable with your composures, your style, etc, and then buy new lenses and gear as you get better and your current gear holds you back... Well at least thats what I would do.

Amen.

[Kielan]

We can agree to disagree then, obviously we have 2 very different teachings from 2 different time periods. But you make valid points regardless.

OP its really on you how you want to learn, but I HIGHLY stress not upgrading or buying new lenses or gear for a few weeks at least, make sure you really want to spend money on this, (its not a cheap hobby, and if you don't like it you are wasting a ton of money).Get out and shoot as much as you can, learn how the camera works, get to a point where you are comfortable with your composures, your style, etc, and then buy new lenses and gear as you get better and your current gear holds you back... Well at least thats what I would do.

[Bimmerteck]

I am well aware of how full manual mode works thanks...

Full manual mode is so confusing for a straight up beginner, Av/Tv, both allow you to ease into it, and can provide you with a fairly good grasp of what is going on. Where as starting out in full manual, you have no idea why your pictures aren't being exposed correctly, or why you are having 2 second exposures at 4pm... Understand the basic relationship works using Av/Tv allows you to see what each does, and how that will effect all the factors that go into taking a picture.

I also suggest you read the manual OP, as dumb as it sounds, it will help you a great deal to understanding all the functions of the camera, and what everything means.

Full manual mode allows the beginner to make mistakes, and with a digital camera they can learn from those mistakes in seconds when the preview image doesn't turn out. It cost them nothing, and they can immediately readjust and take another shot until it does turn out learning what each change does as they go.


I spent $1600 on film my first year of college(before digital cameras were available) to learn photography/videography, much of it went in the trashcan so I could learn the functions of the cameras, anyone holding a digital body today with no experience can learn in hours what many of us spent days or weeks shooting, taking notes, developing, and evaluating our prints to learn photography.

To the OP Kielan is absolutely right about reading the manual, and regardless of what mode you use starting out the best way to learn is to get out there and take pictures, lots of pictures, if you have a shot you can't get try your best to get it then feel free to come back and ask what you can change to make it come out better next time.

[Kielan]

With full manual mode you will learn the relationship between aperture and shutter speed much faster where as with Av and Tv you learn one and use the camera as a crutch to set the other for you.

as a bonus if you truly know how shoot full manual then you can pick up nearly anything from a 1Ds to rolleiflex, to a kodak landcamera from the 1920s and take a picture.

I am well aware of how full manual mode works thanks...

Full manual mode is so confusing for a straight up beginner, Av/Tv, both allow you to ease into it, and can provide you with a fairly good grasp of what is going on. Where as starting out in full manual, you have no idea why your pictures aren't being exposed correctly, or why you are having 2 second exposures at 4pm... Understand the basic relationship works using Av/Tv allows you to see what each does, and how that will effect all the factors that go into taking a picture.

I also suggest you read the manual OP, as dumb as it sounds, it will help you a great deal to understanding all the functions of the camera, and what everything means.

[Bimmerteck]

With full manual mode you will learn the relationship between aperture and shutter speed much faster where as with Av and Tv you learn one and use the camera as a crutch to set the other for you.

as a bonus if you truly know how shoot full manual then you can pick up nearly anything from a 1Ds to rolleiflex, to a kodak landcamera from the 1920s and take a picture.

[Kielan]

I'm gunna go ahead and say don't use full manual right off the bat, use Av and Tv, those two modes will help you learn all about what changing aperture, shutter speed, ISO, all do, and how to use them effectively.