Help taking better pictures with the D5100

[Horoscope Fish]

Re: Help

As has already been suggested, I too would recommend you go into your menus and adjust some of your settings.

Press MENU.
Select SHOOTING MENU (camera icon on left).
Go right (into the menu selections) and go down to the next page to SET PICTURE CONTROL.
Go right to the four standard options, and click two down to STANDARD.
Click right again and in these sub menus and adjust the following settings as follows:

Sharpening +7
Contrast +1
Saturation +1

For now, since all of this is so new to you, I'd suggest you relax and simply shoot on full Automatic for now. You're practically guaranteed good photo's using Auto. There will be time to learn all the in's and out's of all the settings and menus, but right now isn't the time for you.

......

 

[Moab Man]

Re: Help

Moab Man: Thanks for your words, I really understand what you're saying. First two pics with the camera I was on the verge of throwing it out the window. Also there's the fact that I am partially colorblind...

Anyways, following your advice and suggested touch-up, this is what I've come up with in Lightroom:

Thanks all for holding my hand here. I am really getting the hang of this. I know I can do it.

Your edit and composition of the shot looks better than the snapshot of putting your point of interest smack dab in the middle of the frame.

My wife also has some seeing of color issues. Now I am not familiar with Lightroom (know the program but don't use it), but I know in Elements (my wife's program of choice) I am blown away at how dead on the auto white balance capability is. Subsequently, because of her color issues too, she uses many of the auto adjustments and they have served her well.

The best thing you can do right now is shoot that camera until your trigger finger cries uncle. And if in doubt, throw it to Auto. The Auto capability is great and it will insure you get the shot.

Have fun, stick around here, and in no time you will be the one telling someone new you were them x amount of months ago.

Best regards.

​Moab Man

 

[nickt]

As mentioned Auto is a good place to start. P mode is a good next step. It is slightly less automated. Auto adjusts iso and uses flash a lot. It almost guarantees a decent picture though. P does not adjust iso and it leave popping up the flash to you. So its a good next step after trying Auto. Your first couple shots I think you said were on manual. Stay away from manual until you get more comfortable. You will know when its time to use manual.

I know its a lot to think about all the details every time, but as time permits, think about a shot and plan it out. Ask yourself what you want the picture to show. Like the playground tube. What do you hate about it? the shadows? What did you want to show? Did you want the background more blurry or more sharp? These are things to ask yourself and adjust accordingly. I don't like the shadows. I would have used flash for fill, but the onboard flash might not be strong enough unless you were fairly close. Blurry or sharp background would depend on distance and f-stop.

Your daughter's picture looked good, it just needed some cropping. I don't know if you used flash, but it can add a nice sparkle to the eyes even in outdoor shots.

Your creative shot of the [whatever it is]... what were you going for? More of everything in focus? Then you need a higher f-stop. Did you want a different part in focus and the rest blurry? If so then use a single focus point and move it where you need it. Or use a single focus point and keep it in the center. Focus on the subject, keep button half pressed and recompose. I know I'm throwing a lot of random stuff at you. The point is to find specifics that you want in a picture and choose settings that help with that effect. If you haven't, check out that video I linked above. Its a good tutorial on the relationship of shutter, aperture and iso and the benefits of changing one over another to achieve certain results.

 

[KWJams]

Re: Help

So here's a couple of pictures I took just to show up what I am talking about.

View attachment 52205
D5100 f/3.5 1/10 sec. ISO-400 (Cam #1)


View attachment 52206
COOLPIX P510 f/3 1/10 sec. ISO-400 (Cam #2)

Both cameras are set to "M". D5100 was auto-focused. Note the ugly yellowish shade with the D5100. Pictures are handheld - no tripod. Also I set the parameters for Picture Control Standard as directed. Big "oh-by-the-way": I've been just 2 days with the D5100. It came yesterday and it was dark outside already and today has been cloudy so no chance of testing it out outside under bright sun to take the "photoshop" pictures.

Now my question is: what is wrong here? Camera #1, Camera #2 or Cameraman?

Thanks for all your insight!

Rule of thumb on shutter speed is that unless you can stop breathing and still your heart beat -- anything slower than 1/60 sec will produce blur unless mounted on a tripod.

 

[Moab Man]

Re: Help

Rule of thumb on shutter speed is that unless you can stop breathing and still your heart beat

Been trying to master this but I keep blacking out every time I'm just about successful.

 

[Viktor]

As mentioned Auto is a good place to start. P mode is a good next step. It is slightly less automated. Auto adjusts iso and uses flash a lot. It almost guarantees a decent picture though. P does not adjust iso and it leave popping up the flash to you. So its a good next step after trying Auto. Your first couple shots I think you said were on manual. Stay away from manual until you get more comfortable. You will know when its time to use manual.

I know its a lot to think about all the details every time, but as time permits, think about a shot and plan it out. Ask yourself what you want the picture to show. Like the playground tube. What do you hate about it? the shadows? What did you want to show? Did you want the background more blurry or more sharp? These are things to ask yourself and adjust accordingly. I don't like the shadows. I would have used flash for fill, but the onboard flash might not be strong enough unless you were fairly close. Blurry or sharp background would depend on distance and f-stop.

Your daughter's picture looked good, it just needed some cropping. I don't know if you used flash, but it can add a nice sparkle to the eyes even in outdoor shots.

Your creative shot of the [whatever it is]... what were you going for? More of everything in focus? Then you need a higher f-stop. Did you want a different part in focus and the rest blurry? If so then use a single focus point and move it where you need it. Or use a single focus point and keep it in the center. Focus on the subject, keep button half pressed and recompose. I know I'm throwing a lot of random stuff at you. The point is to find specifics that you want in a picture and choose settings that help with that effect. If you haven't, check out that video I linked above. Its a good tutorial on the relationship of shutter, aperture and iso and the benefits of changing one over another to achieve certain results.

nickt, you are NOT throwing random stuff at me! In fact the "want this? do this" approach is the best for me to learn and so far nobody had told me anything like it... even people in Youtube. The way my brain works is knowing something before hand, like a basis to rely on if everything else fails. Having this tiny piece of fundamentals is enough for me to start experimenting. I could watch videos on youtube all day, but that would take time from me that I would rather be shooting outside. I really appreciate that, nickt.

For the record, the "creative shot" was a screw on the belly of the playground's slide!

 

[nickt]

nickt, you are NOT throwing random stuff at me! In fact the "want this? do this" approach is the best for me to learn and so far nobody had told me anything like it... even people in Youtube. The way my brain works is knowing something before hand, like a basis to rely on if everything else fails. Having this tiny piece of fundamentals is enough for me to start experimenting. I could watch videos on youtube all day, but that would take time from me that I would rather be shooting outside. I really appreciate that, nickt.

For the record, the "creative shot" was a screw on the belly of the playground's slide!

Well good luck to you. I hope you start getting more shots that please you. There is usually an answer to all picture problems.

Are you shooting jpg? I don't know what the default is, but if you are shooting jpg, make sure you choose the highest quality.

Folks above mentioned picture settings, but I wanted to clarify there are several picture control 'themes': Standard, neutral, vivid, landscape, portrait, b&w. Check all of these out. The sharpening, contrast, etc tweaks mentioned above are repeated under EACH of those picture control choices. So if you increased sharpening under Standard, that won't follow along if you later try another such as Vivid. You have a lot here to play with in these picture controls to improve the look of your shots. If you are shooting raw, don't worry about those settings.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Re: Help

Been trying to master this but I keep blacking out every time I'm just about successful.

My wife says I have no heart......

 

[KWJams]

Here is an excellent book that is written in a manner that makes sense. It explains all the features of the D5100 Nikon D5100: From Snapshots to Great Shots: Rob Sylvan: 9780321793843: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Viktor]

Thanks KWJams, I ordered that book on Kindle two days before the camera arrived. I also have the D5100 for Dummies. Also I have put the settings to the recommended by folks. Believe me, I geek over things pretty quickly.

 

[Viktor]

Sooooo I made my trip... it was a complete disaster. Out of 245 pictures taken, only 4 I'm going to post. The rest is garbage. Please rate...



She takes better pictures than me.


An old rusty fountain.


Two ducks basking out.


An unknown piece of rock inside a museum. (amber?)

 

[Moab Man]

So what was a disaster about the shots? Those bad shots could be the one you really need to post examples of. Then we can help you on what could have been done better or different.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Newsflash: We *all* take crappy shots, so don't feel like the Lone Ranger.

Besides, if you don't post up the crap, we can't help you move past it.

......

 

[Viktor]

Well, here are some of the uglies. Please take into consideration that I've been having that camera for less than a week. Also I'm using the kit lens.


Incorrect exposure?


My first slow shutter attempt... a tripod could've been handy.


I wanted more depth between the poles here.


Too dark.


Not focused


I waited for over 10 min. to get this


Too dark, too ugly, not in focus... garbage

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Dude, you're among friends here and we want to see you succeed. We're from Nikonites, and we're here to help.

Okay, in looking at those yes, some of them have issues but I also think you're being a liiiiiiiittle hard on yourself here. Going from a Point and Shoot to a DSLR is a big step and I don't think a lot of people understand just how big a step it is. That, and while some of those shots are teeny bit off, I certainly wouldn't call most of them "garbage".

Can you tell me, briefly, how are you approaching your shooting in general? Are you shooting in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual or what? And how have you set up your auto-focus?

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Well, here are some of the uglies. Please take into consideration that I've been having that camera for less than a week. Also I'm using the kit lens.


View attachment 52767
Too dark, too ugly, not in focus... garbage

Have you done any post processing on these shots. They all can be made to look a lot better. Here is a quick example

 

[Viktor]

Well applying the knowledge I've gathered so far, to "freeze the action" I'm using "S", to get some depth of field I use "A". The problem is, I've used Auto and Auto (Flash off) and the results are roughly the same or worse. At some point I thought the camera was malfunctioning... but obviously that's "newbie" syndrome. Auto focus I am using it to AF-S for most of the shots and AF-C for when I have a target on sight that needs constant focus. ISO is set auto-off and most of the shots I tried taking them with no less than 400 being that day a bit cloudy at first but gradually brightened.

Also, for Don Kuykendall, yes I mostly use Denoise to slightly sharpen the images but no other PP. I use Photoshop just for cropping and basic stuff. My hands shake much and it wasn't until today that I got my tripod. So yeah all those shots were "punishingly handheld".

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

If you were to see a lot of the shots on this forum that little of no post processing was done you would be surprised. Since you are using PhotoShop already I am going to suggest that you shoot in RAW Plus JPEG fine for the next shoot. The RAW editor in PhotoShop is easier to use than PhotoShop. Pay attention to the shadow control and also the Clarify sliders in particular. There is also a sharpening control that you will need to find. Play with all the controls and just see what they do. RAW is also a lot more forgiving of exposure and color problems.

 

[Marcel]

Well applying the knowledge I've gathered so far, to "freeze the action" I'm using "S", to get some depth of field I use "A". The problem is, I've used Auto and Auto (Flash off) and the results are roughly the same or worse. At some point I thought the camera was malfunctioning... but obviously that's "newbie" syndrome. Auto focus I am using it to AF-S for most of the shots and AF-C for when I have a target on sight that needs constant focus. ISO is set auto-off and most of the shots I tried taking them with no less than 400 being that day a bit cloudy at first but gradually brightened.

Also, for Don Kuykendall, yes I mostly use Denoise to slightly sharpen the images but no other PP. I use Photoshop just for cropping and basic stuff. My hands shake much and it wasn't until today that I got my tripod. So yeah all those shots were "punishingly handheld".

Viktor, photography cannot be learned with knowledge. It has to be earned with experience. I think you're expectations may be too high for the experience you have. You just got your camera and thought you could get fantastic shots within a few weekends of practice. Patience will be your best teacher and perseverance alone will eventually pay. Don't get discouraged and practice, practice and learn to see the light, do not focus on a single object in the viewfinder, look at the whole image, how the light affects the image, try to figure out how it will look when printed, take the shot and then work on post processing. Then start again and again and again.

The shots you might admire from magazines or the net were not single shot done like that, maybe thousands of pictures were made before the person that did the shot got the one that really got your attention.

It's a long and winding road to masterpieces.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Well applying the knowledge I've gathered so far, to "freeze the action" I'm using "S", to get some depth of field I use "A". The problem is, I've used Auto and Auto (Flash off) and the results are roughly the same or worse. At some point I thought the camera was malfunctioning... but obviously that's "newbie" syndrome. Auto focus I am using it to AF-S for most of the shots and AF-C for when I have a target on sight that needs constant focus. ISO is set auto-off and most of the shots I tried taking them with no less than 400 being that day a bit cloudy at first but gradually brightened.

Okay, here's what I suggest you do...

The Primary Problem, it seems to me, is you are over-thinking a lot of this. I suggest you SIMPLIFY things for now and just get your feet wet. You need to ground yourself in the basics of things like how shutter speed, aperture, focal length and ISO all work in conjunction with one another.

I would start by putting your camera on "A"perture Priority mode and *leaving it* there. I would suggest you leave your Auto Focus mode on "S" for now and focus on shooting stills. Turn "Auto ISO" back on and let if have control. Go shoot a lot of pictures and read you books. Learn about the exposure triangle until you can recite it backwards and forwards and REALLY understand what it means.

Two points to really research immediately: Understanding the Exposure Triangle and How to Understand Histograms.

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