Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="BackdoorArts" data-source="post: 93959" data-attributes="member: 9240">As was stated, white balance is critical for creating a look that is &quot;natural&quot;.&nbsp; How it's set will depend on your preferences.&nbsp; Spend some time shooting outside and varying the white balance setting to see how it impacts the &quot;look&quot; to you.&nbsp; Remember, there are tools to manipulate that after the fact as well.&nbsp; But it's best to get to know your camera and how it works.With lenses, I would think any of them would be well suited to outdoor work.&nbsp; For a &quot;kit lens&quot;, I am continually impressed by just how well the 18-105mm works with my D7000.&nbsp; It's a great lens for just walking around and doing landscapes and such.&nbsp; If it lacks anything it might be the ability to create a nice, narrow depth of field effect when objects are close together.&nbsp; A bright 35 or 50mm (f/1.8) works great for that.&nbsp; I have a 24-70 f/2.8 for that reason, but find that there are times I wish it was a touch wider.&nbsp; But when you're not looking for a narrow DoF then any of those lenses should work.The best advice I can give is to just get out and make pictures.&nbsp; Make mistakes and learn from them.&nbsp; Try things just to see what happens.&nbsp; If you're setting everything to Auto and keeping your fingers crossed for great pictures then you probably should have gotten a point-and-shoot.&nbsp; There are lots of great photos to be found here.&nbsp; If something inspires you then think about why and then try and duplicate it.&nbsp; It all starts with a great image capture, but there are so many places you can then take it with different software.&nbsp; Work in something that allows you to exploit the RAW files and &quot;fix your mistakes&quot;.&nbsp; Then, next time out, figure out what you had to fix and try again to get it right.&nbsp; The best part is, you're not wasting film, and you're (hopefully) having fun, right?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BackdoorArts, post: 93959, member: 9240"] As was stated, white balance is critical for creating a look that is "natural". How it's set will depend on your preferences. Spend some time shooting outside and varying the white balance setting to see how it impacts the "look" to you. Remember, there are tools to manipulate that after the fact as well. But it's best to get to know your camera and how it works. With lenses, I would think any of them would be well suited to outdoor work. For a "kit lens", I am continually impressed by just how well the 18-105mm works with my D7000. It's a great lens for just walking around and doing landscapes and such. If it lacks anything it might be the ability to create a nice, narrow depth of field effect when objects are close together. A bright 35 or 50mm (f/1.8) works great for that. I have a 24-70 f/2.8 for that reason, but find that there are times I wish it was a touch wider. But when you're not looking for a narrow DoF then any of those lenses should work. The best advice I can give is to just get out and make pictures. Make mistakes and learn from them. Try things just to see what happens. If you're setting everything to Auto and keeping your fingers crossed for great pictures then you probably should have gotten a point-and-shoot. There are lots of great photos to be found here. If something inspires you then think about why and then try and duplicate it. It all starts with a great image capture, but there are so many places you can then take it with different software. Work in something that allows you to exploit the RAW files and "fix your mistakes". Then, next time out, figure out what you had to fix and try again to get it right. The best part is, you're not wasting film, and you're (hopefully) having fun, right? [/QUOTE]

Verification