submission for help and critique

texaslimo

Senior Member
If I am not doing this correctly please advise of correct method. I just went out and tried some shots in the back yard and now have some questions. D7000 manual mode. 200mm f4 lens. early evening light. f16-f22. 200-250 shutter speed.

1. what is the correct format to include a photo so that you can see the relevant details such as f stop, shutter speed, ISO, flash, etc?
2. Some of these shots, where I did not use flash, came out black. I had to increase the exposure by 2.68 in lightroom to get the details to show up. Does that indicate that instead of f16 or F22 I should have used F14 or F20 respectively?
3. When I crop in close, The head is not in focus. Manual focus was used. Was my eyeball off, or was it too much crop? I was shooting from 20 to 30 inches away. I have no idea how you would know that, but am asking anyway..
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texaslimo

Senior Member
Here is one where I used flash but almost everything else was the same. Everything is clear no matter how close I crop..

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Lawrence

Senior Member
Those are very small apertures and fast shutter speeds. To get your exposure correct you need to learn about the "exposure triangle" (just google it) and the relationship between shutter speed, aperture ad iso.
For these photos I would suggest shooting at no less (more) than f8-11. Shutter speed is probably ok but set ISO to Auto and let the camera help you until you understand better.

Be sure to have focus on AF-C as animals move and I would use center weighted exposuring.

The head not being in focus could be technique, movement from the mantis, lens may need fine tuning, camera shake, no VR. Lots of possibilities - just keep practising. :)

Your exif data is showing so you have uploaded correctly
 

WayneF

Senior Member
1. By just including the Exif in your uploaded image, which you did, and it does show now if you mouse-over the image. First says f/16, 1/60 second, ISO 200, and +1 EV. Higher ISO would help if no flash.

I don't know camera exposure mode, but camera may have been in Manual mode if 1/60, so (in Manual), Exposure Compensation only changes the meter, but does not change the manual exposure you set. You can watch "the meter" seen in the viewfinder, and adjust as you watch it, to "zero it". Maybe going too far here, but if the flash is TTL mode, then Flash Compensation (or Exposure Compensation) will increase the flash, even in camera Manual mode. The builtin flash is low power, but it should do 3 feet at f/16 ISO 200.

In the second one, with flash at 1/250 second, the shutter speed does not affect the flash, but it did reduce the ambient by 2 stops, which then apparently the flash did make up for.


OOPS, Sorry, I had D3300 in my head, but it clearly says D7000. D7000 should do 1/250 sync, sorry, disregard the previous error posted and then deleted here..

FWIW, in Adobe, if you Save As - JPG, it will retain the Exif in the file. But if you Save For Web, it will eliminate the Exif.

2. I see it more like +1 2/3 stop, but yes flash would help, even the pop up flash. Some sort of diffuser held in front of it helps, like even a sheet of white paper (not held too close to the flash). Otherwise, then more ISO or slower shutter or wider aperture will give more exposure too. ISO would seem the right choice here (or more light, via flash).

3. There is very little depth of field in closeup macro shots. Such closeups do need f/16 or f/22 for the depth of field. A beginner problem is to focus on the nearest part of the subject (where in this case, the head is furthest part, and the depth of field may not have that much range). So consciously focusing in the middle zone will likely include both ends better. Single Point focusing easily allows that.
 
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texaslimo

Senior Member
I need MUCH practice! That is definitely a true statement. I actually decided on those settings not because I knew they would work (ha!), but because I had looked at a bunch of other photos on here from other folks and saw that was predominately what they had used. I figured that would be a good place to start.

Maybe I understand even less than I thought I did. I thought that AF-s and AF-c only came in to play if using auto focus?
I do have that triangle up on another tab..
 

WayneF

Senior Member
AF-S and AF-C do control relationship between shutter and focus (their defaults are that AF-S requires focus before shutter will work - it locks focus at half press for the next full press. But AF-C will trigger shutter whether it has focused yet or not - and AF-C will continue trying to focus while you hold shutter down for the next continuous shot, or while half press is held down). Requiring focus first is normally a good thing. AF-S is for normal fixed subjects. AF-C is for continuous shots of a fast moving subject.

The 1/60 and f/16 are affected by camera exposure mode, A, S, P, M.... it affects the way automation adjusts them. But in Manual, they stay as what you have set them, however, the meter can be seen in the viewfinder, so you can judge it that way first.
 
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I need MUCH practice! That is definitely a true statement. I actually decided on those settings not because I knew they would work (ha!), but because I had looked at a bunch of other photos on here from other folks and saw that was predominately what they had used. I figured that would be a good place to start.

Maybe I understand even less than I thought I did. I thought that AF-s and AF-c only came in to play if using auto focus?
I do have that triangle up on another tab..


WE all need a lot of practice. LOL

If you are using manual focus then AF-S and AF-C do not make any difference, Only if you are using auto focus.
 
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