Newbie
- Thread starter G@RY
- Start date
Michael J.
Senior Member
A very warm welcome to Nikonites
Bikerbrent
Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Welcome to the forum
If you fill out your profile and add the camera gear we can better answer any questions that you might have.
You can do that at http://nikonites.com/profile.php?do=editprofile
Under camera just put the model number like D3100; Once you put the first letter like D you will see a list of all the cameras in the database pop up. The more numbers you put in the smaller the list becomes. When you see your camera just click on it, Be sure to click on "Save Changes" in the lower right corner.
Thanks
If you fill out your profile and add the camera gear we can better answer any questions that you might have.
You can do that at http://nikonites.com/profile.php?do=editprofile
Under camera just put the model number like D3100; Once you put the first letter like D you will see a list of all the cameras in the database pop up. The more numbers you put in the smaller the list becomes. When you see your camera just click on it, Be sure to click on "Save Changes" in the lower right corner.
Thanks
RocketCowboy
Senior Member
Howdy Gary and welcome to Nikonites!!!
Good to see you Gary, I am a relatively new member here, just a couple months but was welcomed warmly as well. You did not mention your experience level or interests but whatever they are you might find some useful advice or inspiration here.
For this post, I am going to assume you are pretty new to photography or at least digital photography. Excuse me if I am in error and you are an experienced master or advanced hobbyist.
Your camera is capable of excellent images in a lot of different types of conditions, and not that much difference between an entry level camera like the D3100 and higher end cameras, they are closer than they are different. My advice to newcomers to the hobby is to shoot. Shoot a lot, carry it with you as often as possible and shoot. Look at your photos and judge their interest, technical quality and message and compare to your intent. Then see what can be causing the difference between what you intended and what you got. Also make a mental note of what focal length you used since you have zoom lenses. If like most photographers you will find that you shot more at some focal lengths than random chance. For me when I first got digital camera after decades of film shooting, 70% of my random shots were 105mm on a kit 18-105 so my first added lens was like yours, the 70-200 2.8 VR and still love it 9 years later. The remaining 30% were mostly 20-28mm cityscapes and wider scenes so my second purchase was the Sigma 10-20 3.5 wide angle. Most of my 70-200 shots were people shots, portraits and candids in the 130-200mm range.I took my camera everywhere, shot everything, made lots of friends through the camera by taking nice photos of them as strangers and giving them the files.
But the main improvement in my images was due to shooting a lot, every day. Over the years I added a lot of nice lenses and pro cameras like the D800 but my most requested prints were shot with that D90 probably because it was with me every day and chance shots were far better than no shot with the camera sitting back home. The biggest improvements were from evaluating shots and comparing to my intent and figuring out why they differed. If you really evaluate your images, and identify why it worked or didn't gradually that ratio of keepers greatly improves. Shooting in difficult conditions such as low light or strong backlight or problem subjects(for example trying to creating flattering images of how of how people imagine themselves instead of how they actually look...you make a friend for life if you take flattering images of women;>) and capture what they hope to look like instead of what they really look like)
You have the basic kit needed to take some interesting and quality images. Just shoot, every day and gradually a style, an eye for the optimum point of views develops. Don't be surprised if 95% of your shots looks like uninteresting snap shots. Delete them if they are not good by your developing critical standards. After a few thousand shots, that ratio of keepers increases mostly because your eye improves in finding perspectives and light that conveys your intent, where you just start noticing the best angles or light with a glance at a scene. The scene or person is not a static 2d object even though the camera can only see it as 2d, so move around it to notice how the subject changes as you it it moves. Close one eye to see how the camera sensor sees the 2d scene. This is very important in people shots, a very small viewing angle can change the entire impression of what the camera sees.
Your learning will be from evaluating you images and from developing you eye. There is nothing your camera or lenses hold you back from, the weakness for beginners and long time shooters, regardless of experience, is the vision and skill in making it happen. Randomly taking shots does not advance a photographer unless he learns from each one, be critical, not just whether you like it but determine why you like it or don't. Every image can be useful in figuring out why images generally work and not.
The biggest mistake beginners make is assuming the camera is a critical element so most tend to upgrade way before they are at a level when new features might be needed for most extreme conditions. People upgrade the least important elements, usually camera bodies but the most important ones are left to chance such as lighting, post processing and mentoring. You are painting a visual story with light and shadow, by increasing your options in light and shadow, more varied stories can be told in images...a new camera body or new high end lens does not give that despite the enthusiasm that getting a new camera generates. Far more image quality improvement comes from knowledge and light. The big rush to low light high ISO capabilities, trying to turn darkness into daylight does not make better images. It just makes bland images easier in dim conditions. You will not find very high ISO images on gallery walls, not because of lower noise but because the interest of the shot is ruined by the shadows and darkness that is the character of the scene, are lost but higher sensitivity. You WANT the shadows and darkness to help tell the story. Go to photo galleries, (real ones, not on-line) and see for yourself, the most compelling images use shadow just as much as light. Visiting art galleries and photo galleries in person is a real learning experience by seeing how an image affects you and then figuring out why it works for you.
There are two main parts of creating an image, regardless of whether film or digital; capture and post processing. Both are equally important in the final image impact. Capture well, using light and shadow effectively, often with augmented light (such as strobes, reflectors, scrims, flash, natural light, etc) makes post processing easier. Post processing is taking the information captured and optimizing it for the display media and intended look. It will be different for printing versus monitor display, but it is just as much a skill as capturing great images in digital data.
Good luck and have fun!
For this post, I am going to assume you are pretty new to photography or at least digital photography. Excuse me if I am in error and you are an experienced master or advanced hobbyist.
Your camera is capable of excellent images in a lot of different types of conditions, and not that much difference between an entry level camera like the D3100 and higher end cameras, they are closer than they are different. My advice to newcomers to the hobby is to shoot. Shoot a lot, carry it with you as often as possible and shoot. Look at your photos and judge their interest, technical quality and message and compare to your intent. Then see what can be causing the difference between what you intended and what you got. Also make a mental note of what focal length you used since you have zoom lenses. If like most photographers you will find that you shot more at some focal lengths than random chance. For me when I first got digital camera after decades of film shooting, 70% of my random shots were 105mm on a kit 18-105 so my first added lens was like yours, the 70-200 2.8 VR and still love it 9 years later. The remaining 30% were mostly 20-28mm cityscapes and wider scenes so my second purchase was the Sigma 10-20 3.5 wide angle. Most of my 70-200 shots were people shots, portraits and candids in the 130-200mm range.I took my camera everywhere, shot everything, made lots of friends through the camera by taking nice photos of them as strangers and giving them the files.
But the main improvement in my images was due to shooting a lot, every day. Over the years I added a lot of nice lenses and pro cameras like the D800 but my most requested prints were shot with that D90 probably because it was with me every day and chance shots were far better than no shot with the camera sitting back home. The biggest improvements were from evaluating shots and comparing to my intent and figuring out why they differed. If you really evaluate your images, and identify why it worked or didn't gradually that ratio of keepers greatly improves. Shooting in difficult conditions such as low light or strong backlight or problem subjects(for example trying to creating flattering images of how of how people imagine themselves instead of how they actually look...you make a friend for life if you take flattering images of women;>) and capture what they hope to look like instead of what they really look like)
You have the basic kit needed to take some interesting and quality images. Just shoot, every day and gradually a style, an eye for the optimum point of views develops. Don't be surprised if 95% of your shots looks like uninteresting snap shots. Delete them if they are not good by your developing critical standards. After a few thousand shots, that ratio of keepers increases mostly because your eye improves in finding perspectives and light that conveys your intent, where you just start noticing the best angles or light with a glance at a scene. The scene or person is not a static 2d object even though the camera can only see it as 2d, so move around it to notice how the subject changes as you it it moves. Close one eye to see how the camera sensor sees the 2d scene. This is very important in people shots, a very small viewing angle can change the entire impression of what the camera sees.
Your learning will be from evaluating you images and from developing you eye. There is nothing your camera or lenses hold you back from, the weakness for beginners and long time shooters, regardless of experience, is the vision and skill in making it happen. Randomly taking shots does not advance a photographer unless he learns from each one, be critical, not just whether you like it but determine why you like it or don't. Every image can be useful in figuring out why images generally work and not.
The biggest mistake beginners make is assuming the camera is a critical element so most tend to upgrade way before they are at a level when new features might be needed for most extreme conditions. People upgrade the least important elements, usually camera bodies but the most important ones are left to chance such as lighting, post processing and mentoring. You are painting a visual story with light and shadow, by increasing your options in light and shadow, more varied stories can be told in images...a new camera body or new high end lens does not give that despite the enthusiasm that getting a new camera generates. Far more image quality improvement comes from knowledge and light. The big rush to low light high ISO capabilities, trying to turn darkness into daylight does not make better images. It just makes bland images easier in dim conditions. You will not find very high ISO images on gallery walls, not because of lower noise but because the interest of the shot is ruined by the shadows and darkness that is the character of the scene, are lost but higher sensitivity. You WANT the shadows and darkness to help tell the story. Go to photo galleries, (real ones, not on-line) and see for yourself, the most compelling images use shadow just as much as light. Visiting art galleries and photo galleries in person is a real learning experience by seeing how an image affects you and then figuring out why it works for you.
There are two main parts of creating an image, regardless of whether film or digital; capture and post processing. Both are equally important in the final image impact. Capture well, using light and shadow effectively, often with augmented light (such as strobes, reflectors, scrims, flash, natural light, etc) makes post processing easier. Post processing is taking the information captured and optimizing it for the display media and intended look. It will be different for printing versus monitor display, but it is just as much a skill as capturing great images in digital data.
Good luck and have fun!