New to photography!

Hello there!

 

Firstly, sorry if this is in the wrong area, i thought this was the most

appropriate place to post!

 

My name is Ryan and I am new to photography. I have bought myself a Nikon D40x

twin lens kit. I am very happy with my purchase. I also just bought myself a

Lowepro Nova 4 bag, and 2 x Hoya 52mm UV lenses. I am using a 2gb Sandisk SD

Ultra 2 card.

 

Firstly, just wanting to know if there is anything else i really need to buy

(another SD card, perhaps)?

 

I like taking photos of flowers closeup with the 18-55mm lens, however i find

that generally photos come out better with the 55-200 VR lens.

 

If anyone has any advice for a new Nikon user it is very much welcomed,

including what to shoot, what setting might be good for flowers closeup, and

anything else i might be forgetting (software - photo elements as a good

starting point)?

 

Also i would really love to know what a good place to host some of my photos

would be, since most basic photo upload sites (like Imageshack) don't allow

larger photos (i would love to share some of my beginner shots with you)!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Ryan

Welcome to the site Ryan. I have to tell you that you are indeed on a photo hosting site. :)

Thanks for the heads up, Albert. Where abouts can i go to upload my shots, and how do i go about resizing them?

 

Regards,

 

Ryan.

Ryan... WELCOME to the club!

 

First of all Photo Net will host your work. Go to the top page and you can start there by

reading all the rules, the do's and don'ts.

 

Your purchase seems really good as a starter kit. What ever is missing don't rush to buy it

all at once. Read about photography. You can do it here on P/N too. again go to the top

page. As time goes by you will start finding out what else you need and only then you go

looking for the goods. Practice a lot. read your manual. If you want I will recommend a

book or 2: The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby & Understanding Exposure by

Bryan Peterson. These will be very good guides and there on you can always comeback

here any time you want.

 

Your software is just fine BUT if you don't mind expending a few hundred bucks I will

recommend Adobe Lightroom. That will save you a lot of time and it is very intuitive for

any beginner.

 

That's all for now. Many more members will wake up soon and they will give you their

advice too!

 

Good luck & have fun! Rene'

Welcome aboard! Another SD card or two would not go amiss - especially if you start shooting in RAW. For software, I use Nikon Capture NX to do my RAW conversions and some other adjustments. Others also use Photoshop.

 

As a newcomer with a digital camera, I'd be looking to shoot anything & everything! Your photographic style & interests will evolve in the coming years - mine still is after 30 years! Three key things to look at are exposure, composition and lighting for any subject. Books are a good starting point. However, my photography improved dramatically when I joined a camera club two and an half years ago and listened to what judges and presenters said about their, mine and other's images.

 

Finally, you may decide you want a dedicated macro lens for flower photography - I'm currently trying to decide between a faster standard zoom and a dedicated macro lens as my next purchase.

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

Is Nikon Capture NX the software that came with my camera? If so, I might use that until i can afford to go for Adobe Lightroom. I was also recommended Photoshop Elements, how does this compare?

 

I will definitely go for another SD card or two - that seems to be the general consensus.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the book titles - I will look for these and see if i can't get a hold of a copy of each.

 

If I do consider a dedicated macro lens, what would be a good one to consider?

 

I now have a few flower shots uploaded in my portfolio - feel free to check them out sometime, comments and crit are welcomed!

 

Thanks,

 

Ryan

I asked the same question a while back re. macro lenses. The ability to autofocus with the D40X is an issue with some lenses. However, for macro photography, manual focus is often better. The Nikkor 60mm & 105mm offerings are sound as is the Tamron 90mm. Not sure if any of them will autofocus with the D40X though.

 

I've commented on your middle picture - here is the kind of thing I'm thinking about.<div></div>

Thanks for the advice, Simon, I will take this into consideration!

 

How do the Tamron lenses stand up to the Nikkor lenses?

 

Yes I don't know much about photography just yet, but I would strongly agree that manual focus, for this type of shooting (macro), is very much the preferred option.

 

Of the 3 photos I have uploaded so far i actually rated that one the worst! Partly because of that wasted space you mentioned...(as I said though, I will be taking this on board).

 

I am happy to take any other thoughs and/or opinions in regards to any equipment anyone thinks i might need, as well as critique in my portfolio.

 

Is RAW a good format to start using straight away? Most of my pictures so far have been JPEG, but if RAW is the way to go, then I will most likely start using that format from now on. Another battery might not be a bad idea either...

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Ryan.

If you want to do some GREAT flower close-ups really cheap, try the 55mm f2.8 or f3.5

MANUAL focus lenses... used... for REALLY CHEAP. You will need to manually set aperture

and shutter speed AND manually focus and you will have no metering, but with the

monitor on the back of your camera to check exposure and histogram, this is, surprisingly,

no problem at all.

 

You will also have only spent a little over a hundred bucks and will learn a LOT about

photography.

 

This photo was taken in totally manual mode with no metering and no AF on my D50.

Thanks for the advise, Peter.

 

Nice photo too, how did you get the shot on a fully black background?

 

I am already getting this feeling that my next lens will be a macro lens. I simply love the flower shots. Going to put some more into my portfolio when i wake up tomorrow!

 

Ryan.

I started off using JPEGs - mainly due to lack of memory cards. Then I switched to RAW plus JPEG (not sure if the D40X supports this). Now I just shoot in RAW and convert as a batch in Capture NX. With RAW, there is more capacity for making changes to white balance, exposure compensation etc than JPEG. Having said that, it still pays to try to get it right in-camera in the first place.

 

I took the picture below with my 28-105 nikkor zoom. The biggest pain with macro photography is getting a decent working distance between the front of the lens and the subject at minimum focusing distance. The 60mm nikkor gives a working distance of 9cm, the 90mm tamron 10cm, the 105mm nikkor is about 13cm I believe. Greater working distance = easier lighting & reduced risk of casting shadows. The benefit of the 60mm micro nikkor is better depth of field (the other macro issue).

 

I've still to decide what to do about which one to go for!<div></div>

Wellcome!

 

There is a lot to learn, from how to use your camera through the digital workflow to how to calibrate your monitor and print stuff.

 

I would start with getting to know your camera. Shoot things you like. You might like landscapes more, or people. On each subject there are how to's etc. Get good at one thing and it will teach you much about photography.

 

One comment:

I would advise you to check out Bibble, (the non-pro version costs about $60) and will do a great job of converting your RAW images to JPG's. Lightroom might be overkill. I use Bibble and I love it. (I also have CS3, and prefer bibble for most things). Search Bibble in these forums to get an idea. (no affiliation).

 

In terms of what to buy next, a tripod. (Do a search here to find perspectives regarding what tripod. Set aside a few hours for the reading haha) Thats it.

 

Please, DO NOT worry about more lens or filters yet. The kit lens are GREAT. (I have them both - I use a D40) Get an idea of what you really need before you spend more on lens. You might want a tele lens, you might want a fast lens, you might want super wide one or indeed a macro one.

 

 

Good luck.

Good advice from Avi on the tripod front. It's an item that's worth spending decent money on - cheap ones are just not worth bothering with. OTOH, one that's TOO heavy just will not get used enough because you'll not want to carry it around with you. Also, try a monopod. I use a manfrotto model and it gives me up to a stop and a half to two stops of shutter speed improvement - so at a lens setting of 40mm, I can reliably shoot at about 1/20th second, compared with 1/60th hand held. It also doubles in a pinch as a walking pole!

Ryan,

 

the wood in the background was very dark to begin with, so I used a small aperture (can't

remember what, EXIF data doesn't record when you use a manual lens on the D50) and I

used just a teeny bit of flash.

 

I actually created a version where the background is even more dark than that, but it's not

the one I posted. The one I posted is close to what came out of the camera, I adjusted

curves just a little and did some Post-processing unsharp mask (which doesn't make any

difference at this size really). I spent about 30 or 45 minutes that day with the as-yet-

unopened crocuses. It was all trial and error with regard to exposure because the light

was changing so fast. That's my favorite of the images.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I will leave off getting any more equipment for now, until I know what else I really need (Will consider a Manfrotto mono/tripod down the track).

 

@Simon:In light of what you said about the greater working distance being better, does this hold true despite the 60mm offering a greater field depth?

 

@Avi: Thanks for the heads up RE: Bibble. Are there any programs similar that are compatible with Linux? Thanks for the advice on using the kit lens - I will stick to the 18-55 for now.

 

@Peter: Sounds good, I know just enough about aperture etc to know what you are referring to. One question I have though is, despite having a small aperture, how do you keep the subject in good focus/colour? When I tried some stuff with small apertures today, it seemed to dim the entire image. Is this just trial and error/fine tuning?

 

Thanks

 

Ryan.

Welcome. Lot's of good info here. You may also want to got through the "Learning" section here as the most important thing is to practice, practice, practice, read, and learn.

 

Second to Avi's suggestions and a monopod might be helpful. You have enough lenses to start with, most important is learning how to frame, use your cam as a tool, etc.

 

It's a wonderful world.

Ryan,

 

When you close down your aperture, it requires more light, either longer exposure times to

get the light right or a flash to compensate. In my image, I used a flash. Also, with most

lenses, closing down on a DSLR below f11 or f16 will degrade your image. It's called

"diffraction". On my 55mm micro, I can go all the way to f22 with good results, and all the

way to f32 if I don't mind "compensating" with some sharpening later (depending on the

image of course). On my other lenses f11 is about the limit, f16 is "okay", f22 and beyond

is generally a no-no.

 

There's a lot to learn. It's FUN!

 

Photography like this also is done best with a sturdy tripod.

If you ever need a tripod research this site:

www.bythom.com tripod section. It could save you time, money and shots.

Ryan, Welcome to the best photo site on the web. You can learn so much here just by reading the subject matter presented on the homepage. I know when I got interested in getting back into photograph seriously. I found this site and it has help me so much. Use the search tools for questions first and the forums if you cant find the information you need. Another of the best sites on the web is Luminous Landscape. It has a great tutorial on the basic use of photoshop and many other subjects as well. Also there is site by Thom Hogan which covers Nikon gear very well just look him up on google. Welcome again to a great site. The people here are great!

Ryan

 

+1 on the Thom Hogan reference.

 

bookmark this page.

 

http://www.bythom.com/

 

And for researching lenses, this one...

 

http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html

Thanks for the tips everyone.

 

I have bookmarked those links and will definitely check out the learning section this morning.

 

Just to ask quickly, a higher "f-number" will give a smaller aperture, and a slow shutter speed will let in more light. Am I right?

 

Thanks again for all the help. I am glad I have paid for a subscription to an already more-then-helpful website.

 

Ryan.

Ryan writes "Just to ask quickly, a higher "f-number" will give a smaller aperture, and a

slow shutter speed will let in more light. Am I right?"

 

Yes, you got it! You have successfully understood the one principle that will help you the

most in determining exposure. It's that simple. The smaller aperture gives more depth-of

field, but at a certain point, on most lenses, it gets too small to be useful. When you get to

very long exposures, the numbers get wacky, too, but not as significantly with digital as

film.

 

There's a book called "Understanding Exposure". Search for it at Amazon. Good

investment, from what I've heard. I read the Ansel Adams stuff, and that's probably a little

more scientific, but the book I mentioned above comes recommended from a LOT of

people I trust.

Peter, thanks for the heads up on the book (mentioned ealier in this thread). I am going to buy it from Amazon.com today.

 

I am not sure whether or not I asked this, but when I am trying to use flash compensation (to get a very dark to black background) does it work with my built in flash? I have set the compensation to +1.0 and there doesn't seem to be any compensation whatsoever, I still just get blackness all over.

 

I am on manual aperture and manual shutter speed. Now that I understand how the two functions work (to a degree) I would like to do some experimenting but the built in flash doesn't seem to be doing anything...

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Ryan.

May I put a bump on this?

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan.

Ryan,

 

There is only one program native to Linux that has the features of a high-end photo editing program right now: Cinepaint. Cinepaint is used by movie studios for editing their frames; it's based off of The GIMP 1.x, but adds support for high bit-depth images and color management; because it's got an older code base, it's a bit lacking in modern image editing features. The GIMP version 2.4 now has color management, but is still only capable of 8-bit image manipulation; it has better filters, though, and I sometimes use it when Photoshop is missing a particular filter. Some other Linux programs have 16-bit support and color management, but they don't have a good filter set and I have not found them at all useful so far.

 

Having said that, WINE allows you to run Photoshop and many other Windows programs "natively" under Linux. Check out www.winehq.org for details.