I need new settings...

[fire.fly]

<p>I obviously did something wrong.. Help!!</p>

[wade_roth]

<p>Not sure what you need help with. Did you intend on including an image or something?<br>

--Wade</p>

[bob_sunley]

<p>Are you referring to this thread? </p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/beginner-photography-questions-forum/00VgHA</p>

<p> </p>

[fire.fly]

<p>The image didn't upload! </p><div></div>

[acbeddoe]

<p>There are two things clearly wrong:<br>

1 - Overexposed - what mode are you i?<br>

2 - Focus point is on hip - you need to focus on the eyes, then recompose the shot.</p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>Sorry - that should be "What mode are you in?", as in M/A/S/P.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Use a tripod so that you don't get camera motion blur when shooting at slow shutter speeds, and set your exposure manually so that the camera doesn't have to guess what part of that scene it should be trying to meter for (it doesn't know, for example, if that large background area should be white or black or somewhere in between - but you do).</p>

[fire.fly]

<p>The hip is not my concern, I just randomly picked this one. The problem is expsure. All of them were over-exposed. I'm in M with my ISO set at 400. Maybe its my lighting set up.</p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>If you're in manual, you have control. Lower your ISO, speed up the shutter, stop down the lens, set exposure compensation less than zero, or some combination of those.</p>

[fire.fly]

<p>how do I speed up the shutter in a Nikon D40?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Not to sound rude, Mercedes, but do you have the camera's manual? If not, you can download another copy of it for free from Nikon's web site. <br /><br />The point is that adjust the three things that impact the exposure (ISO, shutter speed, and lens aperture) are the most basic things to know about your camera. Walk your way through at least the introductory part of the owner's manual - you'll learn a lot.</p>

[kris-bochenek]

<p>What Matt said plus you may need to adjust your lights to give you what you are looking for. Blur or OOF is another problem here. Your shutter speed was 1/25 it is very slow bring it up to lets say 1/200 and close down the lens to f/5.6 or so.<br>

I like to use 5.6-8 for my studio type shots and to eliminate the ambient light I use 1/200 -1/250 my max synch speed for shutter. You can eaisly adjust those two also as Matt said don't forget about ISO keep it as low as possible 100 or 200 not sure whats the default for D40 and focus is very crucial make sure you focus on the models eyes like Charles mentioned.</p>

 

[andylynn]

<p>Yeah, so you see a lot of people in here saying things like "you need to shoot in manual to get the best results" when what they really mean is "you need to learn a lot about exposure so that you can substitute your own judgment for the camera's autoexposure system's in order to have more control, then shoot in manual." In manual <em>you</em> must control the exposure yourself. Consult the Nikon manual for where the controls are, and click on the Learning tab at the top of this page and read the part on Exposure.</p>

<p>Also, make sure you're focusing on the face, and if you end up with a situation where part of the image is overexposed you need to make adjustments to your lighting. I think the key ligh on the left here is bordering on too strong.</p>

[accystan]

<p>According to what I see you were in 'pattern' metering mode. I believe that means the meter would have read the whole frame. Since you've so much b/g it's trying to correctly expose for that. I'm not sure if the d40 will indicate, on your screen, the presence of burnt out highlights but I'd say that's what you've got on the lhs of the model.<br>

I think you need to read, and understand, the various metering modes of your camera.<br>

Also, I suggest f/8 - the picture's soft. You're shooting wide open (f/3.5) and at 1/25 you can't be sure there's no camera shake unless you're using a tripod.<br>

Dave D</p>

[fire.fly]

<p>You didn't sound rude Matt, I worded that poorly. I didn't actually mean how to speed it up ...I meant how much...<br>

Thank God for digital, I need to take about 10,000 more test shots.</p>

[johnny_anderson]

<p>Mercedes, if you haven't done so already, purchase a copy of "Understanding Exposure by Bryon Peterson". It is well worth the price and will make your photography experience a whole lot more enjoyable, much less stressful. It will show you how to set up you shots for corrrect exposure and depth of field. Then practice, practice, and practice some more.</p>

<p>As others have stated buy a tripod to prevent blurred pictures.</p>

[garydem]

<p>mercedes c- first you are overexposed. and you are shooting manual. why? the ONLY times i shoot manual is for astronomical shots and hdr and panoramas. other than those 3 times i am in one of the auto modes. oh, and i do not get any overexposures. the dslr auto mode takes care of that. rememeber, in manual mode it is assumed that you know how to technically take the pic. you do not need the help of the auto metering systems, but at the same time if you do not know what you are doing you will end up a much higher % of poor images since you do not have the auto modes to help you.<br>

when i learned to shoot, and that was 40 yrs ago, i had noone to help me at all. the interrnet was a dream. i ended up looking at my images that i was about to throw out, i shot slides, and tried to determine what i did wrong. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IF I COULD SHOOT THE SHOT AGAIN HOW COULD I MAKE IT RIGHT. after a while i learned. it is not that you have to shoot 10000 test shots, it is that you have to learn something of how to get the right shot from what you do take.<br>

second, in simple terms the equation for exposure is this- shutter speed/fstop /iso = correct exposure. the right term is an unchanging amount. you cannot do anything to any of the 3 left terms without also altering one of the other 2. the reason being is that the left part MUST always be the correct exposure. in your picture of the girl in the gown, you did not have the correct exposure to start with, it was overexposed. so to get back to the correct expore you must reduce at least one of the 3 left terms. if you had used say program mode on your dslr then you would automatically have ended up with a correct exposure. the catch is that the one or more of the 3 left terms of the exposure equation may not be what you want to use. say you find that the shutter speed is not what you want in program then chnage it to the desired amount the fstop would then change to get you the good correct exposure. if the dslr finds that this will not work then that means that the iso would also have to be adjusted as well. this is basic photo knowledge.<br>

in simple terms it is not that you HAVE to put the dslr in manual mode and decide everything. but instead work with the assorted modes and use what is appropiate for the shot scene lighting situation and subject. i have 2 dslrs. at one time or another i have used every mode the dslr has got. does this mean that i use the same mode all the time or never? no. i simply use the dslr and its modes and features and abilities as i need them to get the shot. in any of the auto modes i am checking for a split second just before the shot to make sure that i agree with the settings chosen. during augiust my wife and i went on a driving vacation out weat. shot 543 images using 2 dslrs. of the 543 all were correct in terms of exposure and wb. and every one was shot in some auto mode. my suggestion is why not let the dslr help you take the images? that is what you got it for.</p>

[raymondborg]

<p>You have two main things that are wrong.<br>

The focusing - When you are shoting models make sure to focus on the eyes<br>

Exposure - The floor and the back of the model are over exposed. Aviod shoting dark backgrounds and dress against a white floor. The exposure may be fooled.</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>This is probably over-exposed by at least 2/3 EV (aka +0.7) with the given lighting. If you're shooting in an autoexposure (AE) mode like P, A, or S, then you can decrease by applying negative 'Exposure Compensation'. Look for the button marked with '+/-', hold the button and turn the e-dial until the exposure compensation reads -0.7 (for example), and try again. This same value should also be visible in the viewfinder on a little analog scale; negative on the left, positive on the right.</p>

<p>If you're shooting manual mode, it is similar, except that you don't use exposure compensation; instead it is up to you to specifically pick aperture and shutter speed, and decide how you want to expose the image. If you center the 'needle' on the scale in the viewfinder, this is similar to using A or S mode with zero exposure compensation--essentially the camera's recommended exposure. If you want to increase or decrease exposure (as necessary based on your scene) then change aperture, shutter, and/or ISO to move that little 'needle' to the left or right as desired.</p>

<p>Learn to look at the review LCD; not only do most cameras show blown (overexposed) highlights by flashing that area of the image, there's also usually a histogram--if the histogram is stacked against the right side, the image is probably overexposed unless there's a <em>lot</em> of white in your image.</p>

<p>In addition to the focus issue others mentioned, you'll need shutter speed higher than this for human subjects--they move!</p>

[agirnaes]

<p>Mercedes, first the advice that everyone else has provided has been spot on, but I would like to add a few things.<br>

First, to me it looks like that the light to left of the subject is too close, which is causing the left side to be blown out (relative to the right side). It appears that even if the blown out side was exposed correctly, the other side would be under exposed. So, that light should be backed up a bit. The lighting doesn't have to be perfectly balanced in intensity, and in fact I would suggest that you don't balance the lighting, because it tends to make the subject look "flat".<br>

Second, given that you took the picture at 400 ISO, I think that this was too high, and that you would have gotten a better exposure at 200 and maybe even at 100. Using a lower ISO setting would have allowed you to use a lower f-stop, which would soften the focus on the backdrop placing more emphasis on the subject.<br>

Finally, until you have a better grasp on exposure control, I would reccomend shooting in either Aperature Priority or Shutter Priority mode, which will give you more control, but allow the camera's sensor to ensure the proper exposure (this is somewhat limited, because the processor in the camera is not perfect, and does not properly expose all situations). In aperature priority, you select the aperature that you want to shoot at, and the camera will adjust the shutter speed. I would use this mode when I want to ensure that the background is either in focus (high f-stop), or more blurred (low f-stop). In shutter priority, you set the shutter speed that you want, and the camera will adjust the aperature to get the right exposure. I use this when I want to freeze action (fast shutter speed), or I want to show the motion of the subject (slow shutter speed).</p>