julie_jagt

<p>I don't think I've been making my point very clear LOL! and that's totally fine! I've never been very good at explaining things..<br> I went out today and I put all of these little tips to the test, and I've figured out the problem. I was thinking back and I think I just had it all wrong. I was using a very wide aperture and a slow shutter speed (because I was in a dark forest and I didn't want to bump up my ISO and increase grain) and I was going to fast and not taking the time to focus. Today I took the time to properly think over the trinity (ISO, F-stop and shutter speed), firmly and steadily held my camera and I took the time to focus and compose my shot and it came out perfectly.<br> Sometimes I just go through it too fast and I'll forget to change my settings and to take my time and think things through. I know it all comes with practice and I'm trying really hard to work on it! It just gets very overwhelming at times.<br> Thanks to all who put up with all my questions! It really helped me out and I am very grateful to all of you who took the time to answer. :)</p>

<p>Colin, yes that helps a bunch! I already do shoot in full manual mode so I'm still juggling with getting all my settings correct, but I think I'm almost there. I try to practice a bit each day. I feel kind of silly for posting this question because I feel like I already knew the answer, I just felt like I needed a second opinion.<br> <br />Stephen, thanks so much for your tip, I'll make sure to try that out!<br> <br />Wouter: "The first one is easy to check. When you use the lens, and change the distance towards the subject, before making the shot you should see the distance on the distance scale (on the lens itself) change. When making a photo at long distances, check if the distance indicated on that window is indeed a lot (or at infinity, which looks like an 8 on its side)." - this I did not know, and thank you!! I think you understood more of what I was having troubles with. Just so I can understand more clearly (so sorry I don't have photos to explain what I mean so I'll try my best to explain) Let's say it's a vertical shot, three grids across, and four down and I wanted my subject in the bottom left "grid" if I used the 50mm I should have an aperture of say 8? Or would it be more typical to use say a 35mm or a 24mm? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I fully understand. I really appreciate the help and I hope I explained myself well enough.</p> <p>Once again, thank you so much to all of you! Your feedback truly means a lot and I appreciate the time you take to read this and help a sista out! :)</p>

<p>Of course I can't find the photos when I need them...but I've been thinking it over, and I think it may have been an issue with lighting and not focusing properly. I still get a bit nervous and feel like I have to rush things and I think I need to learn and take it slow each time. And yes, Ray, I think I'm still having trouble completely understanding DOF. Thanks for all your help! :)</p>

<p>I've recently bought a 50mm 1.8, out of all the lenses I've rented it's been my favorite so far. However, sometimes I feel like my pictures look weird. <br> <br />So I'll take a tight shot of a subject and it looks amazing. So I'll move back a bit and get a middle shot, it still looks good. Then I'll go back even further to get a wide shot and it looks completely out of focus. I'm trying to figure out the problem here. Is it:<br> 1. The 50mm is just not good for this type of shot? But then I'll read other blogs and watch videos and they say they use the 50mm most of the time, so then I'm like, why can't I?<br> 2. I'm leaving my aperture at 1.8. Could this be the reason why its not focusing when I'm so far away? Should I maybe move it to a 2.8 or something? would that help?</p> <p>I'm still new at this and trying to figure everything out. I still get confused and overwhelmed at times. But this also leads to another question about apertures and lenses. how do you shoot wide open while still keeping everything in focus? And are there certain distances that work best with different lenses. Like if I'm using a 50mm should I stand at X distance, and when I use a 35mm stand at X distance? I'm still very confused with the whole DOF and focal length jazz when it's spoken very technically. So if you can, can you dumb it down a bit :)</p> <p>Just for a reference, I am using the Nikon D5000 so it is a crop camera (not sure if that has anything to do with my issues) and it is the Nikkor 50mm 1.8G lens.<br> <br />Any feedback and tips would be greatly appreciated!</p>