First shots on D80 - advice?! *Updated*

[Hot Ice]

Hey folks,

Fired up my first DSLR today - a lovely Nikon D80. I spent some of the day trying to familiarize myself with the settings etc and headed off to take a few photos.

So if you pros could cast your eyes over these couple of shots and offer any advice, criticism or anything else please do!

Really enjoying it so far anyway :thumbs:

Update**

Here is a Robin who was very obliging for the camera yesterday morning in a lay-by.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/Moom1n/Robin/DSC_4174.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/Moom1n/Robin/DSC_4175.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/Moom1n/Robin/DSC_4182.jpg

Sorry I went a bit ott! Let me know any new comments/suggestions. Snow today! Hope to get some good shots should we get any snow here in Wales :cry:

[FishBoy]

Not sure what you mean by "get the NR out"...NR is noise reduction, so do you mean you can't get the noise out of the images or you can't get the NR setting on the camera?

Basically to shoot in low light you probably need to open your aperture up and/or use a higher ISO setting. At the higher ISO settings you will get more noise in the image but you can clean that up in Photoshop.

What mode do you have the D80 in? Manual, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority?

The last image is very underexposed; it's a difficult one to get right because if you expose it any more the lights will probably bleed out to pure white, but a longer exposure should bring out more detail in the area that's currently dead black.

The second image looks good though, the lighting's nicely balanced there. The cat one again could benefit from a longer exposure to bring out the detail in puss's face, though again that would have brought the exposure on the fire right up and the feline may have blurred somewhat if it moved.

Pretty good start though - I'm sure you'll have lots of fun playing, and that's the beauty of digital: you can take as many pictures as you like without it costing you anything, so you can experiment to your heart's content!

I'd love to see some more when you get a few more shots under your belt...

[ChrisBlack]

HotIce - they're not too bad mate, tbh - I quite like the cat one. However, you could look at things like: longer exposure times, using a faster lens and setting the camera to a wider aperture (lower f-stop number). If you want to avoid grain, then you'll be looking at the lowest ISO possible (which may mean a longer exposure time, to counter balance).
The movement in the second shot is, well, just movement, so to neutralise that you're looking a faster shutter speed and possibly moving with your subject, but if its not a well lit situation, then you're then looking at increasing your ISO setting and probably having the lens wide open.
I'm very amateur though, so others might be able to advise better :thumbs:

[Hot Ice]

Great advice both thank you.

FishBoy: I meant I couldn't seem to get that grain out of some of my shots. However, upon closer inspection of my camera settings it wasn't switched on at the camera :doh: so that might help next time.
I was trying quite a few settings. I used all M A S and P trying to increase and decrease the ISO settings and the shutter speed. I think I was shooting the second photo on A at about 3200ISO and f3.5.

The puss I felt needed some more detail to her face. So choosing a slower shutter speed would help the bring out some more detail? We have the open fire most nights and I'm sure a tin of Felix will convince her to pose again ;)

The last photo with the lights was extremely dark and the lights on the gate posts were extremely bright! Trying to get the balance, as you say, was really difficult. When I tried getting a lens open longer (I was using a tripod) the lights seemed to hurt your eyes when you looked at them! I will have to get back out there and keep experimenting really. Perhaps try a slightly more lit building or a night when the moon is out a bit more....and when it's not as bloody cold!

Cheers ChrisBlack. I didn't shoot any of these on a tripod or anything so I think I would have gotten even more blur. Are there any settings you could advise that may get me rolling a bit? Perhaps for low light, high action shots? I understand most of it will be trial and error etc, but it may help me get a bit more of a feel for it.

My set up is a Nikon D80 with an 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 AF-S VR DX Nikkor lens. I know it's a pretty amateur set up but alot of the reviews I read seem to say it performs quite well in most conditions.

Thanks once again for all your comments!

[DeadYankee]

With the live music - if you were using the settings you suggest then you were optimising the kit you have and there's not much more you could have done other than maybe be in front of the stage and had the lights from behind you onto the band. Essentially you are aiming for a shutter speed of around 1/125 to eliminate movement.

With the last shot - I'd suggest spot metering from something in the scene you want properly exposed and then using manual settings to set your shutter and aperture to a good exposure. You want to be using something like F8 there and a low ISO - so you need a tripod for that shot.

With the cat I'd suggest that the main light source appears to be the fire and, as it is behind the cat, it is leading to a bit of a sillhouette. I'd try and get some more light on the near side of the cat, spot meter off the cat and probably use a tripod/beanbag to keep the body still when taking the shot.

That's what I'd try anyway - and see how it goes. Make sure you shoot in RAW mode so you can play with white balance etc after the event

[Hot Ice]

Thanks DY. I'm shooting on JPEG + RAW.

I will try that out with the cat tonight and see if I can improve it. Would a lamp set up help? Set perhaps at a bit of a distance to the left of the shot shining in?

I tried to get to the front of the band but the bloody crowd were all moshing away at the edge of it and twas very difficult to get in there without being jossled around! I need to man up a bit I think ;)

I will give the night shot another go too. I have to drive past there again late tonight so will take my tripod and have a bash.

Thanks for the advice. Really helpful! :thumbs:

[DeadYankee]

For the band you ideally want to be crouched down in front of the stage, keep as low a position as you can. Get in there and expect to get a few bruises occasionally

PS, in general I would hugely recommend the book Understanding Exposure (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=8&url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817463003/thedvdforums-21)

[Hot Ice]

For the band you ideally want to be crouched down in front of the stage, keep as low a position as you can. Get in there and expect to get a few bruises occasionally

PS, in general I would hugely recommend the book Understanding Exposure (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=8&url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817463003/thedvdforums-21)


Thanks for that. Ordered through the affiliate link :)

I did really want to get some low angle shots but like I say, was difficult to get to the front. I did take a couple of close drummer and singers shots which I will get up when I'm home from work later on.

[Hot Ice]

bump for the update :)