Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Yes Frank, you are 110 percent correct. Also the dark walls or ceilings can soak up a lot of the light output too. We have to really take a look at the surroundings sometimes if we want to bounce. And it helps to have a flash with a lot of power too.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Which is why it is good to take along a gray card or a colorchecker passport to ensure a good color and white balance. I shoot bounce all the time and really don't have any color accuracy issues.

toxdoc42

I have taken many courses in photography but when the standard was film and the ASA was not a variable. I did weddings and bar mitzvahs as well as "artful" nudes and others. I find all of the electronics baffling, although you guys here on UH are helping me.

I have a copy of Nikon D3400 for dummies, and have watched at least 25 utube videos. I hope to be on the easy side of the learning curve before the end of October, when we leave on a Mediteranean cruise/tour.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Expose is still aperture and shutter speed and instead of ASA, ISO. With digital the ISO can be set and left for as many shots as you want. Unlike film which can be pushed to a higher sensitivity, ISO can also be a variable in the exposure triangle. ISO can be different from shot to shot or group of shots to group of shots. Many cameras even have an auto ISO mode where you can set the aperture and shutter speed and the camera will select the ISO (sensor sensitivity) to try to achieve a proper exposure. There is usually an ability to set a range of ISO values that this auto ISO will be limited to. Say ISO 100 to 6400 for example. The ISO is part of the data stored with each shot....EXIF data for the shot. For my camera I would consider ISO 100-800 for daylight outdoor shooting, 800-6400 for indoor and low light shooting and above 6400 for extremely low light shooting. I generally shoot action outdoors at ISO 200-400, but sometimes go higher if needed to stop motion.

Often the most challenging thing to learn with digital cameras are the different focusing modes. The idea of exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation are also a challenge for some people new to digital. Hope this helps you out somewhat.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

toxdoc42

I have to admit that I am still hanging onto my experiences using an incidence light meter off camera to check my through the lens exposure setting and using a neutral gray card and color chart as the first photo on every roll of color film I used to shoot. The use of the modern metering system forces me to decide what mode to use to set the exposure. The same thing for focusing. I learned through my error, that when using a single point, the camera doesn't always seem to choose the dot I want, so I found myself having trouble setting the correct exposure, then the same thing happens with focusing. I have decided that back focusing works best for me, but again, sometimes the spot changes place, sometimes I want a little wider area but that isn't always intuitive in action.

If I don't get this down Pat, when we are on vacation, I may just set the camera on auto and take what I get! Sent

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

This is a great tip and one I had never heard before for small groups but I'm thinking it would have a limit when talking about larger groups of people but as you say it's something to get you to think about what the correct aperture should be.

Walt

TucsonDave Loc: Tucson, Arizona

I bought my first DSLR in June, 2016, a Nikon D5300. But I didn't do much more than general film photography before that. So, I had nothing substantial to hang on to from the past. So, after a lot of trial and error, I decided to read the manual, look at 25 videos on the D5300, exposure, and focus. I have read 4 main books several times over, D5300 for dummies, the David Bush's Compact Field guide for the D5300, Steve Perry's "Secrets to the Nikon Auto Focus System" and Peterson's "Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera" I have practiced VERY Specific items.

When I get confused, I switch to Auto, take a look at the cameras settings for Aperture and Speed. Since I also use back button focus and auto iso, I don't worry about anything else other than depth of field by varying the aperture, and light by varying the speed. I am just trying to get the relationships down so that they become second nature.

I am not out to take award winning photos yet. Just pleasing photos and situation photos. And when in doubt, I shoot Auto - RAW + JPEG and know that at least I didn't miss the shot and photo will be ok.

So, don't get caught up in what you used to know. Slowly learn the new stuff. I am 73 and am ok with my slow progress. Its progress! You will do ok. Shoot Auto on your trip and don't fret.

bjprovo Loc: Northeast CT

As far as focus goes, I find that I have far better control when I use Back Button Focus (bbf).

toxdoc42

I do use back button focusing, the problem is making sure the focus point is the center dot. It sometimes moves into another spot and it is awkward to move it back.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

If you are in single focus point mode it should not move unless you move it I would think...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

toxdoc42

Perhaps it isn't supposed to, or perhaps somehow I am doing something which moves it. But, believe me, it has moved between photos. That is the explanation I have given myself for why only one person in my photo came out to be precisely in focus and that person was not in the center of the photo.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

What control is used to move it on your camera. It is moved by a joystick on my camera, and the focus mode is changed by a button push.
I have heard of one person who had a camera with a touch screen and they were changing settings when they looked through the viewfinder because the tip of their nose was hitting the touch screen...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

This is not a new concept with digital either. A knob on the Pentax "Super Program" that I purchased in 1984 provided two views to the same control.

Viewing the bottom window, I rotated the lower dial to set ASA/ISO

Viewing the numbers on the right, I rotated the entire thing to set a simple exposure compensation.

Those two settings combined to provide effective speed to the camera.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

The focus point on the 3400 will move if you touch the joystick......it's on the right up, down, left, right and ok button in the middle....do not touch it unless you intend to. I used to have the same problem on my 3300....

10MPlayer Loc: California

I'm not a stickler for such things so do whatever makes you feel good but just so you know, this probably belongs in the Photo Analysis section.