yayi Loc: Florida

My husband gave me a new camera, Nikon D7000. I love my new toy, but I'm getting really frustrated. I been reading a lot of books,Bryan Peterson,etc. I did read the camera manual back and forth, and still most of my shots are out of focus even when the camera and lens are in autofocus and I have the lock on. I set the focus on the eyes, but still nothing and on top of that I have way to much space over people faces. :(
How do people get sharp shots of the whole person bodies? Sorry that I sound so dumb.
Thanks and have a great day!

heltonjkv96 Loc: southwest Virginia

You don't sound dumb, it's not as easy as you might think to get good sharp images.. :thumbup:

rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

You're not the only one who feels overwhelmed. Use the "Search" function at the top of the page and look up the discussion from yesterday titled "Frustrated". What you're asking was answered by alot of smart folks yesyerday to someone else.
Good Luck
Rocco

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Can you post an example along with the settings used? (Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and program mode)

emrob62 Loc: NEPA

I notice from your initial statment that you read the manual back and forth. Try reading it forth first, going backwards first can be tough :mrgreen:
Now that I got the humor out of the way, my first thought is that of camera movement during the shot. Is this a much bigger camera than your used to? I know al lot of people who have mostly only used pocket sized P&S cameras find full size deals a little heavy and hard to control. Along with getting comfy with the settings, do you have a tripod to try to stablize with?
Best news though, your in good company and with time, practice and trial and error, it will mostly all come together for you.

traveler90712 Loc: Lake Worth, Fl.

You can shoot in auto and check the setting that were used (ISO, speed, ect.) and use that as a beginning to understand the camera.

If you understand ISO, etc., you'll have a good start. If you don't then here is a good place to start.
http://www.expertphotography.com/a-beginners-guide-to-photography

iresq Loc: Annapolis MD

Bryan's book is an excellent read and gives great examples. 2 things as mentioned previously. Practice, post some examples, and include your settings. OK, that's 3 things. Taking good technical shots is harder then most people think. Combining that with composition and interesting subject and it get's a whole lot tougher.

Practice, practice, practice. The pieces will all start to fall in place.

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

Start with one setting, get used to that one and practice, and move on and starting to combine settings, such as aperture and shutter speed, practice and move on to more settings and start combining settings, and move on to more settings. Do not try every thing at one time. Practice and compare, compare and practice. My wife had a lot of patience as she was my subject most of the time.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

the eyes are tiny - focus on the face or body

yayi Loc: Florida

Thank you so much for all your comments and advice!
Been reading the forum for the last four months and I've learned so much, also, love the people here and the way they help each other. That is why I got the courage to write.
As soon as my computer comes back to life, I promise that I will post pics and my profile pic. don't know how long is going to take because we been dealing with this since yesterday morning...
I used to take pics back in the film era....lol... But I'm new to digital, my camera and lenses are way more heavy than my old camera, and I'm twenty years older..hahaha... Probably that is a big part of the problem.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Yayi, here's one thing that may help also. Using your camera in auto you'll get lots of focas points when you're locking focus and exposure with your half press. Often the camera will grab what ever is closest in the frame and what you really want to see will be out.

Some time ago, actually when I got my first dslr this became evident. So now I shoot everything in program or one of the manual settings with both my Canons.

Here you can set your focal points to a single point, dead center. Then when you lock focus and exposure, place that single point over the eye... the face will be in focus.
Here's an example of shooting this way... focus on the subject's eye.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsphotostuff/4999797748/in/photostream

I focused on his left eye and shot. But, also remember that that focus point, at dead center, can't stay on the eye when you fire. You have to lock the focus there then re-frame the shot for proper composition.

I've found this a real help, hope it helps you.

Good Luck, Jim

tomfr Loc: Brevard N.C.

It has been my experience that manufacturer's manuals leave a lot to be desired. Auto focus works best in on a well lit subject, with plenty of contrast in it. Books, you can spend a small fortune on books, but nothing takes yhe place of having a camera in your hands, using it. Shoot, shoot and shoot some more. It isn't like film, where you would, in most cases, have to wait for results. Your camera records a wealth of information, each time you make an exposure, refer to that information. Quit making publishers rich, save your money for something worthwhile.



tomfr

Pepper Loc: Planet Earth Country USA

This is a great answer, one step at a time, you know "baby steps". Just don't get discouraged tell yourself your just going to shoot a couple hundred shots and not worry about the results. It'll come. Read a little and try a few things then read a little more and try some more. Remember that you have to keep it fun don't let frustration steal your joy.

MtnMan Loc: ID

If you upload your photo with the "(store original)" box checked people can save it and then look at the file properties to get the information requested.

MtnMan Loc: ID

The D7000 is a lot of camera for a starter dSLR. I am reminded of guy in Utah last week who won a Lamborghini. He crashed it six hours later.

I bought a D5100 last August. It is supposed to be more of a starter DSLR than the D7000 but I found it quite intimidating. I found Scott Kelby's digital photography books and David Bush's book on the D5100 most useful. Bush may have one on the D7000. If not the D5100 may be pretty close in terms of controls. I am beginning to feel comfortable with it but still have lots to learn.

A lot of people have focus trouble with these machines. We just had a long thread on it where, IMHO, some people didn't get the problem.

I think the term "Auto focus" is a misnomer for these cameras. It should be more like "motorized focus" to get across the notion that there are a number of manual things you need to do for the focus to be sharp. Kelby's first digital photography book goes into this nicely in terms of general things. His book isn't camera specific.

I see that you did set the lens to "A". Although many think that a dumb thing to verify it actually isn't so obvious to those of us with many years of SLR film cameras that didn't have autofocus and P&S digital cameras that are automatically on autofocus. You'd think setting the camera on "Auto" would turn on autofocus. I have no clue why they have a switch on the lens.

Our house was surrounded by elk last night. I put on my flash and tried some pics of those on the front and back lawn and they came out terrible. I just realized why this morning: I had turned off the autofocus on my lens and forgot about it. In the excitement I didn't check for the green light. Oops.

The next thing is to check the settings that control focus. You can choose several focus modes and set the area or point focus. Even with the area matrix focus you can set the dot it focuses on with the circular control. I gather you are doing that. Make sure you get red dots where you want the focus to be.

It is also necessary to give the camera time to finish focusing before you fully depress the release. You should see a green dot in the viewfinder lower left. (I only recently realized that for my camera!) I gather you have set the camera to not take the pic till it is done. I assume that's what you mean by "lock"?

If all that is good then likely it is camera motion. Be sure you have VR also turned on for the lens (if your lens has it and you are not using a tripod) and set ISO to auto. If that doesn't do it for focus we'll need to see those examples.