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

Great examples guys of what the JEPG only shooters are missing out on...
I calibrate my camera with the DTS software that comes with my Sekonic light meter and know with quite a bit of precision what it is capable of with about 30 minutes worth of calibration effort.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Personally I would go with Raw + L jpg ....A lot of your images will only require minimal PP or totally deleting!
Raw looks washed out - as your camera hasn't done ANY processing to it. Therefore you will end up having to do more to them just to get them to the same standard (or better) as the Jpg. Raw and Ljpg allow you to get the biggest print. that is one reason to use it. Raw gives you the most data (when required) but a Jpg will do on-line for all those 'party shots'.

As a learner, you need to get confident in camera work, so Keep It Simple (KISS). PP only what you think are worth the work ( a bad image remains a bad image....Honest) Aim to keep PP as a 'help' not a 'fix'.

Nikon make good camera's ....there is always going to be a better one out there every year.....the one you have is good until it 'cannot do' something you want and there is no easy 'work-around'. At that point....read reviews and specifications to find out which 'could' be a better one for you....everyone has their own ideas/needs!

As a learner I would also recommend that you try out the tutorials on-line. all the fancy shots like abstract oil on water etc. it teaches you to 'think out of the box' and broadens your mind to 'what you might enjoy'.

Have fun

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

RAW files are captured with the settings included that your camera was set up for when you take the photo. When I open a file in Lightroom it can apply the Picture Style and Color Profile that are included or you can quickly change them. This is what makes the ColorChecker Passport such a useful tool as you can profile your camera for different conditions and get to a common corrected baseline of the RAW files...in a few clicks...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

thanks, I always think the other way, underexposed is better as I think the shadow slider works better than the highlight.
I will try my brightness indicating in the middle, and when in doubt then add a few points with my +/- button

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

You can spot meter the brightest area or highlight and the meter will meter that as 18 percent gray, Zone 5 in the Zone system. Then you can take that highlight exposure and increase it by 2 to 2.5 stops and shoot. The photo will not likely look good on your camera LCD but if shot in RAW and PPed it can be very nice. I am assuming of course that your camera can spot meter...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

Use auto mode for white ballance and shoot a grey card. From there you can use that information to add the correction to "in camera"....

...or the best method in Photoshop is to create a 50% grey layer and change it to "difference" light mode. You will then see the grey point as the blackest area in the result. Mark that spot mentally and dump the 50% layer. Create a curves adjustment layer, then click on that black point you marked mentally with the center eye dropper in the curves adjustment tool and you will get a perfect white balance. It will be consistent and accurate. ;)

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

Now I got a little confused, did you meant
1. use spot meter (single) focus
2. point the red-square (focus point) to the brightest area of the subject
3. then press on the AE/AL button and reframe
3. increase the aperture by 2 to 2.5 stop; what happens if the aperture is already large enough?
3a: can I use the =/- button to the + side then
4. take the picture
Did I get that right?

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

where can I find the Color Checker tool?

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

1. Set your ISO value.
1a.Use your camera in spot metering mode. I will assume that you are shooting with the center focus point and the spot meter is metering at that point also.
2. Aim the focus point onto the brightest area of the subject area. (Often a white cloud if you are shooting a landscape.)
3. On my Canon I would then press the shutter release button half way to take a meter reading with the spot meter.
3a. You can at this point either remember the exposure shutter speed and aperture or lock the exposure with the Exposure Lock butto, (* button) on a Canon camera.
4. Then it depends what mode you are shooting in as to what you change to add the +2 to +2.5 stops.
I will give an example of using Manual Mode... Set your ISO to 2000, 1/2000 and f/4.0 for example is a reading I get at 7pm spot metering on the sky outside from my family room. I then Add 2 stops of light by setting the shutter speed to 1/500 and aim the camera to include the bright area I metered and mostly the darker interior of the house. Take the photo. It will likely come out very dark but you can adjust it in PP.
4a. You can also shoot in Aperture or Shutter Priority mode and use the Exposure Compensation to add the 2-2.5 stops. This may be less steps but you will have to watch your exposure to make sure you don't get too slow of a shutter speed or an aperture wider than you want or have on your lens.

I think I have hopefully described this correctly but it is getting to be that time of the day when I may not be thinking as clearly as earlier.
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. I find it useful to watch my meter display to see if the meter is still giving me the over exposure that I am expecting based on what I set or changed. I set my camera to display the control values on the rear LCD as that is sometimes just easier for my old eyes to read than looking in the viewfinder. I use both though.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465286-REG/X_Rite_MSCCC_Original_ColorChecker_Card.html

Mine has proven invaluable.
--Bob

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

B&H, Adorama should carry them. I got the ColorChecker Passport as it is more portable and protected in my view than the card. It also comes with the software. I am not sure the card alone comes with the software or not.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

Thanks Todd, you got me a little more confused now.
I shoot mostly with ISO on auto and then adjust with the +/- button.
In such case, let say, when I point to the brightest area, it registers 200 on auto, then I change the ISO manually to
100-L50 (will result in underexposed) or to 250-350(overexposed).
If you can clarify this, that will light up my bulb.

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

I have only tried auto ISO one time and didn't care for the results which seemed to be all over the place.
So, if you do auto ISO can you still lock the exposure and then use Exposure Compensation, I don't know off hand.
If you can manually change the ISO after determining the proper ISO with Auto ISO then you would increase the ISO by say 2 Stops.
If the Auto ISO is 200 then 400 would be 1 stop overexposed and ISO 800 would be 2 stops over.
You have stimulated my bump of curiosity and maybe tomorrow I will have to play with Auto ISO and see what I can do with EC or manual changing it.
I hope this helps clarify things a bit for you...and the bulb comes on...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

thanks, of course, there are many ways to overexpose a picture by steps, so are you trying to say, overexpose will create less noise and more details than underexpose of the end result?

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

Yes, I think with digital you are going to be better off to overexpose slightly than to underexpose. The whole idea of spot metering for the highlights and then opening up 2-3 stops is just one method of metering for outdoors or even studio work. I would encourage you to view Joe Brady's YouTube videos on Landscape I and II IIRC. He talks about different methods of metering landscapes with both a meter and a camera meter.
Also, study the Zone System via reading or YouTube videos and you will better understand how much of the details of an image are in zones 7, 8 and 9...the highlights end.

Best,
Todd Ferguson