Randyh Loc: Calif.

Hello to all, Well I have my new Nikon d 3100 camera. I have set a few settings to get started in the main menu. I'm reading my manual from manuals Ink. Nice paper manual by the way!
I'm unable to know where, what, and when to get on the right track to getting real decent exposures. This iso,shutter,and aperture is doing a number on me. I can set the auto settings and get a pic. I had a friend over this morning and tried to take her pic in portrait mode and it came out ok but nothing to rant and or rave about. I'm really trying to stay out of the auto settings period!
Wow, Just because I have a camera mean that all of my pics will come out good! So, Where do I start on this journey to getting it right? Thanks, Randy H. :-(

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Start here and work your way thru the lessons... hopefully things will calm down a little at my house and I can get lesson 6 up shortly.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-41242-1.html

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

get yourself a copy of the book "understanding exposure by bryan petersen (available new and used on amazon.com) In PLAIN EASY TO UNDERSTAND ENGLISH, and with fantastic photos he will teach you about iso, fstops shutterspeeds to get not only the correct exposure but also the most creative one. Highly recomned by thousands of photags.

nikron7 Loc: Indianapolis

Hi Randy, a year ago April I purchased my first DSLR a D3100. I had been a film photographer for over 40years. Everything was Greek to me. I joined this forum and continued to watch many of the videos on YouTube. Taking one thing at a time and then going on to the next. Learning Manual mode was the most gratifying part of the experience. Just do it and keep practicing and asking one question at a time, learning one thing at a time. Before you know it, it becomes intuitive. Its a fun journey. Oh as MWAC said there are so many resources and links just go to Home and resources and links and check them out.

Cas Loc: Maine

I heard you and I had the same problem, I was beginning to think I was to old to learn new tricks. But this site helped me a lot, along with Bryan Peterson. Then I found this site and watched the videos and it started to come together http://dslrtips.com/ Give this a shot, he goes through different things and I found it helpful, of course I can be thick sometime ; ) Hope it helps and hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel and take a picture of it.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Congratulations on your new camera.
I agree with SanatraMan, Understanding Exposure is a must have.

deej

I third this suggestion!!!

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

sinatraman has recomended a very good resource. Check out Bryan Peterson's website also.

mgstrawn Loc: Atlanta, GA

The Nikon D3100 is an awesome camera! I just traded slightly up to the D5100, but my D3100 never disappointed me. Because I was taking a lot of photos of my very active young grandchildren, I kept my camera constantly set on sports mode in order to capture their motions without blur. The D3100 is noted for capturing images in very low light as well, especially in that mode. Bryan Peterson's book on exposure is great and you'll learn a lot on this site as well. Don't trust any special moments to P S A M modes until you are totally confident that you have total understanding! Your photo may look great on the camera monitor and terrible once it's uploaded to your computer! Enjoy!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

And I agree that he agreed that we agree that Bryan's book is a must! :)

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

If you already know how to use manual, there's nothing to change -- and you have an instant, free 'Polaroid' on the back of the camera, supplemented by the histogram.

If you don't know how to use manual, select either aperture or shutter priority, and look hard at what the camera can't do, i.e. when you need to expose manually or give exposure compensation (I find manual exposure easier).

Cheers,

R.

Kat Landreth

Your camera has a meter in it to measure reflected light. Somewhere in the viewfinder (or on the LCD screen), there will be a little scale with a needle, indicating whether the camera thinks the photo to be under, or over exposed. That's the light meter indicator.

If the needle is to the left of center, it thinks the shot will be under exposed, and to the right of center, over exposed. When it's in the middle, the camera thinks the image will be perfect.

Any automatic, or semi-auto setting in your camera will choose an ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed to make the needle in the middle of the scale. (This includes portrait mode, AV mode, and really anything except fully Manual mode.) In other words, your camera will automatically choose an exposure that it thinks is middle of the scale 'perfect'.

BUT, for a lot of pictures, having the needle in the center of the scale will actually make an under, or over exposed picture.

Why?

Because, your camera is really trying to make every picture you take an 'average' brightness. That works for a lot of pictures. But some pictures, shouldn't be an average brightness.

See, Caucasian skin is actually brighter than average, and darker skin tones like that of some African Americans can be a lot darker than average brightness.

So, when your camera chooses an exposure with the needle in the middle of the scale, the settings will make your portrait an average brightness, whether it should be or not. It will most likely make the Caucasian portrait under exposed, and the African American one over exposed.

Same thing goes for bright scenes like a snowy lawn, or a white sandy beach. Both scenes SHOULD be really bright. Much brighter than 'average'. But your camera sees them, and thinks "Whoa! That's too bright, I need to tone that down". You end up with dull, muddy looking snow, and under exposed lackluster beaches.

Anyway, the simple solution here is to use a automatic or Semi-Auto mode like AV (Aperture Priority). In AV, you choose the aperture, and let the camera choose the ISO and Shutter Speed. Then, use the Exposure Compensation setting in your camera (often called EV) to override your camera's tendency to go for an average exposure. EV forces your camera to choose settings that will be either brighter, or darker than the middle of the scale.

Alternatively, you can use the Manual setting in your camera, and choose all three exposure settings (ISO, Shutter, and Aperture). Then, use an 18% gray card to 'meter' the light.

More on using an 18% gray card with manual mode here: http://pareandfocus.com/index.htm/how-to-use-an-18-gray-card-for-exposure/

I know that's long winded, but I hope it helps!

Photogdog Loc: New Kensington, PA

Amen to that! I bought my copy as a download for my Kindle Fire. It's one of the few downloads that I'm considering to get in paperback as well.

Petersen breaks exposure down to the exposure triangle: ISO, shiutter speed and aperture; clear & concise.

PD

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

MWAC's series of lessons should be a big help to you, and an easy and painless starting point.

mrbill6771 Loc: Aztec, NM

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