Comments on: Take Less Photos

By: Leo

Leo — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:51:55 +0000

@Chad I agree, I have a Canon DSLR and I only know how to use a couple of the settings, but I’d love to learn about them all!

By: Chad Ohman

Chad Ohman — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:34:05 +0000

Wow, all this talk of aperture, ISO speed, shutter speed is making me confused myself.

Michael, I think this calls for a post all about these technical details of your new camera. I really want to start using the PASM settings on my camera more, and I have no idea how.

Thanks!

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:58:44 +0000

Oh, Glenn, I think I found the photo you were talking about.

http://www.flickr.com/photo_exif.gne?id=2164299642

I was trying out Aperture priority on this shot, and I wanted to blur out the background by choosing a large Aperture. Unfortunately, I had the ISO set at 800 from earlier. That was a big mistake. Also, the shot turned out with an incredible bluish tinge. Was that because of the ISO, the Aperture, or the white balance? I’m kind of confused, and still learning how certain things affect others.

Thanks for all your help.

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:37:54 +0000

@Glenn and @Mike: Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try to keep all those into consideration. The Nikon D40x auto setting likes to take the ISO way up, and I constantly try to tone it down. What is the best way to switch from auto mode to something else (perhaps Aperture-priority mode).

I find that I like to experiment with many settings on different shots, and I am just beginning to learn how different settings affect different attributes of the pictures. I will definitely keep all of this in mind when shooting.

By: Mike Cohen

Mike Cohen — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:32:35 +0000

I usually like to take several shots of the same scene using different settings. When I’m photographing flowers, I like to do some in macro and some regular and then when I import them I keep the ones that look best. A lot of times I can’t tell on the camera display which shots look good until I import them.

By: Glenn Wolsey

Glenn Wolsey — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:28:40 +0000

Yes, taking less photos is a good thing, but the way to learn is to shoot, and shoot as often as you can. Don’t just compose, watch your settings too. I was browsing your Flickr shots, and noticed one of them in particular. You shot with a shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second, while the ISO was set to 800? Watch that, you exposed way to much. Chump it down to ISO 100 and be shooting with a slower shutter speed. Anything over 1/60th of a second for non-action is acceptable.

By: rmaspero

rmaspero — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:52:59 +0000

When I got my Nikon D50 my photography was changed it is so much easier and nice to shoot with a DSLR.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:49:47 +0000

Good post! When I go out taking photos I always think I’ve taken loads, but for some reason when I import them into iPhoto – I realize that I haven’t taken as many. Maybe its a subconscious thing, but find that a good shot finds me and that if I go looking for them I don’t get the best results.