Dixie

[lissagirle]

This is the first dog i've ever owned... she used to let me take pictures of her but now she HATES it... every time she sees the camera she hide her face (instead of running, cute...) So whenever i get a picture of her i just hope that its a good one cause its rare to get photos of her (unlike my puppy)



195mm
f/4.8
ISO 1600
1/30
taken with my Sigma 70-300mm Macro
Nikon D3000

Thanks!

Mel

[karen_s]

Cute, cute, doggie. I think you have a pretty nice photo here. The focus is nicely on that eye and that helps me connect to your friend. Some may not like the out of focus nose but for me, it works well here.

The image does however look a little soft. You might have suffered a bit of camera shake and 1/30 is a bit slow for any living breathing subject. Using a tripod can help but it won't keep your subjects form moving, so you probably want to shoot for at least 1/60th. Your focal length will play into that too. A rule of thumb for handholding is to set your shutter speed number to equal or exceed your focal length. For example, at 195mm, set the shutter to at least 1/200th. I go for higher 'cause my technique needs a bit of work.

As far as hating the camera, one of my dogs did that too. He didn't mind at first, but as time went on, he began to retreat from it. I think it was because I ceased playing with him and was paying more attention to my camera than to him. So, I got the treats out and made it play time. I take photos of him while we play rather than make him sit still and pose. He seems enjoy it a lot more now

Give him a pat on the head for me!

(And just a note, I think you photo is too big. If you can, resize and edit your post to fit the space. Right now the add is covering your question and part of the photo. I'm not sure of the max size but I think it's in the critique forum rules. 700px on the wide side is coming to mind.)

[lissagirle]

Originally Posted by karen_s

Cute, cute, doggie. I think you have a pretty nice photo here. The focus is nicely on that eye and that helps me connect to your friend. Some may not like the out of focus nose but for me, it works well here.

The image does however look a little soft. You might have suffered a bit of camera shake and 1/30 is a bit slow for any living breathing subject. Using a tripod can help but it won't keep your subjects form moving, so you probably want to shoot for at least 1/60th. Your focal length will play into that too. A rule of thumb for handholding is to set your shutter speed number to equal or exceed your focal length. For example, at 195mm, set the shutter to at least 1/200th. I go for higher 'cause my technique needs a bit of work.

As far as hating the camera, one of my dogs did that too. He didn't mind at first, but as time went on, he began to retreat from it. I think it was because I ceased playing with him and was paying more attention to my camera than to him. So, I got the treats out and made it play time. I take photos of him while we play rather than make him sit still and pose. He seems enjoy it a lot more now

Give him a pat on the head for me!

(And just a note, I think you photo is too big. If you can, resize and edit your post to fit the space. Right now the add is covering your question and part of the photo. I'm not sure of the max size but I think it's in the critique forum rules. 700px on the wide side is coming to mind.)

THANKS! yea... i've been working on how to make them smaller... anywho, my question is (since i'm new) i'm having trouble with adjusting the settings... when i adjust the shutter speed i have no control over the f-stop, and vise versa... i'm sure its just user error, but right now it wont let me manually adjust both... My tripod is on back order lol but as soon as it come in it'll be attached to my hip! oh, and how do you focus on the nose and the eyes? cause right now i only know how to focus on one or the other... thank you for your feed back, i appreciate it!

Mel

[bobajob]

Hi Mel, you would focus on the eye or the nose. Sometimes focusing on the nose can be interesting, due to the angle of the shot. Try it out. My dogs don't give a hoot for the camera, they just want to play around me and not sit or lie down.

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by lissagirle

my question is (since i'm new) i'm having trouble with adjusting the settings... when i adjust the shutter speed i have no control over the f-stop, and vise versa... i'm sure its just user error, but right now it wont let me manually adjust both...

My guess is you are in the aperture priority or shutter priority mode based on the fact that if you change one, the other adapts. (I'm assuming Nikon is similar to Canon with these controls.)

In simple terms ...
Auto - Camera does all the thinking
Aperture Priority - You select the aperture, camera selects the proper shutter speed
Shutter Priority - You select the shutter speed, camera selects the proper aperture
Manual - Your camera assumes intelligence and you have to do it ALL

To be able to adjust both independently, you will want to be in the manual exposure mode, typically the big "M" on the wheel atop the camera body. (If that doesn't work for you, look up "manual exposure" in your user manual.) Caution though, if you are entirely new to DSLR and exposure, I'd suggest playing with the aperture and shutter modes first. I shot in these modes for a couple of years before finally moving to the big "M". You just need a little time to wrap your head around the exposure triangle (how ISO, shutter speed, and aperture work together to make a proper exposure) and the effects of each of those on your photographs. Don't feel a lesser photographer for using auto features 'cause you can learn from them.

Originally Posted by lissagirle

THANKS! My tripod is on back order lol but as soon as it come in it'll be attached to my hip!

I hate tripods, but I shouldn't because they are so useful.

Originally Posted by lissagirle

oh, and how do you focus on the nose and the eyes? cause right now i only know how to focus on one or the other... thank you for your feed back, i appreciate it!

I think your question about focus falls a little more along the lines of "depth of field" (how far in front and how far behind the focal point is in focus). Basically, depth of field is controlled thru the aperture and is affected by focal lengths. Maximum apertures (smaller numbers like 2.8, 1.4, bigger openings) give you less depth of field along with longer focal lengths. Minimum apertures (bigger numbers like 22, smaller openings) give you a deeper depth of field as do shorter focal lengths.

I'm not so terribly gifted with the tech talk so here a few terms for you and Google:
depth of field
depth of field calculator
Exposure triangle
Aperture

Experiment a lot. And don't worry about taking bad pictures, my computers trash is full of them

[lissagirle]

Originally Posted by karen_s

My guess is you are in the aperture priority or shutter priority mode based on the fact that if you change one, the other adapts. (I'm assuming Nikon is similar to Canon with these controls.)

In simple terms ...
Auto - Camera does all the thinking
Aperture Priority - You select the aperture, camera selects the proper shutter speed
Shutter Priority - You select the shutter speed, camera selects the proper aperture
Manual - Your camera assumes intelligence and you have to do it ALL

To be able to adjust both independently, you will want to be in the manual exposure mode, typically the big "M" on the wheel atop the camera body. (If that doesn't work for you, look up "manual exposure" in your user manual.) Caution though, if you are entirely new to DSLR and exposure, I'd suggest playing with the aperture and shutter modes first. I shot in these modes for a couple of years before finally moving to the big "M". You just need a little time to wrap your head around the exposure triangle (how ISO, shutter speed, and aperture work together to make a proper exposure) and the effects of each of those on your photographs. Don't feel a lesser photographer for using auto features 'cause you can learn from them.



I hate tripods, but I shouldn't because they are so useful.



I think your question about focus falls a little more along the lines of "depth of field" (how far in front and how far behind the focal point is in focus). Basically, depth of field is controlled thru the aperture and is affected by focal lengths. Maximum apertures (smaller numbers like 2.8, 1.4, bigger openings) give you less depth of field along with longer focal lengths. Minimum apertures (bigger numbers like 22, smaller openings) give you a deeper depth of field as do shorter focal lengths.

I'm not so terribly gifted with the tech talk so here a few terms for you and Google:
depth of field
depth of field calculator
Exposure triangle
Aperture

Experiment a lot. And don't worry about taking bad pictures, my computers trash is full of them

THANK YOU so much, and thank you everyone for your help... i'm not a big fan of tripods either cause sometimes you have to try to capture the shot in a split second so thats why i like to do things free hand but i guess if you have a still life it would be easier to use a tripod so the picture comes out real well.... i appreciate everyones help... i'm going to be posting a few more pictures that i think are really good just to see if on average i have a good eye and judge things well ( i know everyone thinks differently but i'm sure as a whole there is a consensus...) Thanks again!

Mel