First Photography Session

[AshleeRenee]

I just got my Nikon D5100 a few days ago. I've asked a friend to be my model for a "shoot" on Saturday. I've been reading and learning about apature, ISO settings, lighting, and such but I feel very overwhelmed! I just want to know the "basics" for setting to get the best out of my shoot I can, and I'd like to try some sem-manual modes. Any help is appreciated.

[Krusty79]

For basic information on the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture, shutter speed), Richard has a series of tutorials.

Exposure (1) A balancing act

I would browse through the forum on photographing people for information more geared towards portraits.

[GlynT]

That's quite a big question!

But I think the best way to approach it is with a series of decisions in order of priority.

The first one will be 'how am I going to light my subject?'

If the answer is 'flash' then your next decision will be what f-stop (aperture) do I want to use? For this you might want to start with a nice 'safe' f8. You will then set your flashes to suit.

If the answer is 'natural light' then you need a way to measure that light - probably with your camera's in-built meter. Then you might want to decide on the aperture and set the shutter speed and ISO to match, using your meter to tell you which combination will get you a correct exposure....

If you use 'aperture priority' mode then the camera will select the correct shutter speed for you.

I hope that helps - there is loads more to it than that, but that should get you off to a good start!

Good luck!