At the Lake

[Carolyn Lee]

I got off of automatic last weekend, played with some settings and here is one of the shots. Depth of field has haunted me I think my going more manual is helping? Would like feedback on my depth of field and color composition. I uped my saturation level by +3 in my camera and played with my polarized lens. Starting to catch on and yes, you absolutely get more by switching from auto
Exif data
Camera Nikon D3000
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 18 mm
Focal Length 18.3 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi Carolyn,

This is a nice image. It has very nice light and was taken at a good time of day.

I think my going more manual is helping?

Definitely. Telling the camera what to do is better then letting it decide. However, I noticed from the EXIF data on Flickr that you took this in Program mode. If you really want to control the depth of field than I would use either aperture priority or full manual mode.

Would like feedback on my depth of field and color composition.

The DOF is OK for this image. It seems a little soft in the extreme foreground, but I think it is OK. Your aperture is only 7.1, but since you are shooting on a crop sensor camera and using a wide angle lens, you can get deep DOF with that moderate aperture. If I had taken the image, I think that I would have chosen f/11 maybe even f/16.

The color is nice in this image. I really like the nice warm light and the orange and blue color compliment combination is one of my favorites.

I uped my saturation level by +3 in my camera and played with my polarized lens.

I would be careful about upping the saturation levels because it can create quite garish colors, but I think they are fine in this image. If you really want to make the colors stronger, but retain a nice natural look to the image, I would underexpose a little bit.

This is a nice image and a good learning experience. Well done.

KG

[Michael_2010]

Originally Posted by Carolyn Lee

I got off of automatic last weekend, played with some settings and here is one of the shots. Depth of field has haunted me I think my going more manual is helping? Would like feedback on my depth of field and color composition. I uped my saturation level by +3 in my camera and played with my polarized lens. Starting to catch on and yes, you absolutely get more by switching from auto

Gives ya that sense of control, doesn't it!

All the great info available on this site can come at ya like a shotgun blast and easily get frustrating. I've found it easiest for me to take one aspect of photography and put it into practice multiple times. Soon it becomes almost instinctive to choose certain settings for given situations.

[Carolyn Lee]

Thank you very much for the feedback KG. I appreciate your thoughts on saturation levels. I agree, if not careful I could easily wreck a good picture. Come to think of it I have wrecked a few Programme mode was a big step, I found all these new menus. I have been playing in A mode a bit as well. The goal is eventually know what I am doing...

LOL You are right Michael - shotgun blast is an understatement. Your approach to practicing one thing at a time multiple times is great advise for those of us new to photography. Like many other things - this is a craft. A first year apprentice cant expect to be a journeyman in one month