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Dec 27 2015 08:54pm
I just got an old Nikon d40 to take some pics of my newborn with. We went to the zoo since it was 75 degrees on christmas and snapped some pics of the 'local' wildlife.

Shot with my Nikon and the kit lens.



Camera quality and lens quality kind of sucks, but I'm working on composition more so than anything else. Photo editing comes in a close 2nd.

This post was edited by ozzyarmy3 on Dec 27 2015 09:00pm
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Dec 28 2015 01:14am
i like the composition a lot man, nicely done.

which semi-manual exposure mode are you using?

Also, what was your focal point?

anytime you're shooting a live subject, the focal point should be the eye.

also, with wildlife, you want to get on their level as much as possible. get as low to the ground as you can (i get that the zoo leaves limitations for that haha) and get as close to eye-level as you can with them.

This post was edited by Sonicgundam on Dec 28 2015 01:16am
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Jan 2 2016 07:20pm
Quote (Sonicgundam @ Dec 28 2015 07:14am)
i like the composition a lot man, nicely done.

which semi-manual exposure mode are you using?

Also, what was your focal point?

anytime you're shooting a live subject, the focal point should be the eye.

also, with wildlife, you want to get on their level as much as possible. get as low to the ground as you can (i get that the zoo leaves limitations for that haha) and get as close to eye-level as you can with them.



Thanks for the tip! I was shooting above on program mode, since I was 'am' so new at shooting, I'm learning the ropes. Right now, i'm trying to stick with aperture priority just so I can understand how to match shutter speed so that eventually I can move up to manual mode and be efficient. Shutter priority is rather useless for me for a few reasons.. One is i'm still using a kit lens, so I don't have a very great F stop and two is that i'm much more interested in still life. I've used bulb a few times just to get a long exposure on the beach, but thats about it. Oh, and my cameras ISO is kind of terrible.. 400 is the highest where the pictures displayed on my computer are still bearable.. After that, they get quite noisy.

Here's a few new ones.. Still learning on how to brush up some photo editing, so be real with the criticism.






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Jan 3 2016 07:03am
E: disregard the 1st, wrong upload.
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Jan 3 2016 07:10am
honestly, aperature priority is perfectly fine when you're out shooting. manual mode is helpful for staged stuff, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with using aperature priority when you're trying to capture a quick moment. it'll make sure the photo is properly exposed.

if you're worried about your ISO, you should be able to set it to auto with a maximum of 400 iso, and then use a tripod to make sure you can handle slower shutter speeds to get the right exposure.

the second 2 photos are pretty good. really like them a lot. the composition on them is pretty good.

the colours do seem a little odd in your editing. a lot of red and yellow and your greens seem a little washed out. are you warming or cooling your photos in post? if you like the style thats all your choice, but as natural as possible is usually the goal.

if you can swing it, pick up one of the inexpensive prime portrait lenses (35mm 50mm 40mm). they'll give you sharper and better images and you'll have more play with the aperature to set up more bokeh if you want it.

for good how too's check out these youtube channels: Tony Northrup, Froknowsphoto and Matt Granger. they all have a lot of videos that will help you out a lot.
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Jan 3 2016 07:44am
Quote (Sonicgundam @ Jan 3 2016 01:10pm)
honestly, aperature priority is perfectly fine when you're out shooting. manual mode is helpful for staged stuff, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with using aperature priority when you're trying to capture a quick moment. it'll make sure the photo is properly exposed.

if you're worried about your ISO, you should be able to set it to auto with a maximum of 400 iso, and then use a tripod to make sure you can handle slower shutter speeds to get the right exposure.

the second 2 photos are pretty good. really like them a lot. the composition on them is pretty good.

the colours do seem a little odd in your editing. a lot of red and yellow and your greens seem a little washed out. are you warming or cooling your photos in post? if you like the style thats all your choice, but as natural as possible is usually the goal.

if you can swing it, pick up one of the inexpensive prime portrait lenses (35mm 50mm 40mm). they'll give you sharper and better images and you'll have more play with the aperature to set up more bokeh if you want it.

for good how too's check out these youtube channels: Tony Northrup, Froknowsphoto and Matt Granger. they all have a lot of videos that will help you out a lot.


Yeah, the 1st photo was an attempt, not the real edit. I'll post the actual photo when I get home. I've been trying to convince my wife to shell out 150 bucks for the 50mm, and that with a starter backdrop setup. I'm thinking tax time, till than I'm stuck with my kit lens.

So yeah, disregard the 1st photo, that was a botched attempt at color occlusion.
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Jan 17 2016 05:58pm
Here's a few from the past couple days







This post was edited by ozzyarmy3 on Jan 17 2016 06:03pm
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Jan 17 2016 06:03pm


My daughter getting ready to hit the town.



Underneath the pier

This post was edited by ozzyarmy3 on Jan 17 2016 06:06pm
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Jan 18 2016 03:58am
getting better and better man.

i think your lens might be front focusing a bit.

the pic of your daughter, her forehead and the bicep of the sweater are more in focus than her eyes.

also the berries, the left leaf with snow on it, is more in focus near it's base than the berries are.

you can calibrate the lens and the body to each other with micro adjustments. look up a couple videos on it and see if the d40 has the ability to micro adjust. makes a world of difference.
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Jan 18 2016 05:57am
Quote (Sonicgundam @ Jan 18 2016 09:58am)
getting better and better man.

i think your lens might be front focusing a bit.

the pic of your daughter, her forehead and the bicep of the sweater are more in focus than her eyes.

also the berries, the left leaf with snow on it, is more in focus near it's base than the berries are.

you can calibrate the lens and the body to each other with micro adjustments. look up a couple videos on it and see if the d40 has the ability to micro adjust. makes a world of difference.


I've noticed that with my camera.. I always felt that it's also because of the lack of af points and lack of an af feature on my body. I'm just glad I'm getting subject matter down, it's bugging me that every photo I take has such a sharp focal point, and it's never what I intend lol.
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