[Amaru]

Hey all - long time RS'er here, but brand new to photography. I'd love to get some advice from seasoned pros, so any and all comments are appreciated.

Camera: I recently purchased a new Nikon D5000. Started with only an 18-55mm lens but quickly realized I needed something longer, so last week I went back and bought the 55-200mm lens as well.

Issues: My biggest nemesis at this point is motion blur and general image noise... I have been using a tripod lately which definitely helps, but my night time pics (see below) are often full of noise even when on a tripod with no wind and the VR setting enabled. I'd really like to learn how to take hand-held shots without motion blur... I don't think I can manually adjust the shutter speed on this camera so I guess my best bet is to adjust the ISO or camera "mode" (night-time, sports, macro, etc) according to the situation? My eventual goal is to be able to take print-worthy photographs that are exceptionally sharp and vivid. Thus far I haven't really been able to do so, even when using a tripod.

If possible, please provide any general advice on how to:

a) Increase sharpness and reduce blur.

b) Take sharper images without a tripod.

c) Speed up shutter speed via ISO setting.

d) Change the camera "mode" to the ideal setting.

Samples: Below are a few pics I've taken over the last couple of weeks... I am just getting started obviously so my image composition is pretty rotten... hopefully that will improve as time goes on. Most of the photos have had very slight adjustments in Photoshop (ie. brightness, colour warmth, and obviously size).

Also, please keep in mind these are the best of the crop - 90% of my pics had to be tossed because of blur, pixelation/noise, or poor lighting. The last picture, of the fern/plant pot, is probably the "sharpest" of the bunch despite the awful lighting... I'd love to get that sharpness in all my pics.

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/tawny.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/parliament.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/carving.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/odie.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/forest.jpg

http://www.borlandstudios.com/pics/plant.jpg

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

[Bonjour43MA]

a) Increase sharpness and reduce blur.
use higher f-stops to get better sharpness
make sure your focus is spot-on
use higher shutter speeds to reduce blur

the catch here is that when the f-stop goes up, your shutter speed goes down, and vice versa. so the only way to keep both f-stop and shutterspeed up, while maintaining proper exposure, is to use flash or bump up your ISO

b) Take sharper images without a tripod.
use faster shutter speed, usually 1/x of the focal length you're shooting at. i.e. if you're shooting at 55mm, try to keep the shutterspeed above 1/60 or faster.

that being said, if you want to take sharp, clean, and blur-free night photos - use a STURDY tripod, turn off VR mode (Nikon VR doesn't like tripod too much... unlike Canon's IS), set your ISO low, up your F-stop, and use a remote or self-timer to release the shutter.

c) Speed up shutter speed via ISO setting.
you just answered yourself with your question.
high ISO = sensor is more sensitive to light = more light = faster shutter speed


d) Change the camera "mode" to the ideal setting.
i think the D5000 has "Scene modes" - those are usually dialed in to give you the best ideal settings for those type of situations. you can play around with those to see what the camera does with all the settings, under given circumstances, and then try to duplicate the same using one of the manual modes.

once you are more familar with how to adjust exposure settings, move away from scene modes and use one of the M A S P modes.

Also, ANY SLR camera will let you set your shutter speed, - it's the "S" mode on your top dial.

You'll most likely have to spend some time reading stuff online/books about the relationship between these 3 guys:

ISO
Shutterspeed
Aperture

once you understand them you'll be able to adjust those settings depending on different lighting circumstances.

Also, you'll most likely need to get some type of photo-editing software for your pics. A lot of the pics you see are heavily edited to bring out the contrast, color, and etc, so what you see posted isn't always what the camera saw when the pic was taken. I for one is not too into too much post-editing but I know many here use photoshop extensively to give their shots that "pop". *wait, you said you got photoshop. lol it's late and I'm sleepy*

You can set your Picture Controls settings to bump up in-camera processing for contrast, sharpness, and saturation. That way you can do the least amount of editing once the shots are taken.

Read the manual if you haven't already - it really helps you understand what each setting does and how you can use it.

Check out this Nikon site, it shows you the basics of your camera and how to use it : http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html pick your D5000 and go through the tutorial.

Check this site for detailed info on camera terms: http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/

[ddr]

http://digital-photography-school.com/photo-101-answer-time

lesson 5 6 7

[Amaru]

b) Take sharper images without a tripod.
use faster shutter speed, usually 1/x of the focal length you're shooting at. i.e. if you're shooting at 55mm, try to keep the shutterspeed above 1/60 or faster.

that being said, if you want to take sharp, clean, and blur-free night photos - use a STURDY tripod, turn off VR mode (Nikon VR doesn't like tripod too much... unlike Canon's IS), set your ISO low, up your F-stop, and use a remote or self-timer to release the shutter.

Excellent, good to know. Thanks. I had the VR switched ON when taking the one night picture there, and the rest of the settings were on "night landscape" scene mode.


Also, ANY SLR camera will let you set your shutter speed, - it's the "S" mode on your top dial.

Check out this Nikon site, it shows you the basics of your camera and how to use it : http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html pick your D5000 and go through the tutorial.

You're completely right about the "S" mode! I read the manual more or less cover to cover but it can often be like reading a book in another language. Thanks.

Also, thanks for the link dragonone, I'll run through those lessons.

[Senna4ever]

Most lenses are sharpest at 2~3 stops down from wide open. Increasing the aperture further will only increase the depth of field, thus increasing apparent sharpness. Past f16 however, you will lose sharpness due to light diffraction.

[keitaro]

Bonjour43MA summed it up pretty much.

If you want to future your abilities more, I recommend reading Brian Peterson's Understanding Exposure. It's a good book explaining how achieve exposures for certain type of shots.

[Amaru]

Excellent, thanks for the responses guys.

I'll check out that book, hopefully it's in my local library.