# Nikon D3200 Turning Out To Be Expensive Point-And-Shoot



## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 30, 2013)

I'm starting to think I should have just stuck to my Elph PowerShot 110 HS.

I recently bought a Nikon D3200 camera, and I have several lenses - the kit lens that came with it (18mm - 55mm I believe it is) the Sigma Zoom/macro lens that came with it, and a fixed Nikon 50mm, as well as a Nikon 55mm - 300mm zoom lens. 

This camera takes gorgeous pictures in auto mode. I have tried venturing into A mode, with varying success.

I've read and read several books on the D3200 specifically, and on DSLR photography in general, and I thought I had an understanding of how aperature, ISO settings, white balance and exposure times work together. Ha.

I went out shooting today in my back yard. The photos I took on auto setting were beautiful, perfect. The ones on manual setting were either orange, stark white or jet black. I am so frustrated I am ready to chuck the whole thing and go back to my Elph! I had hoped to shoot a minor-league baseball game I'm attending September 6th, but I'm starting to think I'd be just as well off taking my Elph, rather than lugging this camera and the various lenses and filters with me.

Any help or encouragement would be SO appreciated!


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## 480sparky (Aug 30, 2013)

Post some samples of the ones you feel aren't up to par.  Otherwise, we're all just clueless on what to do.


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## Braineack (Aug 30, 2013)

when you flip to A, are you making sure your camera is setup correctly?

You've opened up manual control of the ISO, WB, focus points, metering method, etc.


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## Derrel (Aug 30, 2013)

Why not leave the camera on AUTO and just shoot the pictures you want? The D3200 has the Guide Mode to assist beginners with settings. Have you tried the Guide Mode assistance?


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## Joeywhat (Aug 30, 2013)

Why not just keep it in auto mode, then?

I mean, the only other option is to learn what all the other settings do, and then employ that knowledge into taking quality pictures. If you don't understand it now then keep learning...Charlie Parker didn't get awesome at the sax the day after he picked it up.


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## manicmike (Aug 30, 2013)

Did you shoot full on manual or in one of the priority modes ie aperture/shutter? It sounds like you either completely overexposed or completely underexposed. To start, try putting it in one of the priority modes. Adjust only the aperture or shutter and see what it looks like from there. That should get you at least close enough to not want to give up.


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## badrano (Aug 30, 2013)

When you say "manual setting" do you mean the "M" setting?  Based on the words you used to described the pictures, it sounds like your white balance is off and the pictures were either over exposed on under exposed.
If you were in "A", or "S", you should still get proper exposure unless your lighting is so off that the camera couldn't properly compensate with a fixed aperture or shutter speed.
You should still be able to set the white balance to Auto even if in P,A,S or M modes

Like sparky said, post some of the pics and we'll be able to help out.


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## Nat. (Aug 30, 2013)

Sounds like white balance and massive over- and under-exposure.


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## Braineack (Aug 30, 2013)

Don't fret. I've been shooting SLR since 1995 or so.  I went out for an hour yesterday, took maybe 100 pics, kept 0.

Something that might help you as you dive into manual controls is turning on auto ISO.


keep practicing, that 300mm will have plenty of reach to get some good shots:




taken from here:


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## KmH (Aug 30, 2013)

Digital Photography Tutorials

How Your Camera Works

Understanding Digital Camera Sensors
*Understanding Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed*
Understanding Camera Metering
Understanding Depth of Field
Understanding Camera Lenses: Focal Length & Aperture
Understanding White Balance
Understanding Camera Autofocus
Qualities of Digital Photos

Understanding Bit Depth
Understanding Sharpness
Understanding Image Noise
Understanding Dynamic Range


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## goodguy (Aug 30, 2013)

My first shots in auto mode were not very impressive either, the more mistakes I made and the worst the pictures came out the more I learned and honestly after almost a year I can tell you I feel like I only scratched the surface.
Loosing hope so fast is not how it should be, who said learning is easy but it sure is fun.
Dont expect to take a camera put it on Manual mode and expect your pictures to come out perfect.

Have patient my paduan learner, take your time, learn from your mistakes, keep asking questions, let those who know more critisise your pictures and slowly you will improve.
I can tell you in regards to White Blance I have never moved the dial to any settings, I am happy to leave that in auto, everything else I shoot mostly in Apature mode of MAnual mode.

In time you will master this camera but give yourself time to learn and let yourself to enjoy the learning process.


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## bc_steve (Aug 30, 2013)

sounds like you need to pay more attention to your white balance and your light meter.  look them up in the owner's manual or online.

there is a learning curve, and once you get enough practice you will be able to take better pictures on the manual settings than with the auto settings.  nobody becomes an expert overnight.


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## astroNikon (Aug 30, 2013)

I tried to learn everything at once.  It was all confusing.
Then I learned one thing at a time.
I first started using the Aperture mode, with WB, ISO, metering etc on AUTO modes
Then I started one at a time turning off those AUTO modes, first with ISO

I learned so much quicker by experimenting with one feature/function at a time.

It will take time.  There were times when my photo was just off and I just put it in Auto.  Then I would compare the picture preview and see what each setting was and then adjust.  Being comfortable of what function is where in the menu really helps too, and all that will take time.

Now I shoot mostly in Manual mode, but when something doesn't look right I have a good idea of what to change.
When I first tried it, I was totally lost. I had an idea of what to maybe change, but I wasn't familiar with the camera at all to get the results.

I've shot close to 9,000 now.  Probably half of those were just experiments with Aperture, Shutter, WB, ISO, Metering, Focus points, exposure, flash exposure etc but just one function at a time until I understood it.


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## Designer (Aug 30, 2013)

Dear StarsFOI; here's some encouragement for you.  

Full manual takes some practice.  Getting ready for the ball game on 9/6, I suggest charge your batteries, check the capacity of your SD card, and get some idea of what lens you want to use mostly.  Leave manual for when you are not stressed.


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## SCraig (Aug 30, 2013)

Best advice I can give on white balance is to leave it in Auto and forget about it.  You're adding a level of complexity that you don't need at this point.  Nikon's auto WB does a pretty good job, certainly as well as the point-and-shoot you were using.  I'll bet you never worried about it on that one, right?  Why worry about it with this one?

As others have said, leave your camera on Auto.  That's what it's there for.  It's not going to go away if you use other modes, and other modes won't go away if you use Auto.  Go out when you have time and practice with the other modes, but make it easy on yourself when the need arises.  Photography isn't supposed to be a chore, it's supposed to be fun.  Do what makes it fun for you.  The rest will come with time.


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## kundalini (Aug 30, 2013)

StarsFellOnIndiana said:


> ....I went out shooting today in my back yard. The photos I took on auto setting were beautiful, perfect. The ones on manual setting were either orange, stark white or jet black. I am so frustrated I am ready to chuck the whole thing and go back to my Elph! I had hoped to shoot a minor-league baseball game I'm attending September 6th, but I'm starting to think I'd be just as well off taking my Elph, rather than lugging this camera and the various lenses and filters with me.
> 
> Any help or encouragement would be SO appreciated!


Set the camera in Program Auto shooting mode (page 54 of your owners manual).  Take a picture of something that is not moving.  Look at the data from the image file.  Set the camera in Aperture-Priority Auto shooting mode (page 56 of your owners manual).  Set the aperture to the same f/stop as the Programmed Auto setting chose.  If the lighting hasn't changed, you should be close, if not spot on, with the same exposure as programm mode.  Season to taste.  By that I mean to open or stop down the lens aperture or add / subtract the exposure compensation to what you want to see in the final result.


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## DarkShadow (Aug 30, 2013)

For get the Elph  no comparison in dynamic range or ISO to a Nikon D3200 not to count the glass you can add on. Don't give up before the rewards come. Rome was not built in a day was it.


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## Railphotog (Aug 30, 2013)

What is it with people and adjustable cameras?  They quite often think that twirling this dial and moving/adjusting that will allow them to take photos.  All the time not having a clue what they are doing.  If the Auto or Program setting works, then why deviate when you don't have a clue what your "adjustments" are doing?  I think many think because there are so many options available on modern cameras that they actually need to fiddle with them.  Did the OP have dials and adjustments with her Elph?  There is no shame in using auto modes.  Use them and experiment, find out what sort of things you can do with them first.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

I did try the Guide Mode, but I was missing shots reading - so I gathered together a lot of camera books (including Nikon D3200 For Dummies) and tried to learn it that way. Maybe I should give Guide Mode another shot, because when I am shooting in the real world, I am getting nowhere.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

Thank you for those links, KmH!


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

Yes, I was in "M" setting, trying to set everything up the way I thought it was supposed to be for the conditions I was shooting under. HUGE fail. Then I went out this morning on a morning walk with my husband and my dogs - beautiful pics as long as I was in Auto mode or one of the "scene" modes (like landscape, action, etc). As soon as I tried A mode (which I was shooting with a week ago, with some success) the pictures were awful and I deleted them immediately. This is getting so frustrating - but I guess shooting in one of the scene modes is better than just straight Auto mode? Ugh!


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

Joeywhat said:


> Why not just keep it in auto mode, then?
> 
> I mean, the only other option is to learn what all the other settings do, and then employ that knowledge into taking quality pictures. If you don't understand it now then keep learning...Charlie Parker didn't get awesome at the sax the day after he picked it up.



My dad was a jazz musician, so I really like this analogy! I will keep learning and stop trying to build Rome in a day I guess :/


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

I am not sure how to post pictures to this forum (I am SUCH a noob, I'm sorry)! Here are some I took this morning:





The one with my husband's head cut off was taken on the "action" setting. The second one was taken on the "kids" setting. The one of the water tower was taken using the "landscape" setting. The last one was taken on auto. All using my 50mm - 300mm Nikkor lens, and all shot on JPEG Fine (medium size).

I have shot in RAW mode and I am pretty adept at Photoshop, so I have been able to fix some mistakes I've made. I find the RAW setting awfully cumbersome and I don't want to have to edit my mistakes with Photoshop. I know I need to work on composition etc but that is a whole 'nother ballgame - I need to get the basic settings down before I worry about that. So any advice/critique would be very much appreciated. Thanks everybody!


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## kundalini (Aug 31, 2013)

Perhaps you've set something in the menus that is the culprit. It's too easy to forget adjustments made in the menus, I've certainly done it more than once. Start from square one and reset your camera settings to the factory default. The explaination and steps should be in your owners manual. Then try again with the manual settings with the little excercise I mentioned earlier with one shot in Auto, then one with you setting the exposure to the Auto data while in the Manual shooting mode.


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## Braineack (Aug 31, 2013)

instead of deleting the images you should look at the data and figure out why they are so bad.


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## TamiAz (Aug 31, 2013)

You just need to keep practicing and get to know how all the settings work on your camera. When I first started learning to shoot in manual it took a good 3 months of reading and practicing before everything clicked. I never realized how hard photography was until I started shooting in manual, but it's so worth it when it finally clicks!! Keep working at it.


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## Tailgunner (Aug 31, 2013)

StarsFellOnIndiana said:


> Yes, I was in "M" setting, trying to set everything up the way I thought it was supposed to be for the conditions I was shooting under. HUGE fail. Then I went out this morning on a morning walk with my husband and my dogs - beautiful pics as long as I was in Auto mode or one of the "scene" modes (like landscape, action, etc). As soon as I tried A mode (which I was shooting with a week ago, with some success) the pictures were awful and I deleted them immediately. This is getting so frustrating - but I guess shooting in one of the scene modes is better than just straight Auto mode? Ugh!



Are you shooting in Auto ISO or Manual ISO?

I personally started out shooting with the ISO in Auto when I first made the switch to shooting in Manual mode. Then I would flip the dial back and forth between Manual and Auto mode to see what the camera thought the settings should be. I would then flip back to Manual mode, make the same adjustments, an take the shot. I would do this on several different subjects through out the day for a week or two until I finally got a basic idea of what Shutter Speed and F-Stop I needed to use in order to make a decent photo. After that, I started experimenting on my own adjusting the Shutter time and F-Stop ever so slightly learning to fine tune my shots....I actually got lost and had to start over switching back and forth on Manual and Auto mode comparing settings again lol It wasn't too much longer after that when I finally felt confident that I could produce a decent photo on my own and then turn my attention towards learning manual ISO. 

Warning, it was at this point when I out grew my D3100 and needed a camera with easier controls. That's one of the main reasons I bought my D7100, it's a lot easier adjusting Shutter speed, F-Stop, and ISO on the fly than adjusting those things on my D3100.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

kundalini said:


> Perhaps you've set something in the menus that is the culprit. It's too easy to forget adjustments made in the menus, I've certainly done it more than once. Start from square one and reset your camera settings to the factory default. The explaination and steps should be in your owners manual. Then try again with the manual settings with the little excercise I mentioned earlier with one shot in Auto, then one with you setting the exposure to the Auto data while in the Manual shooting mode.



I think you're absolutely correct, so I set this back to factory default (which involves two different settings). Then I re-set the image to JPEG Fine Medium because I like working with images at that setting. The rest of it is all default.

I've had to walk away from this for just a bit - I'm so frustrated I'm getting teary-eyed (hahaha I bet I'm not the first "photographer" to do that) and I think I will be okay for the baseball game September 6th. I'm going to put it on the "Action" setting and shoot away. I did that the last time I attended a baseball game and got some pretty good shots (no credit to me, it was all the camera's doing).

Thanks for all your help!


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Aug 31, 2013)

TamiAz said:


> You just need to keep practicing and get to know how all the settings work on your camera. When I first started learning to shoot in manual it took a good 3 months of reading and practicing before everything clicked. I never realized how hard photography was until I started shooting in manual, but it's so worth it when it finally clicks!! Keep working at it.



Thanks so much for the encouragement! I so love taking pictures (especially of my two sled dogs) I am determined to keep going no matter how frustrated I get. I have been studying EXIF data especially on the clunkers I've taken to try to figure out exactly where I went wrong.


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## MartinCrabtree (Aug 31, 2013)

In the viewfinder in manual mode the display will tell you if and how much the current settings will over/under expose the shot. I was using that today on my D90 and playing with bumping up and down via both shutter and aperture. Used the matrix metering if that matters. I'm just getting to understand digital as well after years of film. 

Hope that helps.


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## GDHLEWIS (Sep 1, 2013)

I had similar issues when I was starting out with the D3200, just takes allot of practice even if it's just taking 15 minutes a day playing with the settings and seeing what works and what doesn't. Took me around 2 months of continually messing around with the settings before I finally understood how it all worked properly. I started by playing around in Manual mode only so you get a feel for what small tweeks to the settings do.

Good luck and keep trying


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## elementgs (Sep 1, 2013)

Www.500px.com/essentials


Every one of those is with a 3200. I'm not a pro but find me a PnS that can do that. 

It's all in your settings.

I'm happy to help but 3 pages of responses seems like you got it already.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Sep 2, 2013)

elementgs said:


> Www.500px.com/essentials
> 
> 
> Every one of those is with a 3200. I'm not a pro but find me a PnS that can do that.
> ...



Thanks so much for that link! THAT is the kind of photography I'd like to learn to do!

I would especially love to know how to make the sky have that amazing look in landscape shots - the "Elk Grove Skyline" pic on the 500px website is an example of it. Can you tell me if that is done with Photoshop, or does the camera do that or what? Here in Indiana I have gotten some shots of the sky that I would love to look that way, but I am clueless (as usual, ha).

Thanks to you and to all for all your advice and encouragement! It is very much appreciated!


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Sep 2, 2013)

Arghh, I just did some research on HDR photography - I am thinking this is way, WAY beyond my current meager skills. I understand that it involves taking 3 or more pictures of the same thing and then layering them somehow - I have Photoshop but this is a skill I just don't have at this point. Oh well!


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## elementgs (Sep 7, 2013)

StarsFellOnIndiana said:


> Arghh, I just did some research on HDR photography - I am thinking this is way, WAY beyond my current meager skills. I understand that it involves taking 3 or more pictures of the same thing and then layering them somehow - I have Photoshop but this is a skill I just don't have at this point. Oh well!



Photography is amazing in that every day you have the opportunity to learn something new.  Pick one thing you want to do well and do that until you feel proficient in it and then pick something else you want to learn.  If you notice, each one of my pictures has a slight progression to it, each with a slightly different style, technique, etc.  It's all about taking the time to learn though.  These forums are awesome and the people here are extremely knowledgeable.  Start here and keep asking for help. 

As for the Elk Grove Skyline, it was actually really simple, I just used a mild HDR filter on the foreground elements to bring out the colors a bit.  No bracketing or anything truly complicated. 

The sky was mostly untouched though and didn't really need any help.  I used a graduated neutral density filter so I didn't over saturate the skyline.  I think I paid $20 for the filter, it's a real cheap one for now but it does the trick when I need it.  Anyways, hope that helps.


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## Gavjenks (Sep 7, 2013)

> I have Photoshop but this is a skill I just don't have at this point. Oh well!


It's not really a skill.  You buy a program, drag your 3 photos into it or whatever, and click a few settings, and it does it for you.

Very few if any people do HDR by hand.


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## Geaux (Sep 8, 2013)

Gavjenks said:


> > I have Photoshop but this is a skill I just don't have at this point. Oh well!
> 
> 
> It's not really a skill.  You buy a program, drag your 3 photos into it or whatever, and click a few settings, and it does it for you.
> ...




Its definitely a skill to do HDR correctly. 


Love the "click a few settings.." line, because it's just that easy haha


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## otherprof (Sep 8, 2013)

You must be smarter than the camera, grasshopper.


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

StarsFellOnIndiana said:


> Yes, I was in "M" setting, trying to set everything up the way I thought it was supposed to be for the conditions I was shooting under. HUGE fail. Then I went out this morning on a morning walk with my husband and my dogs - beautiful pics as long as I was in Auto mode or one of the "scene" modes (like landscape, action, etc). As soon as I tried A mode (which I was shooting with a week ago, with some success) the pictures were awful and I deleted them immediately. This is getting so frustrating - but I guess shooting in one of the scene modes is better than just straight Auto mode? Ugh!



I had the exact same problems.
Don't give up
But see if you can turn on all the EXIF data.  But be careful as it will be overwhelming, not in what is different, but in trying to find the setting on the camera.   That is one reason I did one function at a time, to become familiar with HOW to change something QUICKLY instead of hunt and peck (if I could find it).

There was a few days where everything was turning out Blue .. I lived in Snurf City for a few days.  I remembered I changed something but it literally took me a few days to find out what I changed.  But AUTO vs Manual/Aperture was evident enough that I goofed.

As a matter of fact I was going to list out what photo detailed data I have turned on and tell you to turn on the same ones (if you have it on your camera).  But I can't find it in the menu ...

Edit (found it): On the D7000 Playback Menu, Display Mode, I basically selected all the options so I can see what the settings were for each photo.


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

By the way, how was the baseball game ?


FWIW, I'm also a jazz (or was) musician.  saxophone.  
It all takes practice and making music artistic takes not just practice but vision.  Just like photography.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Sep 9, 2013)

astroNikon said:


> By the way, how was the baseball game ?
> 
> 
> FWIW, I'm also a jazz (or was) musician.  saxophone.
> It all takes practice and making music artistic takes not just practice but vision.  Just like photography.



We (the Indianapolis Indians) lost to the Durham Bulls. I took over 200 photos (and got yelled at to quit taking pics and sit down at one point, hahaha) and only a couple of them were any good AT ALL. Not that the quality wasn't there - I let the camera do the work - but the composition was extremely lackluster. Which is odd, because I took my camera to an Indians game like two days after I got it, put it on auto and took about a hundred photos, without even a clue of what I was doing - and some of them came out pretty good. Things I didn't even see when I took the picture (like an angelic little boy waiting in line to get an autograph from the team mascot - I didn't even see him, but he noticed I was taking a picture and looked straight into the camera and gave me the sweetest smile). 




Also, a mound conference:



I wish I hadn't cut off their feet, but I liked the various expressions on the faces. It was a tense moment in the game.

None of the pictures I took on the 6th of September pleased me like these two. It seems like I've studied photography a little bit and it's been a detriment to me. I refuse to give up though! Maybe I need to just slow down and go back to just having fun with my camera, instead of trying so hard.


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

I'm doing the photography for my kids soccer.
What I've noticed is that you can't get enough "action" in one photo (but then, I'm a newbie to sports photography too).
I took several single shots but only got one good "moment" shot.

So for the parents I'm putting together, as an example, a 8x10 of 3 or 4 shots of their child shooting and getting a goal.
I don't think one photo is enough, but a small amount seems to convey more info.  I take the photo with more than needed and crop to get a better composition.

I wasn't satisfied with the photos either but they are memories of the first soccer game, which they won 16-0.

So with baseball, one thing I would think is trying to get someone hitting the ball, and then follow it, for example, going over the wall for a homerun, or someone sliding safe at a base of homeplate.

Luckily I can wander around the soccer field, unlike your baseball field.

I try to add one new concept to test each time I go out.  Trying to think of many things to do is too much.  I'm much more comfortable on my camera now than last year too.  But I still got out of Manual and into Priority because I was getting confused .. Sun & clouds were coming and going quickly so Auto ISO & WhiteBalance.  I want to get more blurred leg movement so I'm practicing decreasing Shutter at other games in the neighborhood

hopefully someone experienced will have better ideas of these type of themes.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Sep 9, 2013)

astroNikon said:


> I had the exact same problems.
> Don't give up
> But see if you can turn on all the EXIF data.  But be careful as it will be overwhelming, not in what is different, but in trying to find the setting on the camera.   That is one reason I did one function at a time, to become familiar with HOW to change something QUICKLY instead of hunt and peck (if I could find it).
> 
> ...



Thank you so much for the encouragement - it gives me hope that I can begin to figure all this out if I just slow down a bit and try to figure out what I'm doing wrong (or right, on the rare occasions when I do get it right). I've been studying EXIF data until my eyeballs have dropped out of my head - on the good shots, but especially on the clunkers so maybe I can figure out what went wrong (and compare it to the good shots). My first instinct, when I've obviously taken a lousy picture, is to delete it right away, but I've been keeping some of them so that I can try to figure out what is messed up in the EXIF data. Every situation is so unique though - I know that competent photographers can look at the light and what they're shooting and how they want the photo to look and they are automatically thinking what shutter speed they want, ISO setting, white balance, etc etc until it probably becomes at least semi-instinctual. Perhaps someday I will get to that point, but I know it's going to take a LOT of practice (and patience, which I need to cultivate).


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

One of my biggest problems is holding the camera steady enough.  I started a thread here and got some good pointers.  But I'm on ground not the stands too.  I do have one Nikon VR lens which I'm using - a 18-105 so I've been using that almost exclusively now until I get better.  Next I'm going to see if a Monopod helps without the VR.  But from this forum I've read shutter speeds greater than 250 (?) the VR is not used or doesn't help.


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

Here's the one "good" non-action picture I got


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

> Thank you so much for the encouragement - it gives me hope that I can begin to figure all this out if I just slow down a bit and try to figure out what I'm doing wrong (or right, on the rare occasions when I do get it right). I've been studying EXIF data until my eyeballs have dropped out of my head - on the good shots, but especially on the clunkers so maybe I can figure out what went wrong (and compare it to the good shots). My first instinct, when I've obviously taken a lousy picture, is to delete it right away, but I've been keeping some of them so that I can try to figure out what is messed up in the EXIF data. Every situation is so unique though - I know that competent photographers can look at the light and what they're shooting and how they want the photo to look and they are automatically thinking what shutter speed they want, ISO setting, white balance, etc etc until it probably becomes at least semi-instinctual. Perhaps someday I will get to that point, but I know it's going to take a LOT of practice (and patience, which I need to cultivate).



Try not to learn everything at the same time.
Pick one thing at a time to learn all about, where to get to it in the menu .. basically become totally comfortable with it.
Then later add another.

When I got this camera last year the first thing I did was went from Auto to the Picture Modes (Sunrise, Sports, etc).
Then (after a few months of total confusion) went one function at a time.
Aperture Mode
ISO
WhiteBalance
Focus Control
Shutter
Exposure Control
Matrix Metering
then I started fiddling with off camera Flash and some of those techniques.  now I'm back to relearning the camera "faster" .. basically becoming more and more comfortable with it and where and what the settings do.  I also shoot in Raw now as it is more crisp and detailed.


FYI, I used to do some photography (excluding phone, pocket & box cameras) a long time ago with a D70 & N80 (film), and earlier with a Canon AE-1 (film).  But this is the first time I'm trying to actually learn how to use the camera.  But that background has had close to zero help.


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## sandollars (Sep 9, 2013)

The most important question is:

Are you having FUN? 

That's what important.  The pictures you take, no matter what you think of them NOW, will be PRICELESS in 20 years.

Never forget that.


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## Braineack (Sep 9, 2013)

Wanna see a real buzzkill?

takes picture of wife:







somehow I missed the focus.


Give camera to wife and:


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

> Give camera to wife and:


Her picture is more sharp than yours !!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 9, 2013)

astroNikon said:


> > Give camera to wife and:
> 
> 
> Her picture is more sharp than yours !!



better composition, too!  lol!


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## Braineack (Sep 9, 2013)

Shes more sharp and has a better composition than me.


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## astroNikon (Sep 9, 2013)

Braineack said:


> Shes more sharp and has a better composition than me.


Don't take this the wrong way .. but she looks better than you too  LOL


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## cgipson1 (Sep 9, 2013)

astroNikon said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > Shes more sharp and has a better composition than me.
> ...



I was going to say that.. but just couldn't.. HARSH!  lol!


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## Braineack (Sep 9, 2013)

Hence my advice in the "how to get a girl" threads:

wear them out.  lock them down.


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## StarsFellOnIndiana (Sep 10, 2013)

sandollars said:


> The most important question is:
> 
> Are you having FUN?
> 
> ...




That is an excellent question - and for about the first couple weeks I owned this camera, I had a blast with it. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was blown away by the pictures I was getting right out of the box. Of course they were all taken in "auto" mode, but what a difference compared to the point-and-shoot photos I'd taken all my life. Then I started studying up on the various modes and trying to shoot in manual mode and it went downhill from there :/


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## MartinCrabtree (Sep 10, 2013)

Move to the program mode and shift the EV back and forth (using the command dial) taking photos at the various settings. See the images you prefer and look at the settings the camera provided. It will help you "see" what gives an image that certain something you seek.


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## astroNikon (Sep 10, 2013)

StarsFellOnIndiana said:


> sandollars said:
> 
> 
> > The most important question is:
> ...



Don't worry.  I started comparing my pictures to my small Nikon pocket camera and my iPhone.  Such wonderful pictures.

Then I started trying to take pictures of sunrises and sunsets.  Hmmm .. something was not right.  Then, it took some time and experimentation, but I figured it out.  At least figured it out so it looks good to me (for now).

Now I'm trying to do sports and trying to capture motion.  Oh, and forgetting to change my focus points from a Single point was a problem this past weekend.  Oh well, live and learn.

Flower and landscape is great.  because you can sit there and take a billion photos. The flowers & scenery doesn't care while you "figure" it out.
Add people and they only want to be there for a minute.  And sports isn't going to stop for anything.

It will come. If you can figure out the problem and now how to adjust it just takes time, knowledge and knowing how to adjust on the fly.
And don't forget to have fun


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