# Testing out the new camera



## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

New camera (D750) and new to Light Room. Before this, I edited photos on a built-in program on my computer, because my old camera only shot JPEGS. 
Last one was shot as a jpeg because my memory card was near full. 50mm/1.8 lens. What do you guys think?



Stop! Hammock time. by Kaley Barrow, on Flickr



Stop! Hammock time. by Kaley Barrow, on Flickr



Portrait by Kaley Barrow, on Flickr


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## ronlane (Aug 24, 2015)

The first two don't do much for me. (my feelings are neither bad nor good).

The third one is under exposed and needs fill flash. Also, the fingers and the left hand are cut off.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

ronlane said:


> The first two don't do much for me. (my feelings are neither bad nor good).
> 
> The third one is under exposed and needs fill flash. Also, the fingers and the left hand are cut off.



Thanks! How would the first two be better?
Yeah, you're right about the third. Unfortunately I don't have an external flash yet. If it was in RAW it wouldn't be as much of a problem to boost the brightness more, but I was afraid to lose quality with it being a JPEG. Haha, right after posting, I noticed too that his hand was cut off, ah! It is my poor husband who was getting tired of being my model and was anxious to leave, so I rushed my composure too much.


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## ronlane (Aug 24, 2015)

I clicked on your flickr account and the one with the girl turned around is the best of those. And the best of your husband is the other one on the stairs where you are shooting down on him. That's just my opinion.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

Much appreciated, thank you!


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## Designer (Aug 24, 2015)

kiwi314 said:


> New camera (D750)


Congratulations on the new camera!


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

Designer said:


> kiwi314 said:
> 
> 
> > New camera (D750)
> ...


Thanks! I think i'm in love.


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## astroNikon (Aug 24, 2015)

On the d750 ISO is your friend.  Don't be afraid to push the ISO up (or put it on AUTO ISO with a MAX at 6400 or above) then # 3 would have been more properly exposed.

Even though in LightRoom you can pull out details in darkness you still want to try and get it right in camera, as the more post processing like that you do the more noise is introduced.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

astroNikon said:


> On the d750 ISO is your friend.  Don't be afraid to push the ISO up (or put it on AUTO ISO with a MAX at 6400 or above) then # 3 would have been more properly exposed.
> 
> Even though in LightRoom you can pull out details in darkness you still want to try and get it right in camera, as the more post processing like that you do the more noise is introduced.



Will do, thank you! I totally agree about getting it right in camera. I'm having to work on getting faster at adjusting my exposure, as i'm making myself shoot in manual all the time to really get it down.


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## astroNikon (Aug 24, 2015)

in Manual I keep ISO on AUTO with the MAX settings.

Then that allows me to select the Apertured (DOF) & Shutter speed that I want for the photo/event.  Then let ISO control the rest so I don't get too slow.  I used to do Manual for Aperture/ Shutter & ISO but after you learn alot that way I just wanted to be faster and used the Auto ISO.


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## robbins.photo (Aug 24, 2015)

kiwi314 said:


> astroNikon said:
> 
> 
> > On the d750 ISO is your friend.  Don't be afraid to push the ISO up (or put it on AUTO ISO with a MAX at 6400 or above) then # 3 would have been more properly exposed.
> ...


My recommendation would be to set the camera to auto iso, in manual mode you can adjust the shutter speed using one command dial, the aperture using the other, and the camera will automatically pick the I so needed for correct exposure.

It allows you to adjust quickly on the fly, if you think your iso is to high just decrease your aperture number or your shutter speed till you get a combo you like

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

Thanks for the feedback guys! That definitely sounds way faster. I think what I will do is work on manual for all three for a while longer until I feel comfortable with it, and then i'll allow myself auto ISO. Sometimes, however, I like the control to make the photo darker or brighter than what the camera think it ought to be. Then again... as long as it is close, it would be faster and easier probably just leave ISO auto and to edit it up/down the extra stop or two to what I like in post processing.
With my old camera, I often shot in Program mode and mainly just adjusted the exposure wheel when I wanted to change the exposure. That was quite speedy, too, but gave you less control.


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## astroNikon (Aug 24, 2015)

You can also control the exposure by using the Exposure button, then dial to increase/decrease the exposure.

it's probably a button (and in the Viewfinder and on the LCD) that shows a square with half in white and half black with +/- in it too.   It comes in handy.

just looked at a pic .. on the d750 it's the button closest to the strap ring on top. It also has a green dot next to it.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

astroNikon said:


> You can also control the exposure by using the Exposure button, then dial to increase/decrease the exposure.
> 
> it's probably a button (and in the Viewfinder and on the LCD) that shows a square with half in white and half black with +/- in it too.   It comes in handy.
> 
> just looked at a pic .. on the d750 it's the button closest to the strap ring on top. It also has a green dot next to it.



Ah, I will love you forever for teaching me that! I love all the control you can take over this camera! I keep learning more and more how easy it is to use this. My other one was so limiting. Thanks a bunch!!


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## astroNikon (Aug 24, 2015)

here's a cheat sheet
what I just typed above is the "Exposure Compensation" section
Nikon D750 Quick Reference Guide


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

astroNikon said:


> here's a cheat sheet
> what I just typed above is the "Exposure Compensation" section
> Nikon D750 Quick Reference Guide


You're the best.


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## kdthomas (Aug 24, 2015)

The first one, with the female subject facing away from the camera in the hammock, totally wins it for me. The visual effect of the angles heading out to the side, seemingly suspended in midair, with the wavy hair hanging down, the color contrast of the orange and green, make a great composition for me. I really like that one.

In fact I like it so much, I'm probably going to steal the idea from you at some point. Ha ha, I'm mostly kidding!

Seriously ... can I steal it?


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

kdthomas said:


> The first one, with the female subject facing away from the camera in the hammock, totally wins it for me. The visual effect of the angles heading out to the side, seemingly suspended in midair, with the wavy hair hanging down, the color contrast of the orange and green, make a great composition for me. I really like that one.
> 
> In fact I like it so much, I'm probably going to steal the idea from you at some point. Ha ha, I'm mostly kidding!
> 
> Seriously ... can I steal it?



Hehe. Thanks so much! Definitely my favorite so far, too. Believe it or not, that is actually me. I set up my tripod, set the timer, ran and jumped in. 
I also love the contrasting orange and green. I boosted it further in lightroom by giving the orange more luminance and both more saturation. I totally don't mind you stealing the idea, as I don't claim to be the originator either.


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## Derrel (Aug 24, 2015)

You now have one of the best modern cameras ever made. There is more than just one, single way to use a camera with a wide,wide dynamic range and deep, rich color rendering. Even in JPEG mode, you have a camera with very malleable JPEG files, and also, software today, like Lightroom specifically, is better and more capable than any software used to be as far as one-button, or one-click types of editing of images.

The camera can be tuned/set/adjusted to make its out of camera JPEG files so that they come off the memory cards with multiple different "looks" to them. Photo forums though have a lot of members who are very much in favor of shooting in RAW mode, and doing every single thing the same,exact way they've been doing it for the past 12 to 15 years...as if there has been no improvement whatsoever on the part of the cameras or the camera companies and the engineering that goes with these newer cameras. Photo forums are places where there's a lot of old, outdated ideas that live on....like manual-only exposure setting, NEVER using AUTO-ISO, RAW-only-and NEVER shooting ANYTHING in JPEG mode [rumor has it if one shoot in JPEG mode, one will end up in Hell in the afterlife...], and seemingly in many case, no real idea of what can actually be done with a new, modern Nikon when the JPEG capture parameters are properly set by the user for the shooting conditions at hand.

If you want to test out the new camera, really test it out. Shoot some RAW + JPEG, fine compression, medium size, and set the camera up multiple ways, and see what it can do.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 24, 2015)

Derrel said:


> You now have one of the best modern cameras ever made. There is more than just one, single way to use a camera with a wide,wide dynamic range and deep, rich color rendering. Even in JPEG mode, you have a camera with very malleable JPEG files, and also, software today, like Lightroom specifically, is better and more capable than any software used to be as far as one-button, or one-click types of editing of images.
> 
> The camera can be tuned/set/adjusted to make its out of camera JPEG files so that they come off the memory cards with multiple different "looks" to them. Photo forums though have a lot of members who are very much in favor of shooting in RAW mode, and doing every single thing the same,exact way they've been doing it for the past 12 to 15 years...as if there has been no improvement whatsoever on the part of the cameras or the camera companies and the engineering that goes with these newer cameras. Photo forums are places where there's a lot of old, outdated ideas that live on....like manual-only exposure setting, NEVER using AUTO-ISO, RAW-only-and NEVER shooting ANYTHING in JPEG mode [rumor has it if one shoot in JPEG mode, one will end up in Hell in the afterlife...], and seemingly in many case, no real idea of what can actually be done with a new, modern Nikon when the JPEG capture parameters are properly set by the user for the shooting conditions at hand.
> 
> If you want to test out the new camera, really test it out. Shoot some RAW + JPEG, fine compression, medium size, and set the camera up multiple ways, and see what it can do.



As if I wasn't excited enough! Thanks, Derrel, you are quite an asset to this forum.


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## kdthomas (Aug 25, 2015)

I think @Derrel makes a good point. I personally prefer the way of RAW and manual-only _but that's just me_. I believe that, at the end of the day, if the pictures are pleasing ... one has done well. I will repeat two things I've heard that make sense (to me) about critique:

1) Don't seek critique from friends & family. They don't want to give you bad news. (dunno who said this)
2) If two or more people give the same critique, it probably needs looking at. Otherwise, if it's only one person, it can probably be ignored. (Stephen King)

Best of luck, and just keep shooting


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## waday (Aug 25, 2015)

Nice shots. I like the first image the best. I took a look at your Flickr. I like the idea of the chessboard with the rings, but there needs to be a ring on the king, as well, for it work, IMO.


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## astroNikon (Aug 25, 2015)

kdthomas said:


> 1) Don't seek critique from friends & family. They don't want to give you bad news. (dunno who said this)


Essentially, if you ever watch Facebook or Twitter how many times have you seen friends or family look at a photo that is blown out, fuzzy, noisy, blurry, harsh light, bad shadows and any or all of the above and more and get replies of "beautiful photo" and like that .... Very few (or none) are actual photographers and simply react positively to anything.

I think someone should do a test to see how bad of photo they can make on facebook/twitter before someone friend/family actually states that it's not a good photo.  LOL


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## kiwi314 (Aug 25, 2015)

Haha! I totally agree Astro and kdthomas. I've seen some pretty awful pictures on Facebook with glowing reviews. I'll have to continue to put some of my work up here for your unbiased assessment. 
Thanks Waday for checking it out. Yeah, I thought it would have been nice, too. It was my first testing of the camera while my husband was at work, so I just pulled off my ring to make the chess board more interesting and to practice focusing. Would definitely be cooler with two though!


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## Vtec44 (Aug 25, 2015)

IMHO, one of the greatest assets for a good photographer is the ability to recognize what is good and what is bad, before it goes online.


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## kdthomas (Aug 25, 2015)

Vtec44 said:


> IMHO, one of the greatest assets for a good photographer is the ability to recognize what is good and what is bad, before it goes online.



yeah ... I'm still learning this skill.


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## kiwi314 (Aug 25, 2015)

Vtec44 said:


> IMHO, one of the greatest assets for a good photographer is the ability to recognize what is good and what is bad, before it goes online.


True. I think people tend to have more attachment to their own photos, and think they are better than they often are. For example, the last two pictures I posted were my husband, and I just find him adorable and don't understand anyone else not loving them. Haha.


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## kdthomas (Aug 25, 2015)

kiwi314 said:


> For example, the last two pictures I posted were my husband, and I just find him adorable and don't understand anyone else not loving them. Haha.



He *is* adorable ... Heck, I may wind up stealing that from you too


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## Vtec44 (Aug 25, 2015)

kdthomas said:


> He *is* adorable ...



I think he's married!


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## kdthomas (Aug 25, 2015)

Vtec44 said:


> kdthomas said:
> 
> 
> > He *is* adorable ...
> ...



So am I ... so what?


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