Nikon photographers, I need help - GoFuckYourself.com

cardinalvices · 01-01-2009, 05:16 AM

Since Santa was generous and gave me Nikon D60 for Christmas, because frankly, I was a good boy last year, I'm looking for a place where people discuss practical photography with Nikon DSLRs.

Like today we have a beautiful winter morning here, just a little bit below the freezing point, empty streets, sun is out and lays low on the horizon (basically the "golden hour" all day long). I took a few shots but I'm not satisfied with the settings. Its either streets appear well lid, while sky is almost white. Or sky is blue, but streets are all dark. Silly question, but how do I make the blue skies blue, and keep the streets well lid?

Vixenator · 01-01-2009, 06:30 AM

Santa has good taste in cameras, but having said that, what you need is to study up on general photography, not so much "Nikon owners R-us"... There are plenty of Nikon sites and forums out there but they talk about the cameras, not so much the actual taking pictures part.

To get better and more even exposures I would suggest shooting in RAW mode. That makes your D60 save a lot more information. Then you can easily adjust the exposure of the sky and the ground either in Nikon's proprietary software (that hopefully Santa included with the camera) or, preferably, Adobe Photoshop.

Good luck and keep shooting!

Grapesoda · 01-01-2009, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardinalvices

Since Santa was generous and gave me Nikon D60 for Christmas, because frankly, I was a good boy last year, I'm looking for a place where people discuss practical photography with Nikon DSLRs.

Like today we have a beautiful winter morning here, just a little bit below the freezing point, empty streets, sun is out and lays low on the horizon (basically the "golden hour" all day long). I took a few shots but I'm not satisfied with the settings. Its either streets appear well lid, while sky is almost white. Or sky is blue, but streets are all dark. Silly question, but how do I make the blue skies blue, and keep the streets well lid?

go to dpreview....

Vixenator · 01-01-2009, 07:25 AM

Oh... and the classic way to do the sky thing would be to buy a graduated neutral density filter to screw onto the front end of the lens. That way you can filter out some of the light from the sky while getting all the light from the ground. However, they're a bit expensive and do not always give great results if you shoot anything besides landscapes... so I would still recommend RAW files and Photoshop. If you do not want to mess with image software, check if your D60 has a setting for "Active D-Lighting" and set that to "high", that makes the camera even out the dynamic range of the exposure a bit. Might help.

HorseShit · 01-01-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bm bradley

go to dpreview....

JFK · 01-01-2009, 08:20 AM

here you go, all you want to know and MORE

http://www.nikonians.org/

Paul Markham · 01-01-2009, 08:30 AM

Vixenator hit it, go buy some filters.

Jay-Rock · 01-01-2009, 10:31 AM

read the manual.

If you want great pics without thinking just set the camera to P - program mode. You also want to make sure you lookup white balance in your manual. The correct setting for white balance outdoors is from 5000-6000 K

I usually set it to 5600k unless its really cloudy then I go up .

AaronM · 01-01-2009, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Markham

Vixenator hit it, go buy some filters.

Yep.

I saw the suggestion for graduated ND filter. Personally, I hate graduated filters. I used them a lot when I was 16-17 and Cokin dominated the market but these days I use regular ND filters or circular polarizers for almost all of my scenic stuff.

Cherry7 · 01-01-2009, 02:29 PM

Use Manual exposure

Look and adjust

Shoot Raw

Read Langford's "Basic Photography" you will then know more than 95% of "photographers".

cardinalvices · 01-01-2009, 02:33 PM

thanks, you guys rule!

borked · 01-01-2009, 02:39 PM

Shoot raw yeah and use Nikons Capture software pre-photoshop
High contrast scenes are always hard. Either use a grad filter to darken the sky or use the cameras multiple exposure setting and then blend photos post production.

Not sure if the d60 has a ore white balance setting but if it does then set the wb toyour scene before capturing

Most of all, experiment, don't get disheartened on crappy shots and have fun

PhantomFrog · 01-01-2009, 08:10 PM

This is a pretty interesting technique ... but it is fairly complex .... google this:

digital dynamic range

borked · 01-03-2009, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomFrog

This is a pretty interesting technique ... but it is fairly complex .... google this:

digital dynamic range

High Dynamic Range, HDR

I recommend Photomatix Pro - inexpensive and allows exposure blending (which is what was required in the OP), not only HDR imaging.

Just got back from the Alpes - here's an early morning snap I took in tricky lighting a few days ago from our balcony, bracketed +/- 3ev and processed for HDR (light HDR settings) on a D300

01-01-2009, 05:16 AM	#1
cardinalvices Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2,084	Nikon photographers, I need help Since Santa was generous and gave me Nikon D60 for Christmas, because frankly, I was a good boy last year, I'm looking for a place where people discuss practical photography with Nikon DSLRs. Like today we have a beautiful winter morning here, just a little bit below the freezing point, empty streets, sun is out and lays low on the horizon (basically the "golden hour" all day long). I took a few shots but I'm not satisfied with the settings. Its either streets appear well lid, while sky is almost white. Or sky is blue, but streets are all dark. Silly question, but how do I make the blue skies blue, and keep the streets well lid? __________________ Cardinal Vices Studio - your one stop shop for webdesign! Paysites \| Consulting \| Tube sites \| TGPs \| Galleries/Banner ads \| Flash peel ads Start your own cam site - Get Live Cam Site Solution

01-01-2009, 06:30 AM	#2
Vixenator Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: teh Interwebs Posts: 158	Santa has good taste in cameras, but having said that, what you need is to study up on general photography, not so much "Nikon owners R-us"... There are plenty of Nikon sites and forums out there but they talk about the cameras, not so much the actual taking pictures part. To get better and more even exposures I would suggest shooting in RAW mode. That makes your D60 save a lot more information. Then you can easily adjust the exposure of the sky and the ground either in Nikon's proprietary software (that hopefully Santa included with the camera) or, preferably, Adobe Photoshop. Good luck and keep shooting! __________________ Watch this space...

01-01-2009, 07:25 AM	#4
Vixenator Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: teh Interwebs Posts: 158	Oh... and the classic way to do the sky thing would be to buy a graduated neutral density filter to screw onto the front end of the lens. That way you can filter out some of the light from the sky while getting all the light from the ground. However, they're a bit expensive and do not always give great results if you shoot anything besides landscapes... so I would still recommend RAW files and Photoshop. If you do not want to mess with image software, check if your D60 has a setting for "Active D-Lighting" and set that to "high", that makes the camera even out the dynamic range of the exposure a bit. Might help. __________________ Watch this space...

01-01-2009, 08:20 AM	#6
JFK FUBAR the ORIGINATOR Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: FUBARLAND Posts: 67,374	here you go, all you want to know and MORE http://www.nikonians.org/ __________________ FUBAR Webmasters - The FUBAR Times - FUBAR Webmasters Mobile - FUBARTV.XXX For promo opps contact jfk at fubarwebmasters dot com

01-01-2009, 08:30 AM	#7
Paul Markham Too old to care Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: On the sofa, watching TV or doing my jigsaws. Posts: 52,943	Vixenator hit it, go buy some filters. __________________ Blowout deal. 880 videos, 2,400 image sets, plus many RAW videos. $500. PM me for a deal. Skype Paulmarkham70

01-01-2009, 10:31 AM	#8
Jay-Rock Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Porn Valley Posts: 2,779	read the manual. If you want great pics without thinking just set the camera to P - program mode. You also want to make sure you lookup white balance in your manual. The correct setting for white balance outdoors is from 5000-6000 K I usually set it to 5600k unless its really cloudy then I go up . __________________ HD and 4k Content Production by JayRock http://jayspov.net http://blackforwife.com http://cospimps.com SKYPE JAYROCKCONTENT [email protected] Twitter @jayrockcontent Last edited by Jay-Rock; 01-01-2009 at 10:34 AM..

01-01-2009, 02:29 PM	#10
Cherry7 Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,564	Use Manual exposure Look and adjust Shoot Raw Read Langford's "Basic Photography" you will then know more than 95% of "photographers". __________________ My Neighbour Butterfly PORN-The Musical The Long Goodbye Cinema Erotique

01-01-2009, 02:33 PM	#11
cardinalvices Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2,084	thanks, you guys rule! __________________ Cardinal Vices Studio - your one stop shop for webdesign! Paysites \| Consulting \| Tube sites \| TGPs \| Galleries/Banner ads \| Flash peel ads Start your own cam site - Get Live Cam Site Solution

01-01-2009, 02:39 PM	#12
borked Totally Borked Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,284	Shoot raw yeah and use Nikons Capture software pre-photoshop High contrast scenes are always hard. Either use a grad filter to darken the sky or use the cameras multiple exposure setting and then blend photos post production. Not sure if the d60 has a ore white balance setting but if it does then set the wb toyour scene before capturing Most of all, experiment, don't get disheartened on crappy shots and have fun __________________ For coding work - hit me up on andy // borkedcoder // com (consider figuring out the email as test #1) All models are wrong, but some are useful. George E.P. Box. p202

01-01-2009, 08:10 PM	#13
PhantomFrog Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 89	This is a pretty interesting technique ... but it is fairly complex .... google this: digital dynamic range __________________ PhantomFrog.com....Premium Password Protection PhantomCart.com....CCBill + Phantom Cart = Clips Store Solution PhantomFlicks.com .Token-based Clips Store