Just looking for feedback with Nikon D3100

[FrugalReefer]

Took some pics of my corals with my rarely used Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. I usually just stick to the iPhone when taking pics. I'm no photography expert and I always use the auto settings when I do use the Nikon, again, which is rare. What do you think? Anything I can do to make my photos better? TIA

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Took some pics of my corals with my rarely used Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. I usually just stick to the iPhone when taking pics. I'm no photography expert and I always use the auto settings when I do use the Nikon, again, which is rare. What do you think? Anything I can do to make my photos better? TIA

Mostly, I see depth of field and focus issues here. Are you using manual or auto focus? I would try manual. For depth of field issues, you are going to need to take it off auto mode and increase the f number setting on the lens in A mode. To do this, you will need to increase the ISO and probably slow the shutter speed. Using a wide angle lens and not getting too close to your subject also helps.

To be honest though - I have a Nikon D800 with a variety of lenses, the whole kit cost me around $8k and a good iPhone can take better pictures, more consistently than it can - sigh.

Jay

 

[rhitee93]

Jay's advice is spot on. A couple of things I would add to it:

If you put the camera in aperture priority mode rather than automatic, (A), you can use whatever F-Stop setting you want, and the camera will still set the overall exposure automatically. It is almost as simple as shooting in automatic mode. The larger the F-Stop number, the deeper your depth of field of focus.

Your pics are also slightly overexposed. The light colored scene is fooling the exposure algorithm in the camera. This is normal, and why beach scenes or snow scenes shot with automatic cameras often look dark. (Well, the exact opposite really, but I was looking for an example everyone has seen) Once you step out of the automatic mode, you should start exploring how to "Bracket" your exposure. Basically shooting multiple shots stepping the exposure up or down a little each time so you can pick the best one.

 

[FrugalReefer]

Mostly, I see depth of field and focus issues here. Are you using manual or auto focus? I would try manual. For depth of field issues, you are going to need to take it off auto mode and increase the f number setting on the lens in A mode. To do this, you will need to increase the ISO and probably slow the shutter speed. Using a wide angle lens and not getting too close to your subject also helps.

To be honest though - I have a Nikon D800 with a variety of lenses, the whole kit cost me around $8k and a good iPhone can take better pictures, more consistently than it can - sigh.

Jay

Ok, thanks for the tips. Will try it out.