My dear friend is getting married on Saturday. Her photographer is bailing. She's not super picky, but wants pictures. Tunawife has a Nikon DSLR but doesn't really know how to use it. I only know basics, but when I try, my Pixel 4a blows it out of the water.
I have until Saturday. What can I learn to do a halfway decent job taking pictures for my friend? What details can I get about the existing camera and lens which will help? Budget is zero.
What model of nikon? That will tell me what it can do.
And what lenses are available? I'm not an expert, but I've found that modern hardware will take fairly good pictures without a lot of practice in the automatic mode. You'll get better shots for sure by fiddling with the manual modes, but just like an adjustable strut there are a whole lot of ways to set it wrong. Remember that all the fancy camera is doing is collecting light. If you have a speedlight that you can angle, it can help a lot in a darker indoor setting, but the built-in flash might be better than nothing for the amount of light you'll have in a wedding. The camera will tell you that it can handle a fairly high ISO setting, but the higher you go, the more you're going to put noise in the picture.
Frankly, I would just spend as much time as you can taking pictures of the same thing in the same spot with the same light that approximates what you think the wedding venue will be like, light-wise. Make some notes about how you have the camera set up as you take the pictures and then load them up onto your computer with the biggest and sharpest monitor you've got and compare.
Typically, for portrait-type photos, I'm going to be adjusting based on aperture and for the scene shots, I like to work with shutter speed. The auto mode will try to make a best guess for you.
Model camera and lens options you have would be very helpful. Generally if you don't know how to use it get it set to auto mode and let the camera figure things out. The one big thing you may need to be prepared to deal with is low light conditions. You should be aware of the cameras limitations with respect to how high you can set the ISO with out getting grainy shots.
There is no harm in bringing along the pixle. Depending on how old the Nikon you have is the pixle may actually be the better choice in terms of how good the sensor is and how it deals with low light. I would bring it as a backup for sure
Get out and try the DSLR you have.
EDIT. What wae said.
This is the kind of thing where Youtube comes in very handy. I'd search for "Nikon DSLR tutorial" or something similar.
Nikon d3200. Nikon DX af-s Nikkor 18-55mm
Thanks for the advice so far
With just a few days to learn, I'd set the camera to automatic and concentrate on getting the shots framed. Getting one setting wrong in manual mode can screw up all your pictures. I'm not super familiar with the Nikon, but my Sony does very well in automatic. Much better than my phone.
If you consistently have better luck shooting with your phone, I'd consider cleaning the lenses and shooting with it.
Edit to say, take lots of photos. Many different angles and lighting conditions. The more you take, the better chance you have of getting some decent shots. As much as possible keep your light source behind you.
In reply to tuna55 :
We gave one of these to my daughter as a Christmas present a few years ago. While on the entry level of the DLSR spectrum she’s taken some amazing pictures with it. You should be able to get much better results than a cell phone especially indoors and flash pictures. That lens should be well suited for portrait work as long as you’re reasonably close to the subject.
I’ll agree with all above on using the automatic setting and concentrating on getting everyone in frame. Double check what it uses for flash batteries as well, I’d suggest having some spares with you. A spare SD (or microSD) card is good idea too to make sure you have plenty of storage.
Edited to add: You’re a good friend and what is it with wedding photographers? Good luck!
The biggest bang-for-the-buck in terms of photography improvements is to understand the relationships between aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and image brightness, aka exposure. I recommend this book for that purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/. I know you said budget is zero, perhaps you can check it out from the local library?
I would also recommend trying to get in a bunch of practice with it over the next week.
I would suggest that rather than pure "automatic" mode, you might want to try "aperture priority". This is where you set the aperture (which is a big factor in the "look" of the photograph) and the camera selects a shutter speed to get the right amount of light. It's a pretty good middle ground in terms of getting you some creative control over the photo while preventing most of the major screwups from "M" mode.
Spare battery(ies) are certainly a good idea, especially if you think you will use the flash at all. Using a build in flash will burn through the battery much faster. They are available, but try to be careful of the crap aftermarket ones, they can have far less capacity. Having one in the camera and one charging at all time is probably a good rule.
Spare SD cards also very good (and cheap) idea. Higher end cameras allow you to write to two cards at once. Consider swapping out the card at some point, just in case. You are kind of committed either way so...
That lens, realistically, is very short. You will get good wide shots, but close ups will require you to get very close, which is generally not ideal, or possible.
One of the reasons cell phones tend to look better than much larger and sophisticated cameras is because most do a lot processing (e.g. bumping up vibrance etc.). You can play with some of the special camera modes to try and get similar effects.
Certainly use a good cell phone though. They will generally have the same lack of long lens, but new ones can have very good low light performance and shoot pretty high resolution pics Take some with both and compare, a newer DSLR will probably still have a higher pixel count though. A higher pixel count will allow you to do more cropping in the final image (sort of fake zoom) so check that out.
Edit: It looks like it will shoot a 6000x4000 (24 Mp) pixel pic on high, which should allow for a good amount of cropping and print / look good.
aircooled said:That lens, realistically, is very short. You will get good wide shots, but close ups will require you to get very close, which is generally not ideal, or possibly.
No, the d3200 is an APS-C "crop body" with a 1.5x crop factor, so an 18-55 (which is probably the kit lens) is a standard zoom. Focal length should be fine.
To emphasize what Codrus said, if you want to get fancy, focus on either A mode or S mode (Aperture or Shutter priority). Those will allow you to (individually) adjust the two things that artistically affect the outcome of your picture, and let the camera handle the other 200 things needed to takes it perfectly. He's also spot on that Aperture is most likely to be what you want to focus on for a wedding, unless you're moving indoors and outdoors a lot.
You probably know this, but Aperture is how big the opening is that lets light in. Shutter is how long the image is exposed for. Aperture will affect the focal length of your image, so that's how you get those classic shots where a person(s) is on focus, but the background is blurry:
Other than that, ensure that the focus is in automatic mode and learn how to use the spot metering. That lets you use the D-pad (think Nintendo controller arrows) to adjust where the focal point & contrast of the image is. The same thing your phone does when you tap a certain part of the screen.
Last piece of advise I'd give is that if you have enough memory cards, make sure the camera is set to RAW mode. That makes the images huge, but captures all of the information the camera has, which means if you grabbed a great image, but it's over or under exposed, or the wrong color, etc. A real photographer would likely be able to correct the image in Photoshop pretty easily.
If you don't have enough memory cards to shoot in raw, make sure to have it set to the highest jpg quality.
The biggest advise has nothing to do with the camera. When in doubt, set it all to automatic. The important thing is to be there and capture all of the setup moments leading up the ceremony, spend 60% with the bride & family, 40% with the groom. When it's time for the ceremony, be greedy with positioning even if it means aunt Mildred doesn't get the best shot from her iphone because you were in the isle.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:aircooled said:That lens, realistically, is very short. You will get good wide shots, but close ups will require you to get very close, which is generally not ideal, or possibly.
No, the d3200 is an APS-C "crop body" with a 1.5x crop factor, so an 18-55 (which is probably the kit lens) is a standard zoom. Focal length should be fine.
So you are saying is more of a 25-75 lens? That certainly makes it more confusing. 18 would be a very wide lens! I normally shoot with a 25-400 (not DSLR), so I would hate a 75 limit. As noted, there should be some good crop potential.
Should we ask what the end product is planned to be? If it's all digital, then the requirements are lower, but if they want actually print anything, bigger (more pixels) will be required.
aircooled said:So you are saying is more of a 25-75 lens? That certainly makes it more confusing. 18 would be a very wide lens! I normally shoot with a 25-400 (not DSLR), so I would hate a 75 limit. As noted, there should be some good crop potential.
This is getting kind of off-topic for the "crash course in how to use a DSLR" that tuna55 asked for, especially since he's not buying another lens. :) Still, to be brief and try not to hijack the thread too much:
The relationship between focal length and what we think of as "wide angle" vs "close up" depends on the sensor size. The lower end DSLRs use a sensor that is smaller than a standard 35mm film frame, so they are cropping out the center of the image in the camera. Often these are "APS-C" sized, which gives you a conversion factor in the 1.5 to 1.6 range. So yes, to put it in 35mm film terms, you multiple 18 and 55 by 1.5 to get the equivalent in terms of field of view. (note that you aren't technically changing "focal length", just the field of view that this implies. There's a lot written about this on the internet, I'd suggest reading something like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/understanding-crop-factor)
As for the 25-400, generally speaking the wider the zoom range on the lens the more optical compromises there are in the design. "superzooms" make the most sense on cameras that don't allow you to put a different lens on it -- with an SLR you'd generally want to have two or three different lenses to cover that range and swap them as necessary.
Aside from the great advice about use of the camera, you should probably devote some time to using the camera. Practice. Shoot some people this week. Candid shots - quick point and clicks to get a moment of emotion; aim for the face or capture stance and gestures, show the background if relevant, or blur it out. Do some staged shots; Experiment with background and lighting. Backlighting can be beautiful or awful. Side lights can really emphasize a facial profile. What lighting and angle makes people look their best - tip the head, look up, turn a little more to the side... see what works best. For portraits, focus point on the eyes.
Look at wedding photos and ask the couple what they expect from theirs.
Wow thanks so far. I took some pictures, ran it out of batteries before I could send them to the computer for you. I only have one battery. I'll try A mode once it charges and send them here.
In reply to tuna55 :
I know the budget is zero, but find a way to get at least one other battery. Beg, borrow, buy for the event then return, something.
In September, my brother in law got married. Only a dozen people but the photographer still went through multiple batteries with his dslr. The bride had a specific list of about 30 shots, then more general picture taking. Being dimly lit indoors required a lot of flash, but the number a pictures adds up quick.
Best from the DSLR
and the best with the Pixel 4a
Be seen shooting with the DSLR. Shoot with the Pixel.
In this one my daughter is fuzzy other than a small part of her neck. My wife can move her hand like Xena.
These look like they were taken from a Kodak digital camera from 1994
With a single battery this is going to be very difficult. The Pixel 4a is a Very good phone for taking pictures, especially in low light and indoors. I was using a Nikon D90 that would take some beautiful photos, and my daughter's D3300 could keep up with it in most situations with less fuss. However, I stopped using it nearly completely for anything that isn't far away, moving, or going to be printed once I got my Pixel 3a. Why? Because on a computer, website, FB or IG, you really aren't going to see the difference enough for the quality gap to matter. And you are less likely to outsmart yourself.
But a wedding is a different matter altogether. In that situation, you want to shoot as many photos as possible, and shoot in RAW, so you can weed out the best versions of each shot later, when you have time. (The Pixel does this, as well, taking a cluster of shots at once, and picking, or letting you pick, the best one) This occasion only happens once, so it has to count. (no pressure, huh?) I just looked up your location, as I was going to loan you my batteries and extra memory cards and a charger or two, but SC is a little too far from Chicago, unfortunately. Taking photos at a wedding is a full time job, and doesn't allow any time to enjoy the wedding itself. You never know when that memory that everyone wants to cherish is going to happen. I don't/do envy your position.
TL/DR?
Practice as much as you can, in the conditions you expect. Check out as much of Ken Rockwell's site as you think is possible and pertains to your needs ( https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3200/users-guide/index.htm ), as there is a wealth of information there, not just at that link, but the rest of the site, as well. If you can find or borrow a tripod, do so. Same goes for batteries, external flash, and chargers. See if you know anyone locally with them, as they are a very common camera. And most of all, ask your friend what she wants/likes in wedding photos, and find out what the venue will be like as far as ambient lighting. A few practice shots in the venue(s) before The Big Day sure wouldn't hurt, either. I know she said she isn't picky, but this obviously is a big day for her.
Good luck, you are doing a very nice thing for your friend.
tuna55 said:These look like they were taken from a Kodak digital camera from 1994
The Pixel makes everything so much easier, as it is basically setting up everything to make the best shot for conditions, as well as doing quite a bit of the after-shot processing that would be done manually. This is just an incredible amount of processing power in today's "phones". Image stabilization is another big advantage for the Pixel.
One question- has the lens been cleaned recently? This probably won't solve your issues, but it may be contributing to them.
I know zip about DSLRs, but it looks like it is set to a low resolution. Is there a higher resolution mode that can be used?
In reply to Cooter :
Also, just remembered this-
When I went to the west coast with my daughter, I was having issues with my kit lens (18-55) I thought her camera was just that much better than mine, but when we swapped lenses, I realized my D90 would take clearer pictures than her D3300 with the same lens. Turns out the 3 screws that hold the lens together had loosened. Tightened them up and the D90 was back to taking great shots with my lens again.
Another thought- see how the photos from your D3200 come out if you use a tripod or a makeshift one (set it on a table, stack of books, etc) We often don't hold a camera still long enough, especially in low light. (Low light is most anything that isn't outdoors on a clear day)
You'll need to log in to post.
