BASICS OF D-SLR | KEY CONTROLS | PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

THE PERFECT GUIDE TO HELP YOU MASTER YOUR NIKON D-SLR

FRAME IT RIGHT

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OVERVIEW

Introduction

Camera Concept

D-SLR Design

D-SLR Mechanism

Understanding Exposure

Aperture, Shutter speed and

ISO

Understanding White Balance

Creative use of Exposure

controls

RAW Format

Lenses & their utility

Focus

Photography Guide

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• What is Photography?

INTRODUCTION

Photography is a process of creating an image

on any photo sensitive material with the help of

natural or artificial light.

Document memories

Fine-art Professional

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Sharp

Properly exposed

Achieved by focusing Lens

Achieved by setting Aperture, Shutter speed & ISO

CAMERA CONCEPT

1. Image/ object should be sharp :

2. Image/ object should be properly exposed :

Perfectly focused and Exposed Image 4

D-SLR DESIGN

The Digital Single Lens Reflex ( D-SLR ) camera comprises of a body and a Lens. The Lens contains the aperture which controls the light going inside the camera, then the light is reflected upwards through a mirror and falls on the viewfinder which allows us to frame the image. When the shutter button is pressed fully the mirror goes up to lock the viewfinder thus allowing light directly to fall on the sensor where the image is recorded.

NIKKOR Lens

Aperture

Mechanical shutter

Pentaprism / Pentamirror

LCD monitor

Viewfinder

Quick-return mirror

Digital sensor

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D-SLR Mechanism

1. Camera at normal position

2. In this position you can see through the viewfinder & Frame 6

D-SLR Mechanism

3. Shutter is released , viewfinder is blocked & Light falls on sensor

4. Image is captured and the camera is again in position to capture 7

EXPOSURE

ISO

SHUTTER SPEED

F-n

um

ber

Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture. If the shot is exposed too long the photograph will be Overexposed/Washed out. If the shot is exposed too short the photograph will appear underexposed/Dark. Proper Exposure can be achieved by properly adjusting the Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO together.

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APERTURE

Aperture? Controls amount of light falling on the digital sensor.

Values (f-number)

f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32

Effect Controls depth in the image.

Counter effect Higher f number increases depth (amount of scene in focus) & smaller f results in shallow depth.

Use Landscapes, portraits with blur background etc.

f/1.4 f/5.6 f/16

Effect of different Aperture settings on the image 9

APERTURE

• The Aperture can be controlled by holding down the Exposure Compensation ( +/- ) button placed under the shutter button and rotating the command dial.

Aperture f/2.8

Aperture f/22 10

SHUTTERSPEED

Shutter Speed? Measure of how long the camera’s shutter is open

for.

Values (sec) 30, 20,……… 4, 2, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64,

1/125, 1/250 ………. 1/4000

Effect Faster shutter speed freezes the action.

Counter effect Slower the shutter speed motion blur becomes more

apparent.

Use Faster shutter speed to freeze action & slower for

motion effect.

1 sec 1/30 sec

1/200 sec 1/800 sec 11

SHUTTER SPEED – 1/125 SEC

SHUTTER SPEED – 1/15 SEC

SHUTTERSPEED

• The Shutter speed can be controlled rotating the command dial located at the back of the camera towards the left or right.

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ISO

ISO? Measure of the camera’s ability to capture light.

Values 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Effect Higher sensitivity makes sensor more sensitive to light,

can take photos in darker conditions without the need

of flash or tripod.

Counter effect Increasing ISO comes at a cost, it also increases

digital noise in the photos.

Use Low light conditions, Dawn, Dusk, Night landscape etc.

Dark Scenes

No Flash

Low ISO sensitivity, slow shutter speed. High ISO sensitivity, fast shutter speed.

With flash on High ISO sensitivity with flash off 13

ISO 100

HIGHER ISO RESULTS IN GREATER NOISE IN THE PICTURE

ISO

ISO 6400 ISO 1600

The ISO can be controlled through dedicated buttons on the camera or from the MENU>SHOOTING MENU> ISO SENSITIVITY SETTINGS.

Using higher ISO may lead to noise which will bring down the overall quality of the image, hence using a lower ISO is advisable.

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WHITE BALANCE

White balance Application situation

Auto Use for normal conditions.

Incandescent Use under incandescent lighting.

Fluorescent Use under white fluorescent lighting.

Direct sunlight Use with subjects lit by direct sunlight.

Flash Use with the built-in Speedlight and Nikon external Speedlight's.

Cloudy Use under daylight under overcast skies.

Shade Use in daylight, in clear weather, when subjects are in shade.

White balance is used to adjust colors to match the

color of the light source so that white objects appear

white.

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WHITE BALANCE

Direct sunlight Cloudy Fluorescent

Shade Incandescent Auto

The White Balance can be controlled through dedicated buttons on the camera or from the MENU>SHOOTING MENU> WHITE BALANCE.

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EXPOSURE CONTROL

Mode P (Programmed Auto)The camera automatically adjusts aperture and shutter speed for optimal exposure, but the photographer can choose from different combinations of aperture and shutter speed that will produce the same exposure. This is known as flexible program. Mode S (Shutter-Priority Auto)The photographer chooses the shutter speed and the camera automatically adjusts aperture for optimal exposure. Mode A (Aperture-Priority Auto)The photographer chooses the aperture and the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed for optimal exposure. Mode M (Manual)The photographer chooses both aperture and shutter speed. Choosing the wrong combination could, however, result in photographs that are too bright (overexposed) or too dark (underexposed). 17

EXPOSURE METER

The Exposure meter is an instrument inside your camera

that tells you if the amount of light reaching the sensor will

be enough or too much to properly expose your image. The

light meter takes into account your Shutter Speed, ISO

setting and Aperture settings. The Meter is available in

Manual Mode.

-………………………..0…………………………+ UNDEREXPOSED OVEREXPOSED

PERFECT

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RAW is uncompressed, unprocessed image

It is the best output from the camera

RAW files can be converted again and again without loss of

data

RAW format can be used for specific images

which are very important for future

storage

RAW Image Processed JPEG Image

RAW FORMAT

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IN CAMERA RAW PROCESSING

ADVANTAGES OF RAW IMAGES : • Image can be edited again and again without data loss. • Wrong/Incorrect White Balance can be changed after

taking the image. • Wrong/Incorrect Exposure can be corrected after taking

the image. • Set Picture Control can be altered including Sharpness

/Contrast/Saturation can be altered.

The NEF ( RAW ) Processing option can be found under the RETOUCH MENU or directly accessed by Pressing the OK Button over the playback image. Opening/Editing RAW files on the computer requires VIEW NX 2 software to be installed.

Lens Categories

Wide angle Normal Telephoto

Below 50mm 50mm Above 100mm

LENS CATEGORIES

Lenses are mainly categories into three parts, first being the normal lens which is equivalent to our normal vision , anything lesser than that is an wide angle lens and anything above 100mm is called as Telephoto lens. Apart from these there are special purpose lenses like Fisheye, Macro & Perspective Control.

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WIDEANGLE NORMAL TELEPHOTO

LENS ADVANTAGES

1. These lenses help you capture a vast scene or area in one image.

2. Wide Angle lenses can easily keep a higher Depth of field allowing more subjects to be in focus.

1. Helps Capture Distant Objects clearly

2. Easy to keep shallow depth of field as high focal length will easily help blur the background.

1. Supports

Aperture opening like f/1.8 or f/1.4 which will help blur the background easily.

2. These lenses are also more sharper than basic zoom lenses.

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Focus

Manual Focus Autofocus

FOCUS

Due to the optical properties of photographic lenses, only objects within a limited range of distances from the camera will be reproduced clearly. The process of adjusting this range is known as changing the camera's focus. The two main ways of adjusting focus is :

Manual Focus means manually rotating the focusing ring to achieve desired focus.

In Auto focus mode the camera will automatically detect focus on the desired subject.

The A/M Button on the Lens and camera body helps you switch between these mode.

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Achieving Proper Auto Focus

1.

2.

3.

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Portraits

Night portrait

Landscapes

Night landscape

Flowing water

Freezing action

Wildlife & Pets

Photography Guide

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Which Mode P or A are the best modes

What settings f/4 or f/5.6

What lens settings Higher end of the zoom ( e.g. 55mm if you are using 18 -55, or 105mm if you are using 18 – 105mm)

Tripod required Yes, if light is low, and camera selects shutter speed slower than 1/60 s

Best lens 50 mm f/1.8 , 50 mm f/1.4 , 85 mm f/1.8

Tips for great portraits :

• Keep background as far away from your subject as possible.

• Your background colour and shade should be as different as possible from your subject’s hair and clothing colour.

Shooting Portraits

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Which Mode P or S are the best modes

What settings f/4 or f/5.6 , or widest aperture available Slow shutter speeds 1/30, 1/15 or slower may be required, Slow sync flash mode if flash is also used

What lens settings Higher end of the zoom ( e.g. 55mm if you are using 18 -55, or 105mm if you are using 18 – 105mm)

Tripod required Yes , if not available us e a stable surface

Best lens 50 mm f/1.8 , 50 mm f/1.4 , 85mm f/1.8

Tips for great night portraits :

• Keep background as far away from your subject as possible.

• Asking the subject to pose and stay still will ensure image is not blurred due to slow shutter speed

Shooting Night Portraits

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Which Mode ? P or A are the best modes

What settings ? f/11 or f/16

What lens settings ?

Wider end of the zoom ( e.g. 18mm if you are using 18 -55, or 18 – 105mm) OR as per your composition

Tripod required ? Yes, if light is low, and camera selects shutter speed slower than 1/60 s

Best lens ? 10-24mm , 20 mm , 18-300 mm

Tips for great landscapes :

Try to include foreground elements to guide the eyes through the frame

Under-expose your shots by 1 – 2 stops to get darker skies and correct textures

Shooting Landscapes

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Tips for great night landscapes :

• You may have to focus manually. Adjust focus while looking at a tree or a building in the landscape. Adjust till you get a sharp silhouette of this feature

Which Mode ? P or A are the best modes

What settings ? f/8 or f/11

What lens settings ? Wider end of the zoom ( e.g. 18mm if you are using 18 -55, or 18 – 105mm) OR as per your composition

Tripod required ? Absolutely

Best lenses ? 28mm f/1.8, 10-24mm, 24mm f/1.4

Shooting Night Landscapes

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Which Mode ? S or M

What settings ? 250, 500, 1000

What lens settings ? Depends on composition and framing

Recommended lens ?

Lens with wide aperture like f/2.8 or wider

ISO To support fast shutter speeds, higher ISOs like 800 or 1600 may be required.

Tips for great action shots :

• Use continuous servo focus AF-C and continuous shooting mode

• set a manual pre-focus at the spot where you expect the action to occur

Freezing Actions

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Which Mode ? S or M

What settings ? 1” (to show flow) and faster to show drops

What lens settings ? Depends on composition and framing

Tripod required ? Absolutely

Tips for great waterfall shots :

• Try to include the surrounding foliage to compliment the beauty of the waterfall

• A slightly low angle will make the shot look dramatic

Shooting Flowing Water

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Which Mode ? P or S

What settings ? 125 or faster , for posing pets use wide aperture like f/4 or f/2.8

What lens settings ? Preferably 200mm or higher

Metering ? Matrix or center weighted

Tips for great wildlife shots :

• Try to camp or wait instead of looking for animals. Let them come to you

• Doing some research on the wildlife of the region is very helpful

Shooting Wildlife & Pets

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