Scenery/Landscape Shots

hayleygrayhayleygray
edited July 2015 Posted in » Nikon D3200 Forum
Hi I am new! I just got the Nikon D3200 and I seem to only understand Auto mode. I like to take pictures of the scenery when I go to parks, the beach or any type of landscape, and I want to become really good at doing it (just for myself). I use the regular kit lens 18-55mm but I'm not good at it. I've tried figuring my way with A mode and M mode but I'm no good! My scenery shots in either mode seem to be too bright. The grass is very green and my subject isn't my main focus. Even when I turn the dial for the f stop to say 3.5 or 4, my subject is a little more focused with the background kind of a blur but still too bright. I take either scenery pictures or pictures of my dog! He's my main subject but either mode is too bright. I'm unsure what setting I should be on or if I need to adjust white balance, ISO and all of the other stuff too? I would love some tips and help because I'm going to this really neat park again Saturday and want to be able to get really awesome pictures this time! Any advice is appreciated kindly.

Comments

  • brutobruto
    edited July 2015
    Make sure the lens is actually auto focusing, that the switch on the lens is set to A and to VR. Do not ever try to manually focus the lens when it's set to A or it will break.

    To start with focusing, Auto mode defaults to multi-area focus in which the camera decides (often well, but sometimes not) what ought to be the subject. If you want to nail a specific subject like a dog, get out of Auto mode and switch to a focus mode that starts with a single point. For starters, I'd try A mode (camera decides whether the subject is moving and selects accordingly, something it does pretty well) and "dynamic area" focusing. In this mode, you aim at your subject, and if the subject moves the focus will attempt to follow it. A single point in your viewfinder will light up, and that will be your starting point. Use the [OK] button to recenter the point if it is in the wrong place, and the up-down and left-right arrows to move it off center if you need to. Center is most reliable. Watch for accidental movement; it's easy to hit the arrow and put your focus point up in the sky by mistake.

    The camera defaults to auto ISO in P, S, A and M modes, which is all right most of the time, but make sure that your starting ISO is set low. Unlike the other modes, you must specify a starting ISO for these. If it's on Auto ISO, there is no reason to set it above 100. Lowest is always sharpest and quietest, so start there and let the camera decide if it needs to go up. The default setting for auto ISO shifts ISO when the shutter speed goes below 1/30, which is a bit higher than the VR lens usually needs, but is good and safe.

    Unless you need the background blur for portraits, you're probably best off setting your aperture somewhere around f/8 when outdoors, which will give you more depth of field, and is usually about the sharpest setting for the kit lens. Work your way toward f/3.5 when things get darker or you come indoors. If you stay in aperture priority, and f/8, and have auto ISO on, the exposure should be pretty good most of the time.

    For scenery and most other times, matrix metering usually works pretty well, and the camera's meter is quite clever.

    If you are on the beach or in a place where some of the light is unusually bright, a subject that's darker than the surroundings (for example a dog) will tend to be too dark. You can compensate exposure (=/- button) by a stop or two, or you can change the metering pattern.

    There are three metering options. Matrix is a computerized system that works very well most of the time. You'll rarely go wrong with this on general scenery. Center weighted averaging is less sophisticated, and gives priority to a medium-sized circular area in the center of the frame, while metering the whole scene. Good for portraits and moderately large subjects that are darker than the background. A kid in the playground, a dog in the living room, a subject that's mildly back lit, etc. Spot metering meters a smaller circle, centered on whatever point is your focus point, and meters only that circle, ignoring the rest. It is good for smaller subjects in a scene that is much brighter; a person on the beach, a bird in the sky, a seal on an iceberg, a subject heavily back lit.

    Color and white balance are subjective, but you should probably check to make sure your picture control is set to "normal" if you are finding your colors too vivid. Auto white balance usually works moderately well though it can look a bit cool and bluish in outdoor light. If you want it warmer (yellower) switch to "overcast".

    If you shoot in Raw mode and have View NX2 installed on your computer, you can change picture control and white balance, and several other things easily, and change them back at will, which you can't do so easily with a JPG image.
  • hayleygrayhayleygray
    edited July 2015
    Very informative! Thank you so much! I will definitely be using your tips and tricks when I go to the park this weekend. Another question - I was just messing with my camera before reading your tips, and when I am shooting the camera will focus and the shutter snaps and takes a picture but I now hear this sound that I didn't recognize before. Hard to explain but kind of sounds like if you had one item in a box and you shook the box like a marble and it hits the other end of the box when you shake it. Not sure what happened, hopefully I didn't somehow break the lens like you first stated. Manually set focus while its in A Mode. I was in A mode and when I was taking pictures of the trees, for example, I'd hold shutter half way then snap the picture and that's when you hear that noise. Any idea?
  • brutobruto
    edited July 2015
    What you may be hearing is the VR activating. It often makes a click or a clunk which is quite normal. AF also can click a little, and the note may change if you change modes, if it refocuses at the last moment. Both AF and VR operate when you half-push the shutter.

    If pictures are coming out correctly and AF is occurring, I would not worry.
  • hayleygrayhayleygray
    edited July 2015
    Ok, phew. Thank you a ton for your input! I was reading your replies on other posts and was hoping you'd see my confusion and respond to me! So thanks a ton, I appreciate it. :-)
  • brutobruto
    edited July 2015
    I should add that the issue of breaking the lens requires that you force it. It's not so fragile, and you can't turn it gently by accident. It's just that, surprisingly, some people have assumed it was jammed, and so the warning goes out whether you need it or not.

    Many of the higher-end AF lenses do allow manual override without switching.
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