First time using D5100

Jenn

I just received my new D5100.
I will be traveling on a tour soon.
Besides using Auto mode, what other modes are the fastest and easiest settings for me to use during my tour?
Please advise me best modes for outdoor and what are the best mode settings for indoor.

I have, on my own, tried taking pictures using a few settings (Scene modes, effects, Program), but I don't understand the logic behind aperture and how photographers master it to shoot great pictures!

I found your website helpful for beginners like me.

Thanks in advance for enlightening me on the above matter.

Adelphos

First of all, congrats on your jump into all this. It's super fun :)


These skills are something you build over time, so don't get frustrated if you're not getting it 100% right away.

Basically put, settings depend on your subject and what effect you want.

The two basic settings I will recommend to you are Aperture priority mode (A) and Shutter priority mode (S).

You need to understand how each of these effect your photo in order to know which to pick.

(A) Aperture: effects depth of field, or in other words if your background is clear or out of focus.

(S) Shutter Speed: effects motion blur or freezing of motion. Faster shutter speed (1/2000) will freeze fast motion, and slower shutter speed (1/30) will allow you to blur things in motion or backgrounds when tracking your subject in motion.

Both of these (Aperture and Shutter speed) also affect how much light is coming into the lens and onto the sensor. So, if your photos are too dark, you may need to up the ISO. This just makes your sensor more sensitive to light. The lower the number the better, (100 or 200 is good) but if you need to you can go all the way up to 6400; you will just have a lower quality picture.

So in review:

Shutter priority for being in control of freezing motion, or allowing motion to blur (Shutter=motion)

Aperture priority for depth of field, or blurring background or seeing it all clearly (Aperture=depth/amount in focus)

ISO = basically how dark is it. Sunny day, set to 100 or 200, cloudy set it higher, dark place, set it even higher, etc. The more light and the lower the ISO, the better overall.

Does this help?