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View Full Version : graduating to manual mode,tons of questions



pasknucklehead
11-17-2008, 10:34 PM
Hi, This is such a great site for beginners.
I am venturing into manual mode. I want to shoot in that for at least a week to sort of match up my photos that I normally shoot in auto or programmed mode. But here is my question, and I want to make sure I am on the right brain wave.
Okay, I know to meter for the snow, you have to up the exposure, which can be done numerous ways, ie, shutter, aperture, iso, and also ev, am I correct on that? But today, I was actually really seeing my exposure meter (in manual- nikon d-40) and having everything I thought perfectly set and showing the meter right in the middle, not overexposed, or underexposed, my picture still came out a little dark. Is that metering it correctly when the meter is showing exactly in the middle or am I thinking of something else? Or do you really have to just take a picture under the same lighting and go from that?
Also, I have the 55-200 vr lens, I love it, but am wondering if when I take say, a picture of a squirrel, does it matter if I take it from a further distance and then just crop to have the squirrel main subject, or should I shoot closer to fill the frame and then not have to crop all the rest out. Which would be a safer bet, and would it be just as sharp further out and cropping it, or the more close up shot? I hope this makes sense. When I am shooting and all these questions pop in my head, I know what I want to ask, but then I don't know if it comes out quite right. Really thankful for the replies I am getting. Thank you so much.
Darlene

dkippen
11-19-2008, 05:53 PM
Darlene - Jerry uses a Nikon as well and he's very knowlegeable about this kind of stuff. As far as under/over exposure, are you checking your histogram?

pasknucklehead
11-20-2008, 08:47 PM
Hi, Is there a specific place I need to go to ask jerry these questions?
DC

dkippen
11-20-2008, 09:31 PM
While very busy, Jerry pops in quite a bit and does a great job of explaining the intricies of the Nikon as well as exposure and the variouis settings.

pasknucklehead
11-22-2008, 02:00 AM
okay, thanks, waiting for a pro is okay by me. (smile) Dc