Nikon-ography #3

Hibiscus 1

Flower Power

Flowers are much easier to capture than my dog Little Monkey, but there was a strong breeze the day I was shooting (I’m not complaining mind; we needed to cool off a bit!) and the flower was bouncing around merrily. I had to time my clicks carefully.

Continuing my self-education with the Nikon camera, the above photo was taken using Mode A: Aperture-Priority Auto. In this mode, I can choose the aperture, while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed for best exposure.

I don’t have a zoom lens, but with this setting, you can achieve a similar effect by using a large aperture (low f value – here 5.3) to reduce the field depth. This gives a really clear close up with a nicely blurred background.

Below is my Also Ran.

Hibiscus 2

The above photo, on the other hand, was taken on Auto with the ‘flower’ or ‘close up’ setting. The camera does all of the setting adjustments automatically. While it’s still a decent close up of the hibiscus, it just doesn’t compare to the first photo.

 

post script: I realise there are many awesome photographers out there, with great skill, producing beautiful pictures. I follow and enjoy many photographic blogs.

Here, I am not trying to say how to take photos. All I am doing is documenting my own slow progress in learning how to use a more complicated camera than my little point and click Canon.