Photography with a Nikon D40 - Macro, Landscapes, general photography

[ArmyStrong958]

Hi! i enjoyed your photography very much. I need help adjusting my shutter speed and exposure, and what each mean on my D40. Thank you very much! Check out my page if you can:

its on facebook and its called: What I Saw Through My Nikon D40

[alancherryfrancisco]

hi, I also have a Nikon D40 for 3 yrs now but I'm only able to use it thoroughly and learn to use it just now, am really an amateur. I'm always using the auto setting then but now I'm able to use the M,A,S,P settings but still needs more practice though. I have a sigma 70-300 mm lens and I would like to photograph the moon and its features detailed, tried taking photos but I cant get the details very clearly.

[ticor2d2]

@alancherryfrancisco hello. You should learn about photography first. To photograph the moon you'll need a small aperture, like f8 and medium exposure.

[2006kcl]

wow.. i love ur work. i have a Nikon d40 as well, and i find it very difficult to use at times. could u tell me what settings u used to get the high speed photo shots - e.g. did u select Manual, which f number, etc? I am finding this camera quite hard to us :( thank u and again, love the pics!

[ticor2d2]

@2006kcl Hello. Thanks.

I almost always photograph using the Manual setting. For the drops/high speed shots I use 1/500, F7.1 and flash. And a tripod as well.

It's a very easy to use camera.

[2006kcl]

@ticor2d2 hi there. thanks for the reply. im going to try this today. what do u suggest as a backdrop? i'm broke, so have no idea how to create a DIY studio for these shots. what do u recommend as a backdrop? cheers

[ticor2d2]

@2006kcl You don't need a studio. You really need a good lens. You'll not be able to do these high speed photos with the kit lens. I use a 105mm Sigma Macro Lens. As a backdrop I suggest an A4 paper sheet. Try different colors. Try, also, a coloured A4 sheet under your water recipient if it's transparent, you'll get nice colors on the drops. Check your youtube mailbox, you'll send you pics of my little diy studio.

Cheers mate.

[shulx2006]

absolutely awesome photos, very inspirational. getting my D40 tomorrow to start me on photography, cannot wait to get going!!!!

[GMSamuelRhine]

great photos still using my d40 and i love it.

[snifnscratch]

ever heard of focus stacking?

[ticor2d2]

@snifnscratch

Yes. But I like my photos with short DOF.

[snifnscratch]

@ticor2d2 to some extent you can still maintain a short dof with focus stacking - you can control how deep you want to focus

[ticor2d2]

@snifnscratch

Yes, I do know. But I think that focus stacking is only (or, at least, practical), to controlled photos, like an inanimate object, etc. For insects it's hard to take series of photos with different settings - my camera don't have any built-in options for focus stacking.

Thanks for your suggestion, though.

[snifnscratch]

@ticor2d2 there are no settings for stacking on my d700 either. You just move the camera nearer (or further) by using something like a novoflex castel. I understand that insects dont keep still !

[ticor2d2]

@snifnscratch

That's basically what I do with 1:1 macro photography. Yeah, I missed countless photos of insects, they just fly away, so focus stacking wouldn't be practical for this thing :P

[kbs1212]

Wow! I see my little D40 in a much better light now. Thank you for these photos!

[ticor2d2]

@kbs1212

This camera can produce awesome results with good lenses.

Thanks for your comment.

[yuta20001]

is the camera worth getting :/ it only has 6 mp

[ticor2d2]

@yuta20001

You saw the photos. If you are talking about MPs you probably don't know about cameras. The lens are important, not the camera body; it helps, but the lens make the photo.

[zigi92]

@yuta20001 the lens really doesnt make all of the photo, 6 mp is worth getting yea it sounds gay, but if your looking for big, huge prints well it isnt the best.

[ticor2d2]

@zigi92

The lens do make the photo, IMO.

And it's true that if you want to make big prints, greater than A4 or 30x30cm, 6mp isn't the best, if you want prints of the size of an A4 paper, or 30x30cm, it's good enough.