boroangel said:
Wow....thanks for taking the time out to type all that....for landscape its like where should I focus on so that the buildings and mountains behind are all in focus ? When I focus on too far sometimes I get a red auto focus sign.......so I think focusing on the mounatins may be wrong?
Maybe I should use the M mode and run the trial again? Like set aperture at 2.8 and do a range of shutter speeds at this f2.8...then set fat 4 and run the same shutter speeds again and so on till I reach f8.
Going next week on trip...dunno if should just set to auto and shoot.....seems like the Auto doing much better than me now...;p
Well usually for landscape shots, it is basically a wide angle scene and you would want to capture as much of the foreground and background with as much clarity and sharpness. Personally I will not choose anything below F8 or even F16 with my DSLR lens. Focusing on the building or the mountain. That is hard to say. As I mentioned before it is about you being familar with what your camera can do. With some lens focus at infinity might not even mean a sharp shot. Again where you focus, can your camera allow you to lock the focus you just gotten by aiming at the mountain or the building? This one only you can know and that is as alway by playing around with your camera and yes..TAKE NOTES. I use to do that myself..I play with the camera alot and take notes. Taking notes also help you remember it...you keep doing that till it become second nature to you.
What you just mention as a trial test is a good start. Doing so will not only show you what your camera can do but also teach you the basics of photography.
Well for your trip, if the weather is good and you have relatively good lighting, shooting on auto mode would be fine but if your viewfinder allows it, try to keep your apeture at about F8 and your shutter speed not lower then 1/60 at least...thus you will have a higher chance of coming back with more still and sharp shots. It is a guideline only lah. If you are able to get higher shutter speed and up f16 apeture..even better.
Good too if you could keep to as low an ISO setting for most of your shots. In shady places, night or dim lit places use your flash to do some illumination or fill-in flash. Even if higher ISO speed might be full of noise or grainy...but if you have to get that special shot then be willing to increase it to a higher setting like 400 or even 800 and beyond if you have too temporary for those shot. ( just make sure you remember to reset it back later). Those picture might be a bit more noisy but at least you bring something home as a keep sake. You are not here to try to impress us or worry about getting critism from us heheh. You should try to spend some time before your trip to do abit of shooting in the day, in shade and evening...to get abit of practice. Because when you are on your trip, that is the last place and time you should be practice how to shoot heh. Don't also pressure yourself too much...you are suppose to enjoy your trip not there to join a photography contest.
I know you want to be able to capture the best photo to help given you a double joy of being able to visit a new country and to be able to bring home some great shots heh. Tell you when I first took up photography and my first year or so..I screw up alot of stuff during a few holiday but at least I shot something that folks back home can see and love seeing it..even if my exposure was abit off, some got abit shaky or blur as I use the wrong speed for some moving action shots..etc. If you like try the other PROGRAM MODE too to see what they can do that might help you out when you are lost as to what to do when it come time to shoot.
Remember to lock down your AF once you have choosen what you want to shoot even if it is off centre. I take it you know how to do that right? heh.
