To JPlumb: first snow

[johnu]

John,

Thanks for all your work to show me how the picture should look! I am amazed how much better the colours are. I am going to try to duplicate what you did.

john u

[JPlumb]

Hi John, That's good. It's not that difficult and if you make a mistake just back up and try again. When you're shooting in snow, just remember that it wants to turn everything grey. When I do it I will set my meter on something else (like a bunch of trees or something), then shoot manually, or I will overexpose a little on purpose.

Good luck, and if I can help further just shout,

John

[johnu]

John,

I tried and tried to match the quality of your picture, but could not. Nevertheless, I improved it enough that I thought that it might be good enough for a print(12x18"), and it looks fabulous! (The scene has special significance because the view is from a small lot we bought early this spring.)

Thanks for your help!

Incidentally, I notice that you also own a D200. Do you find that the pictures all turn out to be a littl on the dark side on auto?

john

[JPlumb]

Hi John,

Glad I could be of some help.

As far as the D200 being too dark, I thought it was at first and started playing with the exposure +/- keys on the top right. Then I decided I didn't like those (though they can be good for snow) and went manual. I'm used to shooting with manual exposure anyway. When I started I set up my menu with extra saturation. That was a mistake. Bottom line is you've got to play with it and decide what works for you. If you're shooting digital, you can take shots and throw them away and it costs you nothing. So you might consider bracketing important shots too, i.e. shoot one over exposure, one at what you think is proper exposure, and one under exposure then keep the best. Then when you have this you can still apply post processing.

There is a good web page put out by Ken Rockwell that will help you get started with your D200 setup, but still I would warn you to be careful and make sure you understand what he is telling you. Some of his recommendations I liked, and some not so much. The website is at: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200/users-guide/index.htm

Best of luck, and let me know how you make out, and if you have any further questions just shout,

John

[johnu]

Thanks, John, much appreciated! This camera is a big leap up for me. I just got it 5 months ago and am just starting to get compfortable with it. I was used to using a pure auto digital before. But now that I am seeing some good photos, I am getting more optimistic. There is definitely a big learning curve and I am not as young as I used to be. But I do have more time, and I love it. I get really excited when I get a good shot. That's what makes it all worthwhile. Thanks again for your help.
john