So, i'm new

[Phil-D]

Hello All,

As the title suggests i'm new to photography and I am basically after a small bit of guidance really.

I am quite fortunate to have a techno-junkie father who often buys things on a whim then gets bored or changes his mind and then passes them on to others bless him, his most recent was a DSLR and when he offered it to me i snapped it up with both hands. I have always enjoyed taking photographs but have never delved deep into the whole mechanics and nitty gritty prefering simply to point and click. I have recently had a complete change of circumstances giving my job up as an engineer and following the woman i love to an entirely new country (sorry for the mush she is sitting next to me and reading this out of the corner of her eye so i'm trying to bag browny points) with this has brought the opportunity and time to actually have a hobby rather than constant work and no play and photography is it.

The camera in question is a Nikon D5000 with an 18-55VR Lens Kit, now from what i understand this is s hybrid camera offering HD video as well as still pictures, now the HD and video is of no interest to me, for that i have a video camera, my first question is due to the fact this is a dual purpose camera will i have lost features that its still-picture taking cousins have that would make some kinds of pictures not worth attempting?

I have looked about on this site for a few weeks now and have been amazed by the pictures that many of you have taken the ones that seem to have the massive wow factor for me are the photo's taken with Macro lenses, really close shots of insects or flowers in such detail amazes me and i would love to be able to do the same, so my second question is (hoping that the answer to question 1 is not "don't try to take close ups") will i need to purchase a new lens for this kind of work if so do you have any suggestions, i have also seen some caps that fit on the end of standard lenses would they be just as good or is it worth digging deep and going for a new lens?

And my third and final question is basically about software, i understand that photoshop elelments is used by this site for its video tutorials and from what i have seen so far it is a very versatile tool and what i am hoping to use, as i now live in belgium local courses are not an option as my Dutch is really not strong enough for me to attempt it yet, are there any online courses that teach the basics of this software (or indeed should i consider other software) that any of you know of that are in english.

Well thank you for lasting this far and reading my post i know i do tend to waffle a bit

I look forward to any suggestions you may have for me.

Kind Regards

Phil

[ianpinion]

Hi Phil,

Welcome to the forums.

The Nikon D5000 is a fine camera as has got very good reviews and in the right hands is capable of taking some fine images, so do not worry about it being dual purpose. This hasn't been done at the expense of the still pictures.

Now as for what equipment you will need for taking close-up shots, there are a number of alternatives. The cheapeat option is purchasing a close up lens that will screw into the filter threads on the lens you have, but sometimes the optical quality of the close up lens isn't that great and therefore the image quality will suffer. The next option is buying an extension tube which by moving the lens further away from the camera body shortens it's focal distance. It has no glass in it so it won't effect the image quality, just the quality of the lens you use with it will do that. The last option is a dedicated wide aperture macro lens with a fixed focal length. These will produce the best quality images, but these lenses can be quite expensive. You may also need a ring flash system, that fits around the lens, to help get sufficient light into the lens when shooting very close to your subject.

Lastly, the Photoshop software is probably the most widely used for editing images, whether it be the full CS4 or the stripped down Elements version. You'll find lots of video tutorials and books available that will guide you through their various functions and how to use them effectively. Otherwise, enrol on a course in photography for the basics on how to use the camera and edit your images. There are many good distance learning courses to choose from too or you could even book a short photography holiday, run by a professional photographer and enjoy 1:1 tutition. You can even take your partner away with you to because they cater for a non-photographer partners too.

Best of luck, but most of all enjoy it!

[chris-p]

Hi Phil

Welcome along.

Although Ian has answered pretty much everything, there is one other way of shooting macro. On top of the macro "adaptors" (the screw in magnifiers), extension tubes or a macro lens you could also buy something called a reversing ring.
This allows you to mount a lens backwards onto your camera body. For this to work properly you're going to need a lens with a manually selectable aperture and the G series of Nikon lenses don't have this - you control the aperture using the controls on the camera body. However, the lens doesn't have to be a Nikon fit lens (as you'd mount it backwards) so you can pick them up for a fwe pounds on eBay etc.
It's not the easiest way but it will give you the best quality results for minimal cash outlay. Of course, with a reversed lens you have no metering so you have to start guessing at shutter speeds but you just keep trying until you get a correctly exposed shot.

The principle of reversing the lens is this... If you think that the rear elements of the lens normally poke into the camera body and focus light onto the sensor which is very close to the back of the lens. Turning the lens around and using the rear end of the lens means you have to be very close to the object you're photographing.

I've only just started with macro photography and this is how I've been doing it because you're still using a "proper" photographic lens rather than putting the close-up filters on (which might dedgrade image quality), it's much cheaper than extension tubes and even cheaper than a proper macro lens. I've posted a couple of example images below which I took with a reversed Nikon 35mm f/1.8


Click to EMBIGGEN


Click to EMBIGGEN

[Phil-D]

Ian and Chris,

Many thanks for your informative replies it has certainly given me alot to think about ref the macro side of things, i did manage to find a camera equipment supplier today just outside of Brugge and took a look at the Macro lenses although expensive i think this will be the way i will go eventually but with a limited budget at the moment i have decided to spend my pennies on a beginners online course before going for an actual lens i think it will be far more beneficial that way at this stage. Does anyone out there recommend one at all?

Chris would i be able to pick up a reversing ring on ebay and if so do you have a recommended ebay suppliers name at all? also would this method be effective in taking outdoor shots or would i be limited in what i could do.

Thank you again for your help

Phil

[chris-p]

You can certainly get reversing rings on eBay. I bought mine from SRB Griturn. They sell all sorts of adaptors including stepping rings, reversing rings, coupling rings and so on.

Don't know if they ship to Belgium but it could be worth checking out.

[Phil-D]

My appologies chris i got my names mixed up

post edited

[chris-p]

Lol! No worries Phil, I'd not even noticed!

[PaulMontgomery]

Just to add my 2p, if you want to see what the D5000 is capable of, go onto flickr and look for pictures taken with a D5000 - I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.