First Shots with a D80

[Fishfreak218]

Here is just a little background info on me,
I am new to DSLR as this is my first DSLR camera. I have a Nikon D80 with a Nikor 18-135mm lens. I havnt played with my settings much besides ISO settings. I am looking for suggestions and please feel free to criticise. These are some of my first pictures, hope you like them!

These little guys are always in my backyard lake. They are very cute but cost $$$ because we pay to have the lakes stocked with fish and these guys seem to have a bottomless stomach! The first few pics i was getting chased and so they didnt turn out great lol, they were very curious.
:bum:
Also all of these pictures are taken without a tripod, at sun down(the reason for the weird yellow color and the weird color on the grass), and some of them were taken while i was in a bush (hence the reason for black blobs in some of the pictures *darn leaves*) :rollface:
Bird:

Otters:

 

[Fishfreak218]

 

[edwing206]

Nice pics.Those otters are sweet.

 

[ianiwane]

The pictures look good. But maybe a little over sharpened to me.

 

[Rosseau]

Playing with the exposure seems to be the biggest problem, at least in some of the pics. i.e. the otters are underexposed, it's sort of hard to see detail on a few of them.


If you have photoshop or anything it can be an easy fix.

Looks good though!

 

[Fishfreak218]

I do not have photoshop, all I have is the editing software that came with the camera
I did sharpen them alot ianiwane so thats probably why...

 

[VoidRaven]

For just starting out, not too bad. Consider picking yourself up a copy of Photoshop Elements. It's only about $100 (the full Photoshop is easily $650 if you don't have a previous version to upgrade from) and that will be much better than the software that comes with the camera.

Actually....doesn't it come with Elements? Anyway, if it doesn't then get a copy.

If you like to shoot subjects like the otters, and are on a budget, you might think about saving up for the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR lens. It's about $550 and well worth it if you don't want to go bankrupt on longer zooms but want something that will give you more reach in a nice sized, easy to handle package.

Keep shooting! Get used to the camera. Work on that exposure a bit. Remember, don't shoot *into* the sun. Try to have it behind you or off to the side if possible.

 

[Fishfreak218]

Also, I have been shooting in "P" mode... which do you guys recomend?

 

[Rosseau]

Av is probably the best for shooting moving animals. You can set how fast the lens takes the image. I believe Av is the most popular for things like this.

 

[Rosseau]

Also, shooting in RAW rather than JPEG mode will alow you to change the exposure and white balance easily after taking the pictures. This means more time spent with them, but IMO it's worth it. Your camera likely came with software than can do this for you.