My New D7000

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qaz
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Joined: December 27th, 2012, 9:09 am

My New D7000

Post by qaz »

Well, I finally got my new Nikon D7000! It seems to be an incredible camera, and I cannot wait to get in the field to try it out. I ended up going with a 105mm micro, and an 18-200mm zoom. So my questions are:

-What would you guys say optimal settings for herp portrait photography are?
-Same as above, but for wide-angle herp in habitat shots
-Is there anything else I should purchase to make my photos even better?

I'd be happy to hear any tips, tricks, or additional info too!
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MattSullivan
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Re: My New D7000

Post by MattSullivan »

congrats on the new camera :)

the best settings are going to depend more than anything on the conditions you are shooting in and i personally would say just to experiment in different situations. its the best way to decide what the best settings are. The 105mm micro is awesome and youll have fun with that. The next thing if you were going to get something would be a flash with soft box. Sorry this wasnt super detailed or even super helpful
good luck! :thumb: post pics when you take some
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jamezevanz
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Re: My New D7000

Post by jamezevanz »

For herps you will usually want lots of depth of field so youll be shooting at higher f-stops. This is especially true with the macro because it inherently has very shallow DOF. Otherwise you'll have the critter's eyes sharp and nothing else.

Higher f-stops allow less light to reach the sensor so flash becomes a necessity, not just for dark situations and adding drama. Flash looks best when you can control its direction and quality to mimic a natural light source. On-camera flash puts shadows directly behind the subject, which is very flat, uninteresting light. I highly recommend buying a speed light that can be fired remotely, either using the D7000's pop-up flash as a trigger (with the pop up flash's output set to "--" so it doesn't affect the image) or using radio slaves (which can be fairly cheap). With one of these you can control the direction of your shadows and craft the kind of light that most accentuates your subject's features. Get a gorilla pod or small tripod ao it can stand a little off the ground. You can use two or more speed lights but that's more gear to buy, carry, and fight with in the field. If you need fill light in the shadows, you can almost always adjust shutter and ISO to let the ambient light do the job or carry a white sheet of paper/posterboard to place opposite your flash and use as a reflector.

Adding a portable softbox to that remote flash is also inexpensive and will hugely improve the quality of the light falling on your subject. What this does is effectively increase the size of your light source in relationship to the subject. Most folks starting out will tend to shoot with their softbox/flash combo too far away from their subject. For the softest, most even lighting (not always the goal, but often) put the softbox right up next to (and slightly over) the subject. Obviously you can't get it as close for wide habitat shots, but work to place it just outside the frame. Buy the biggest one you can easily carry in the field, size matters with softboxes. Mine is about 10x14 which is easy to slide into a backpack, but is still physically larger than most of my subjects.

My favorite lens for wide habitat shots is the 17-35 F2.8. I think the 14-24 F2.8 is the most popular ultra-wide for Nikon these days but you cannot put a standard filter on it so if you take it in the field and really work with it, you will eventually scratch that big bulbous front element. Additionally, ultra wide lenses are all about shooting landscapes (think of habitat shots as landscapes with a subject to anchor them) and sooner or later your going to want to use a circular polarizer or some other fancy filter. So why not trade 3mm of focal length for the ability to use a standard 77mm filter. That was my thinking when I was buying lenses and, after using the 14-24 a lot at work and being frustrated by the lack of a filter, I'm glad I made that call.

Hope this helps.

Jamez
bgorum
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Re: My New D7000

Post by bgorum »

Congratulations on the new camera! Like has been said already the best settings are going to depend on the situation, you'll just have to experiment and see. Nikon packed a lot into that one little camera. I came to the D7000 from a D200 and the capabilities of the D7000 have actually changed the way I shoot compared to when I had my D200. I like auto ISO on the D7000 a lot. I'm willing to use it up to ISO 1600, though I prefer 800 or lower is conditions allow. ISO 1600 is pretty good noise wise, (so long as you don't underexpose at all), but the dynamic range is much smaller than at lower ISOs and it will often blow out the highlights in moderate to high contrast situations. I find I use manual exposure mode far more often now, but in an automatic sort of way since I leave auto ISO on. This way I can choose whatever aperture and shutter speed I need and let the camera adjust ISO for the amount of light available. If I need to underexpose/overexpose from what the camera meter suggest I just use the exposure compensation dial. I always use the matrix meter and I find the camera is very accurate in most situations. Situations where I need to use exposure compensation with the D7000 would be things like white egrets, which require some minus exposure compensation to keep from washing out, etc. A good way to learn proper exposure is to use you histogram and the blinking highlights display to check you exposures whenever you can.

For auto focus I would suggest reprogramming the AE-L/AF-L button on the back of the camera to be an AF-on button. When you do this the shutter release will no longer initiate auto-focus, but will only be a shutter release. I would then leave the camera's af mode set to af-c. By doing this you will be able to use continuous auto focus just by holding down the af-on button with your thumb and triggering the shutter with your index finger whenever you want. With a stationary subject you can just focus with the af-on button, then remove your thumb and recompose, since triggering the shutter won't cause the camera to re-focus. For manual focus you just never push the af-on the button and turn the focusing ring to focus and trigger the shutter with your index finger, (works best with af-s lenses). If you work this way you can completely ignore af-single and af-auto modes, you wont need then. As far as choosing the number of focusing zones to use (anywhere from 1 to 39), I usually chose that based on subject size. For focusing on just a herp's eye I'll use single point, for shooting a moving subject I'll chose multiple points, (usually 9, but sometimes more if its moving unpredictably).

Be careful about stopping the lens all the way down. Make sure you really need that much depth of field first. The D7000 has enough resolution that you will see the loss of sharpness caused by diffraction at anything smaller than f11. Finally, to make sure you get everything you can out of the D7000's files make sure you shoot in 16 bit raw. It fills up the buffer pretty quick (9 frames), but that's only an issue when shooting action sequences, and even than I'm not willing to go to jpegs. As far as your next purchase I would suggest a good (not cheap) tripod, then make sure you use it. This will free you to use lower slower shutter speeds and lower ISO's with stationary subjects and equally important, it results in a slower, more contemplative way of working. Over time that will improve the artistic quality of your photos more than any other piece of equipment will.

Have fun, post some pictures!

Bill
qaz
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Joined: December 27th, 2012, 9:09 am

Re: My New D7000

Post by qaz »

Thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate it. Hopefully, I will be able to get out to the field soon. One thing is: how would you guys go about posing/framing larger, less likely to sit still herps like snakes and larger lizards? I sat with my rosy boa for about 20 minutes and didn't get a single good shot...
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jamezevanz
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Re: My New D7000

Post by jamezevanz »

Patience. Rosies are one of the hardest because they generally have no fear of humans and will crawl continuously in whatever direction they want regardless of distractions and obstructions. The key with this kind of snake seems to be to figure out ways to make them pause (varies from animal to animal but some variation of the old hat trick --placing a hat or other cover object over the animal for a minute or so and then removing it-- or just blocking their path of travel with your hand for a second) and then being proficient enough with your gear to have the shot composed and in focus before it starts moving again. Pre-focus in manual for the distance that the animal will be at and adjust your distance to focus. You'll also have to contend with the light, because there will be a "sweet spot" of perfect light under your softbox and the critter will usually be working its way out of it.

It is much easier to shoot animals that have aggressive defensive displays and stand their ground. Rattlers, bullsnakes, rat snakes, and others that "pick a fight" with the camera are easier than the ones that always want to crawl away, or toward you the way rosies often do. This is where snakes' individual personalities really come through, as any two individuals of the same species vary from totally cooperative to F$%*& impossible. For example, I gave up shooting shovelnosed snakes after several botched attempts with spastic individuals last year. But the other night I watched one hold perfectly still in a nice pose for 10-15 minutes while my non-herper friend took dozens of photos that rivaled anything I have with no difficulty. Guess I'll have to give it another try.

Small fast lizards are best shot with a telephoto, but if you want a staged habitat shot, use the hat trick and have a friend ready to recapture it when it runs.
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chrish
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Re: My New D7000

Post by chrish »

Congrats on the new camera. Hopefully it will open up new horizons of herp (and other) photography for you.

As for your questions..
qaz wrote:-What would you guys say optimal settings for herp portrait photography are?
-Same as above, but for wide-angle herp in habitat shots
-Is there anything else I should purchase to make my photos even better?
I see this as analogous to asking "I just bought a new car, what is the optimal speed to drive it?" Clearly there are a lot of variables to consider.

For your new camera, I think you might benefit by learning the answers to these questions (there are lots of good online resources and excellent books on nature photorgraphy and the like):

- What is depth of field, and what is the relationship between DOF and the f/stop?
- How much depth of field do I need and what is the consequence of using too much or too little?
- What is the difference in using a fast or a slower shutter speed?
- What shutter speeds work best for what situations?
- What is the trade-off between shutter speed and depth of field?

Then look at a lot of herp photos with a critical eye. FHF is a great place to start since it has some of the best herp photographers on the planet. Study the photos you like and the ones you think aren't good. What is it that is different about them? How would you get that desirable effect using my new camera? How would you improve on the ones that you think aren't perfect.

If you find the answers to these questions, you will be on your way to becoming a great herp photographer. Then practice, practice, practice. Practice on toys, leaves, knick-knacks around the house. Go to the zoo and practice on captive animals. Set a target of shooting 100 or more photos a week while you are learning the tool. Get totally familiar and comfortable using your camera. You want your camera to be an extension of your creativity. Learn where all the buttons and dials are and what you would use. Read bgorum's comment about customizing the function of the AE-L/AF-L button, except think about how YOU would best use the customizable functions of the camera to suit your photography style.

Could you dial in -0.7 stops of flash compensation on your camera without taking your eye off the viewfinder and your focus off the animal? Would you know when to do that? That's the kind of camera comfort you should aspire to.

I know it isn't the answer you were looking for, but I think taking this approach will get you where you want to be - able to produce herp images you are proud of.
qaz
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Joined: December 27th, 2012, 9:09 am

Re: My New D7000

Post by qaz »

Thank you Chris, I see what you're saying. I guess "practice make perfect" is what to say in this case. I've already figured out a few of my problems, and know somewhat how to fix them.
qaz
Posts: 88
Joined: December 27th, 2012, 9:09 am

Re: My New D7000 *Updated with lens question

Post by qaz »

Hey guys, today I purchased a Tamron 10-24mm lens for my Nikon D7000. Originally, I was going to buy Nikon's version of the lens, but the salesman told me they had the same image quality. I was wondering if you guys feel the same way.
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