Welcome to COM today, I am so happy to have you. I love pictures, and I love taking them even more (probably to much, but its just me!) So today I am talking about my Nikon 50 mm lens~Photography Tips, and how much I love it. I have been enjoying my Nikon 50 mm lens for almost a year now. As I mentioned above I love talking pictures and perhaps that is what got me started on my family blog almost 5 years ago. I loved sharing pictures of my kids and pictures of our everyday life. Then my love for picture taking grew into staging pictures for COM in my craft posts, DIY, Home Decor and even food pictures for recipes. Once again I love it all. Now, I am no professional, I just have self taught myself a lot about my own camera. In fact I met up with a photography friend over a year ago and she told me that its not necessarily about how nice your SLR camera is, but more about knowing your camera and knowing how to use it. I totally agree with her, and that is just what I set out to do. I read my Nikon D 5000 hand book, did Google searches, watched YouTube videos, and even pinned some great camera pins on Pinterest and read them too. The sources to learn about things on the internet aka Google are just right there, waiting for you to absorb them. “knowledge is good!”
So today I will be sharing pictures I have taken with my Nikon 50 mm lens. I will talk about them and give tips and some useful sources and such. Now I researched the Nikon 50 mm lens AF-S 1.8 because I wanted something both for close ups of food, craft projects, and pictures of my kids. What I have found is that I too, can get full shots of my kids too with the Nikon 50 mm lens, I was thrilled to see how well they came out getting fuller shots and even head shots.
So let me share some up close photos I took using my Nikon 50 mm lens. Now please take NOTE, that I change the scene settings, and the white balance on my camera before shooting pictures. I also make sure that if my photos are in doors that a large amount of natural light is coming in. Shooting near a large window is key. I also will use a white bi-fold styrofoam board to sit next to say my plate of food or dessert to help bounce off extra light and to also help balance out the light.
Here are some up close images of my kids, some food, and I even show how great the Nikon 50 mm lens is for shooting multiple items, such as some crafting items. I shoot all most all my projects and crafts with my Nikon 50 mm lens.
On food pictures I change my camera settings to “scene” and then I scroll through to the “food” selection using my “command dial.” I shoot all my food blogger” pics with that option.
recipe here
..and now here are some photos I took again with my Nikon 50 mm lens of my children playing at a distance in the rain as well as some full body shot pictures of them.
So are you loving what you are seeing with a Nikon 50 mm lens? (are you tired of me referring to it? HA!)
Well once again my biggest tip is to learn your own SLR camera!
I use Picasa 3 to do all of my editing. Its free so that is what I use. I know there is photo shop and other fantastic picture editing programs out there. Just find what you love and what works for you. I do try and edit each one of my “favorite” photos by retouching a spot, blemish, a bit of food in a spot I don’t like HA! just stuff like that. So get familiarized with your photo editing program and have fun editing.
Photography Tips:
– Invest some money in a nice camera.(shop around for your SLR camera, it doesn’t have to cost an arm, a leg and a toe winks!)
– Study your cameras hand book, watch You tube videos, do some Google research, get familiarized with your camera.
-Shoot in good lighting if you are shooting in doors. Next to large window(s) with the sunlight coming through is perfect.
-Sometimes its best to hook your camera up to your tripod to eliminate less shakes (great for food photography!)
– Make sure your settings are adjusted if needed to the right scene mode and also change your white balance etc.
– Shoot people outdoors during sunset or on grey cloudy days, so you don’t have squinty eyes from the bright sun. Shade is good too, so long as the shade isn’t ruining their face etc.
– Use a step ladder to angle down onto the subject/person. It also works great for head shots, as well as achieving that thinner look with the person lifting their head up.
– props can be great for shooting people, children, families. I.E. trunks, crates, suit cases, baskets, chairs, couches, ladders, etc.
– Use a white styrofoam bi-fold on the side of your items. Do this for smaller objects, such as food, desserts, or anytime you are shooting 1-4 items etc.
– Have fun and enjoy taking pictures, play around and experiment with your camera.
Also, here is a great tip for child photography. Take any pez and with an xacto knife/blade just slice of a small section of the Pez feet on both sides. Then slide the pez in. Done! Source here
I have the same 50mm lens and I absolutely LOVE it!! In fact, I keep it on my D5100 almost all the time! 🙂 I’ve used it for everything from candid shots of my kids to actual infant photo shoots. I have a shot I took this earlier this year that I really like that I posted on my blog if you care to take a look: http://capturethelittlethings.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-intro-to-backlit-photos.html
I loved this post as my 50mm lens is due to arrive today! I also use Picasa for basic editing. What program do you use to create collages & add text to pictures?
I too love my 50mm lens. But Im a Canon gal! That’s ok, I love em both. You said you used Picasa, have you heard of Pixlr? Its free and too and they have a lot of presets. Check them out. I sound like Im advertising for them. I promise I’m not. I recently actually purchase Photoshop Elements 11. And I love it. You can use ppl’s presets/actions, and there are a ton ppl offer free. Search it on Pinterest 🙂
Is your lens a 1.4 or 1.8!? Great pics and tips!
I have the same 50mm lens and I absolutely LOVE it!! In fact, I keep it on my D5100 almost all the time! 🙂 I’ve used it for everything from candid shots of my kids to actual infant photo shoots. I have a shot I took this earlier this year that I really like that I posted on my blog if you care to take a look: http://capturethelittlethings.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-intro-to-backlit-photos.html
I loved this post as my 50mm lens is due to arrive today! I also use Picasa for basic editing. What program do you use to create collages & add text to pictures?
I want it!
Great pictures! I know good pictures are not easy:)
Nicole
HoldtheOffice.com
I too love my 50mm lens. But Im a Canon gal! That’s ok, I love em both.
You said you used Picasa, have you heard of Pixlr? Its free and too and they have a lot of presets. Check them out. I sound like Im advertising for them. I promise I’m not. I recently actually purchase Photoshop Elements 11. And I love it. You can use ppl’s presets/actions, and there are a ton ppl offer free. Search it on Pinterest 🙂