AboutJoe Appel Expertise I can answer questions related to many areas of photography, but most specifically relating to photojournalism. I can also offer advice on using digital and 35mm cameras, Adobe Photoshop, and digital photography in general. Once upon a time I was pretty good in a darkroom too.
Experience I have been a staff photographer for a major metropolitan newspaper group (over 100,000 circulation) for 12 years. Concurrently, I have maintained a freelance photography business.
Organizations belong to National Press Photographers Association
Publications Rolling Stone, USA Today, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Palm Beach Post, New York Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Super Street Bike, Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Cycle World, Roadracing World, T.W.O. (Two Wheels Only), the ABA Journal.
Question hey Joe
I recently bought a Nikon D-200 pro digital camera after years of using SLR's. I'm having trouble getting good skin tones,clarity and most importantly exposure. I've tried adjusting the white balance,the A-F, the custom settings,etc. I have a good soft-focus lens.Obviously,I'm trying too hard and sending conflicting settings to my poor camera.
Can you help me set up a basic menu to take good portraits indoors? I have good window light,but also a soft-box and an unbrella. Where i am suceessful achieving good results with my analog cameras, this digital camera is not there yet.
thanks
Jacqueline
Answer Jacqueline,
I've not yet had a chance to use that particular camera.
What I do is pay close attention to the white balance. If you're using flash then setting the white balance to the flash symbol ought to give you good results.
The problem you're having may not lie with your camera. You may want to how the pictures look on a different computer monitor. You really can't trust the screen on the back of your camera to give an accurate indication of the color balance. The screen on the back of my D2Hs looks bad, then I download the pictures and they look pretty good.
You can adjust the settings of your camera to different color profiles. Read your manual and experiment with the different color profiles (like Adobe Photoshop) until you find something you like.
Keep playing with it and you'll get it to work for you. I'm jealous, that's a nice camera.
