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I have a Nikon D7500 camera. I need to take pictures of a horse and a rider sitting on him. It would be a still picture. I’m planning on using a prime lens. What would be the settings?

I bought a nice camera and my friend asked me to take a picture of her on a horse.

It will be taken in the morning, using the sun as a natural light source. The horse will not be in motion. The background will be trees which should be blurry. I need the horse and rider to be both in focus. Is it better to use a single point focus and aim in the middle or 9 points?

Philip Kendall
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Jackie
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    The settings will be very dependent on the lighting, the horse color, and how you want the picture to look (visible surrounding/background, etc....) and possibly the capabilities of the unspecified prime lens. IMHO, if you are asking this kind of question, your skills are not up to the point where a prime lens would make a difference. – xenoid Feb 02 '22 at 07:30
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    How bright is(are) the light source(s) illuminating the horse and rider? From which direction(s) is(are) it(they) shining? What do you want the picture to look like? – Michael C Feb 02 '22 at 08:53
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    I'm really trying not to be harsh here, but I think you need to recalibrate your expectations a bit. An SLR camera is a non-trivial piece of equipment which will take a fair amount of time to learn how to use well; it isn't just something where somebody can tell you what settings you should use, even with the level of detail you've given us about your desired photo. I would suggest going ahead and taking the photos of your friend, but don't be surprised if your phone actually manages to take better photos this time - it's a learning experience. – Philip Kendall Feb 02 '22 at 14:38
  • I would recommend making a few pictures in Auto/scene mode too. At least you are quite sure you will have something to show. – Orbit Feb 03 '22 at 12:17

3 Answers3

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Your question is a natural one for newer photographers to ask, but also one for which there is no simple answer as it depends on the photo you want to create. If you're not yet at the point where you understand how the various settings on the camera influence the photo, your best bet is quite probably just to put the camera in automatic mode and let it make the decisions.

If you do want to start taking more control of the photo, the first thing to control is the aperture: a wider aperture (smaller -number) will give you a more blurred background, but if taken to extremes can make you lose sharpness on your actual subject. It's up to you as a photographer to find the best balance.

Unless you're in some fairly extreme lighting conditions, don't worry about trying to control shutter speed and ISO. The camera will do a fine job there.

However: much more than the settings on the camera, you should be worrying about how you arrange the light for the photo. You'll get a much better photo with well-arranged light and the camera in full auto mode than you will with badly-arranged light and "perfect" settings on the camera.

Philip Kendall
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  • Part of the "price" for providing the pics could be waiting patiently while the OP takes photos at a variety of different settings and writes down all the settings. Later, OP can review the different pics to see the impact made by changing aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Friend gets a decent pic in there somewhere (maybe the couple on AUTO), OP learns something. – FreeMan Feb 03 '22 at 18:55
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Given your added info:

  • Set the camera in aperture priority mode

  • Set the aperture to something quite open (small values, such as 2.8)(assuming a prime lens that can open somewhat more, such as 1.8). This is what makes backgrounds blurry

  • You camera can also likely be told to take several picture while changing the aperture across a given range.

  • Set the ISO to something that give you an exposure of at least 1/100s

  • It is better to do this on a slightly overcast day, a bright sun creates shadows that are too sharp.

  • In case of bright sun:

    • Try to get the sun in your back a bit on the side (at 4 or 8 hours,to have shadows, but not too much..).
    • Make sure you friend's eyes are visible (since she will be looking at you, and the sun come from your direction, she may squint or put her eyes in the shadow of her hat if she has one)

  • Ideally climb on something that puts your camera at the level of the horse's back (otherwise you'll have a big horse and a tiny friend on the picture). This is even more necessary if your lens is short (35mm or less)

  • If you use multi-zone focus and you shoot from the side focus should be OK.

  • If the horse is at an angle then it will be more difficult to have its head and your friend sharp, with the background blurry

xenoid
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As a beginner, I'd suggest not messing with any settings for this starting photo that you want to turn out nicely. Just set the camera to Auto - that's often indicated by a green square or green camera icon.

Once that shoot is done, then you can start to learn and experiment. One of the great things about a digital camera is it costs you nothing to experiment.

You can start here: What are good resources for a beginning photographer?

osullic
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