Top 5 features a newbie should master of my new D5100?

Hi all,

I am new to the world of DSLR photography, and I will be picking up my D5100 ithis weekend along with "Understanding Exposure" to get me a head start.

Can seasoned users please advise me on what they think I should concentrate my efforts on and why?

P.S. I am also considering getting the 910 flash unit, and perhaps a zoom lens to take close ups on some of the wildlife in Tuscany that you don't want to get to close too for obvious reasons (vipers, scorpions to name two ::what:!

What would be a reasonable priced lens?

I know I am asking a lot, but I think you for your time in helping newbies like me! :friendly_wink:

Thanks

Rafe.

Rafeski said:

Can seasoned users please advise me on what they think I should concentrate my efforts on and why?

Click to expand...

You're going to get a lot of varying answers on this, but here's *my* short list:

1. Composition
2. Exposure
3. Composition
4. Composition
5. Composition

Why? Because without good composition, very little else really matters and what little else that does matter is usually stuff that is easily corrected with editing software. Poor composition on the other hand is often difficult, if not impossible, to correct for completely. Typically you have cropping as your sole tool and cropping can be a harsh mistress.

Here's my suggestions. Concentrate on your camera's owners manual. Learn about each button and menu option over and over again until you're an expert on your camera. In the meantime, take the camera out with you everywhere you go and take lots and lots of photos. Throw the images away that you don't like and keep the ones you like. As you continue to learn the functions of the buttons on your camera, try using some of them now and then but continue taking lots of photos and only keeping the photos you like. Try using a long shutter exposure vs. a short exposure, a wide aperture vs. a small aperture, and so on.

At some point in your reading and researching you'll read a book on what makes a good photos good (composition). When you read these suggestions (some call them rules but to do that shows your naivety on the subject of photography) look back at your pile of good photos and see which, if any, align with the photographic suggestions. If some of them line up with one or more of these suggestions, then run with it. If none do, then try incorporating a few into your shooting and see if it does or does not make your photos more interesting. And again, keep the ones you like and throw away the ones you don't like.

But whatever you do, do not accept anyone's opinion about your photographs unless they're paying you and you're providing them with the product. Because the only person you're making these images for is yourself and if you like what you produce then you've been successful. Otherwise you're photography will quickly begin to look like everyone else's photography and the last thing the world needs is another photographer who produces photos that look like all the other photographers on the planet.

Thank you both for your advise. I think your comments show you both to be exceptionally well thought through responses.

I will abide with your advise and take my time to understand the camera, and experiment and not be bound by rules, or purchase this and that, but treat them as suggestions in my quest for creativity.

Thanks once, again, and enjoy your weekend!

Study the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. The three are a part of a triangle and as you adjust one it affects the other two. And white balance. All light sources are different and will make a color different under each source.

Just get started.. One learning will lead to another to another... Down the rabbit hole.. Well almost.. But it will be very interesting, exciting and there is no end

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2

In all honesty, get a kit lens and a kit zoom (55-200) and shoot everything, everywhere, all the time. Get some issues of N-Photo to read for breaks.

What I've been finding useful is an old lens that makes you shoot with manual everything. Really makes you think each time and gets you in that habit instead of just snapping random things, randomly.

I have been in photography in one form or another for over 30 years but the D5100 is new to me. What I have been doing for a while now is picking one feature/lens/button and read about it and then go out and concentrating on just that and nothing else. After a day of shooting that I pretty much have mastered that. Next day pick something new. The last time I went out just shooting I was amazed at what I remember and did without thinking about it.

Concentrate on one thing at a time till you master it before you go on to something else. I see to many people try to learn everything all at once only to never get any of them right.

Agreed, though gotta have a car with all its wheels to learn how to drive it as a whole.

When I got my D5100 the very first I was watching some VDO's

lynda.com - YouTube

I'm pretty new to the D5100 as well and the best advice I can give is just to take a lot of photos in lots of different light, or different subjects using different settings. I was frightened for a while of moving out of auto mode, but once I let go of the fear and didn't worry about getting the perfect shot every time, I just set it out of auto and went for it. I've read a lot, but there's nothing like real world practice to give you a solid understanding of the triangle of ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. Sometimes the lens limits you in terms of what it is capable of (like a slow zoom lens), and that will make you rethink how to solve problems. How do I shoot at the long end, with a narrow aperture and still let enough light in to get a fast shutter speed so there's no blur in the picture? It's real problems like that that will improve your knowledge quickly. Don't be disappointed by your images at first. Just look at the settings in the EXIF data and look for trends. Work out why something didn't work and just try to do it better next time.
Honestly, I knew so little about all of this a few months ago, but with some good books, some thought and problem solving and a lot of taking photos, I feel like I'm slowly 'getting there'.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself to take the perfect shot every time. Be happy if it works, and look at it as a learning experience if it doesn't.
Read about the technical aspects of using a camera, but at the same time, also nourish your mind with the many philosophies behind making images and composition. There's a lot to learn, so give you brain a rest from time to time.
Oh, and have fun...

Steve

Good thoughts, let's see what you've got. And welcome on board.