Hi!

My name is Christine, from Ontario, Canada. I have had my D5100 since June, but I'm just now learning to get off auto mode. Hopefully I can get some tips here!

In Canada, in the winter you should have plenty of time to read and study the manual. Read it once a month for the first year and you will learn something new each time.

Welcome to the site!

Hi Christine, welcome to Nikonites. Beautiful eye ya got there. I'll bet you have another one just like it on the other side of your face, right?
If you could fill out the rest of your profile, it would really help us in answering any and all of your questions. Things like where you live, gear you use, phone number (just kidding about the phone number ).

And yes, likeTracsoft said.....read your manual on the parts you want to learn about first. If it's not in the manual, ask in here. We're more than happy to "learn ya"!
Have fun, and looking forward to seeing some of your work.

Thank you for replying!
Off to update my profile....I do have 2 eyes, but not tons of free time (I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old, lol). I am taking a 6 week class to learn the real basics, and I took one other course specific to my camera, to learn all of it's features. I'm still fresh with everything, but trying to learn!

Oh man, hop on that manual asap! You have a camera that you can tell what to do than vice versa, haha.

Welcome and bring us that lovely Canadian scenery, have visited twice and want to come back for more

Good Morning Christine and welcome!

We all have to start somewhere right? Getting off of auto is probably the best thing to do and hardest if you are new.. no worries this is a great place where you will be able to learn

Welcome to the site.
Grab a copy of the reference manual and put the user manual aside

You'll love the D5100, had mine just about 9 months now and still learning