Newbee

My lovely wife bought me a d5100 for Christmas. We have 9 grandchildren (one of the main reasons for the camera). I am interested in sports cars and attend races at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), whenever possible (2 reason for the camrea).
I have been reading the manual, and watching the dvd that came with the camera, and playing around a little--realizing that this is a great camera. [I need to take some photography classes to understand how to use it.]
My problem is: 1) I live in the sticks and have not found any local classes. 2) I have a very demanding schedule and sometimes my camera sits in the bag for weeks at a time.
I did purchase a decent set of filters, and the remote control for taking family pictures without the self timer. I'm torn between a decent flash, a prime lens for family pics, and a decent 300 zoom lens. Hmmmmmmmmmmm now all I need is money.

Don't buy anything yet. Shoot for a while and see what the equipment you have will do. It will become clear what you need/want after a while. As far as time take 5 minutes out and shoot something even if it is the tree in your front yard. Shoot the best possible picture of that tree that you can. Try all the different modes in the camera just to see what they do. Upload them to your computer and see what you can do with the supplies software. "View NX2" is pretty easy to use and can really do a lot more than you think. There are online tutorials that will explain a lot. Google them and look. There are many people on this forum that can and will help you any way they can. Just ask.

Fill out your profile so when you ask questions people will know what king of equipment you have. It will help them answer your questions. Lastly, upload some pictures.

Hi there papa roe. Great advice given to you by tracsoft - couldn't agree more!

Hope you'll pop back in again soon. Welcome.