I'm still new myself, owning my first DSLR in 2006. From one noob to another, I say mess with the settings and see what they do. Take full advantage of the instant gratification of digital media. There's plenty of basic info online on F-stop, ISO and aperture settings and what they do.

Welcome to the club, you're gonna enjoy it! Oh yeah, it's just like car modding, first you start small. Then you'll start buying a bunch of shit for your camera and pretty soon you need a backpack just for your equipment when you go on trips or vacation.

 

Haha. Thanks, I'm sure my girlfriend will be thrilled.

I'm really looking forward to learning, and it will be nice to share here.

 

check her out... I mean her jib... OliviaTech » How to Make a DIY Camera Jib

 

Nice buy, that's the same camera I have. The 18-55mm is a good versatile lens to start with. My current beginner set up is the kit lens, a 55-200mm 4.0-5.6G VR which is good for portraits, car events, sports, and then I have a 50mm 1.8G prime lens which is my favorite, it's great for shooting when it's dim and has awesome sharpness and bokeh. I just picked up a couple of circular polarizing filters to get some more saturation out of the camera, I feel like the D3100 produces colors sort of muted.

If I were to start all over again though, I would say the thing that has made the single biggest difference in my photographs is my Nikon SB700 Speedlight, I would have bought that first over anything else and next a tripod. Learning to bounce flash is one of best ways to improve your pictures, particularly of people. I just also bought a new lighting setup so now I can remotely fire the flash off camera and have a few umbrellas to bounce off of. Can't wait for the next car shoot.

Check out kenrockwell.com, he has a lot of great info, but don't always listen to his recommendations, they are sometimes contradictory. Flickr also has a huge base of photographers and tons of photos with information on how they were made. Have fun with it though and practice all the time, PM me if you want more info, we'll have to do a photoshoot if you ever come back to TX man lol.

 

Here a recently photo shot in Santa Barbara. Couldn't ask for perfect day!

 

Here is my share enjoy!

 

Here another one...

 

A few photos I took at the Skagit Valley tulip festival last week:

 

a few I took at Tuner Galleria 2012

 

Keeping the thread going.

I got back from a drive around Mt. Rainier.

 

Dude Awsome!!! ^^^ I was out there in Feb for week to play all the snow you guys got!

Here recent one from yesterday... taking a scroll through the forest.

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome pics doctordoom

I have a ton of pics but been too lazy to edit. >_<

I went to Hurricane Ridge and the deer there have no fear.

 

 

Haven't posted in awhile, here are some from the past few months haha.

 

hey nice photos there. we have a new high way now in here. and i just bought a nikon d90 camera. i will be uploading few of my shots soon

 

Here is recently shot from a wedding I shot in Kauai.