Anyone here a photography buff?

[rridgely]

I just got a killer deal on a dslr camera. I got a nikon d3300 brand new with 2 lenses for under $200.

I have a 55-100mm lens and a 55-200mm lens.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this thing but I've always liked the idea of having a nicer camera. Currently I just use my iphone to take pictures but I do actually have a nice older sony point and shot (hx5v). I'm going to read some tutorials and play with it this weekend. My wife and I are actually going to take a weekend trip to the beach so we can take some nice pictures with it.

Anyone got any tips for learning how to take advantage of a dslr. I know nothing. I put every camera I use on auto mode and just hope for the best. Recommend any websites for tutorials, any accessories, whatever. I'm excited to play with this thing but its also a little intimidating.

[hazelnut]

The only shutters I use are my eyelids rridgley so no advice form me

There does see to be loads of tip sites for dslr so let us know how you get on.

June desktops will be your first test !!

[DennisD]

Quite a bit of stuff here to get your head around ...

Digital Photography Tutorials: A learning community for photographers.

The fun with DSLR's, if you have the patience, is learning to do everything manually, and that site explains just about everything there is to explain about the technical aspects of taking photographs.

A bonus is the quality of the site itself.

That was a great deal you got there by the way.

[Andavari]

I was more into camera's when I was a kid, then for whatever reason grew out of it and then when digital camera's starting gaining popularity I was given a 2 megapixel camera and was disgusted with the for me unacceptable quality compared to actual film - that's ages ago though.

The only shutters I use are my eyelids rridgley so no advice form me

I use my built-in zoom feature by squinting with mine or opening them wider.

[rridgely]

Thanks for the link Dennis.

I’ve been playing with the camera all week and it is pretty cool. I really like the 200mm lens and how far it can zoom and still look perfect. I wasn’t really aware that dslr cameras could auto focus. Once I figured that out the rest was pretty simple to get working.

I still have to learn the more complex parts of using the camera but the photos I have taken look pretty good. Here is one my wife took of our cat:

[Andavari]

Pretty cat.

Although like all cats it has that look of "if I were bigger I'd eat you."

[DennisD]

You're welcome rr.

Cool picture! Did you use a "macro" setting to take that?

I have a thing about close up photography of creepy crawlies and I posted some on here a few years ago.

It's staggering how complex (and absolutely beautiful) those little beasties are in "close" close-up.

[JDPower]

As long as you want to learn, you'll never stop learning. DSLRs open up all manner of new methods and possibilities. It'll be huge fun, with regular consternation, but worth every bit of it. If you enjoy photography as a hobby, it's the best purchase you'll ever make

Everyone will tell you “learn to go full manual”, which is utter tosh/snobbery a lot of the time (unless turning pro is your endpoint). Learn and experiment with the different modes, then once you get your head around the relationship between aperture-shutter-iso, then experiment with full manual mode if you want. But I use aperture priority 90% of the time so I can control the depth of field. Just about the only time I use manual is when doing some astrophotography as it’s a must then.

There are some great cheat sheets infographics around: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=aperture+shutter&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwis-429vv_MAhVCahoKHTpuAKgQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=660#tbm=isch&q=photography+cheat+sheet

And some great YouTube channels, these are 3 of my favourites:

https://www.youtube.com/user/pmcc150/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/photoexposed/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoGavin/videos

This channel also has some good vids (though no longer updated)

https://www.youtube.com/user/KentWeakley/videos

And a couple of photoshop channels I follow:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TipSquirrel/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/IceflowStudios/videos