Newbie from FL saying hello…

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Hello all! I live in NW Florida… up in the Panhandle, lovingly referred to as LA or Lower Alabama. I was born and raised in CA but 7 years ago I packed my bags and moved here to a small, quite town on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

I’m an absolute beginner to photography, unless you count the day in elementary school where we made cameras out of oatmeal containers or that one semester of photography I took in high school some 25+ years ago

Recently I decided that I wanted to take up photography and just dove right in (I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda gal). I bought a camera based on what I could afford and how many reviews I could stand to read before boredom set in. I’m sure that’s the worst way to go about it….. but it is what it is and here I am. I bought a Nikon D90 and it came with the 18-105 kit lens and I also bought a Nikkor 70-300 lens with it. Why did I choose that lens? Because I have no idea what I’m doing and it seemed reasonable in price with a $200 discount Nikon was offering through Amazon.

So I got my camera and signed up for a beginner class on digital photography. It wasn’t really a class….more of a 4 session workshop. I didn’t learn much, but what do you expect for $80? I came away with a rudimentary understanding of ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed; and when I say rudimentary, I mean it. I get the concepts and know where to find the buttons to adjust them… it just takes me too much time to think about what they should be…. and then I usually make the wrong choices anyway.

So basically, I know nothing about photography and even less about all the wonderful features of the camera I own. Lucky for me, I work in IT and I am a highly technical, fast learning person. I bought a book on my camera (the user manual is worthless IMO) and I plan on reading it cover to cover to find out about all the camera features.

I found you all by looking around for a photography forum in a format I like. There are many out there… but after hours of reading, this one seems like the place I should be. Quite frankly, when I look at all your photos, I feel like a kindergartener trying to sit in on a college preparatory class…. in other words…. I feel really STOOPID. My photos look like finger paintings whereas all yours look like masterpieces. No matter, I figure the best thing I can do is surround myself by people who know what the heck they are doing and sponge up all the knowledge I can. I have a wicked sense of humor and very thick skin so please don’t hold back when telling me how I can improve my “finger-paintings”. In other words… I don’t care if you laugh at me (trust me, I’m laughing at my blurry, overexposed photos more than you)… as long as when you’re done laughing you tell me where the heck I went wrong

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading my post then you deserve a gold star for taking pity on the new girl! Thank you for having me as a member…. I’ll try to keep the stoopid questions to a minimum


~*~GCG~*~

[zona5101]

Hi and welcome!
Please send me my Gold Star!!!

You're in good company. Lots of D90 owners here plus lots of just plain old knowledgeable people that will try and help anyway they can. Looking forward to seeing some of your finger paintings

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Hi and welcome!
Please send me my Gold Star!!!

You're in good company. Lots of D90 owners here plus lots of just plain old knowledgeable people that will try and help anyway they can. Looking forward to seeing some of your finger paintings

Thank you so much for the nice welcome

My photos are so bad at this point that I won't bother embarrassing myself by posting them yet. Let's put it this way, my cheap cell phone camera takes better pictures than I do with with my D90 My D90 takes great pictures in AUTO mode.... but I truly want to learn photography so I'm forcing myself to only take pictures in Manual..... which is where the catastrophe begins.

I'm learning.... but it's slow going

Anyhow, thanks again for the nice welcome..... and here's your gold star

[PowerPix]

Ahahahaha, after reading all that.....I like you already.

Welcome to DPS.

[cpt_gungho]

Welcome to the The DPS from another new member!

Learning the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) can be daunting. There's a fairly steep learning curve. I felt the same way a year ago when I started. I've learned a lot but the biggest thing I've learned is that I really don't know anything.

I actually started in Shutter Priority mode and not full manual. I pretty much could not take a decent photo in full manual to save my life. So I started with just controlling the aperture so I could control the DOF (depth of field) and let the camera choose the shutter speed. Just throwing what I did out there as an option.

Also, I picked up the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Fabulous read.

[oldwolf]

*waves*

welcome to the dysfunctional family.

[faeriegodess612]

Welcome! Don't feel bad about the Manual mode jitters. I've had my camera since a lil before Christmas, and I've only used Manual once. I've used the other Modes on my camera some, but mostly still sticking to Program mode. So, your not alone. My take on it is to learn a bit at a time about what each thing will really do,... instead of jumping headlong into something without knowing anything. Jumping into something might work for some people, just not me.

Understanding Exposure is a widely recommended book. ( You can usually find this one in the hobbies section of a used book store. ) I would also suggest Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. It breaks down the science of light, and teaches you how to use it effectively in photography. I've only gotten to the 3rd Chapter, and am LOVING it.

Chin up,... you'll get there in no time. With the help of DPS, and your own creativity, you'll be taking shots that dont look like finger paintings soon. Don't forget, there are MANY great tutorials here too.

[mmmmhhhhmmmm]

Alright! Welcome. You put in words how I felt when I started. Great bunch of people here who are always willing to help. You can learn alot fast, as well. I bounce around this site looking for new ideas and techniques. Believe me, more to this than meets the eye. You'll see. Anyway, have fun and looking forward to your finger-paintings!

Robert

[Biomech]

Welcome from here too!

[mshockley]

Welcome, and I can tell you this much, I joined this forum just a few months ago and have received so much help and thoughtful responses to questions! I cannot say enough about the people you will "meet" here