Beginner Hello, newbie...

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Not sure if this is the proper place to post this or not.

Complete novice here and I will most likely be looking for tips and advice as I go along, apologies in advance for asking the sort of dumb newbie questions that probably crop up quite often.

I've bought myself a Nikon D5100 with (i assume) an as standard 18-55mm lens and added a 50-200mm lens to give me a little bit more scope. I had a look at other models but I liked the feel of the Nikon in my hand, and that was the only reason I plumped for it. Going by reviews I reckon it's a half decent choice tbf and it has loads of settings to occupy me for now! lol

I've mainly been taking pics of scenery and attempting some close up pics of flowers, bees etc (the usual beginners stuff I'd imagine). Most of them are pretty crap (although I am quite chuffed with one or two) as I've been footering around with settings trying to figure out the difference with aperture, iso and shutter speed settings, as well as the pre-programmed settings. Reckon a night class might be the way to go there, just to get a decent grounding.
Still not sure if I want to focus on shooting anything in particular at the moment, quite happy snapping away for now but I know I do like black and white snaps like Anton Corbijn takes and I quite like some of the stuff Patti Smith does as well. That said I like a lot of colourful ones too! like the city scenes with blurry streaks of car lights etc. Quite annoyed I couldn't go out and get photos of the blood moon tonight, bleedin thunderstorms!

Anyway, that's my little introduction. Thanks for reading if ye made it this far! lol
 
Welcome to TP cj4now :)

I remember watching In Control which was Corbijn's work - and thinking that I still preferred Kevin Cummins' work. (Less famous, but more Manchester and I'm from Yorkshire originally!) Having people who's work you admire will stand you in great stead no matter what camera you've got.

And thanks for teaching me something today. Had to look up 'footering' on Urban Dictionary which then prompted me to look up photographer...

Photographer should define to individuals using cameras who are dedicated, show some level of skill, talent, or expertise, and usually persist in taking pictures for extended periods of their life.

Buy a piano you aren't automatically a pianist.
Buy a plane and you aren't automatically a pilot.
Buy a camera and you're a photographer.

Super!
 
Getting out and using it is the best thing to do. Learn from your mistakes - and successes :)

It could take years!
 
Welcome aboard..
the only way to learn is to start with a good footer.. Or as a lot of Irish people would say " Have a footer with that and let me know how you get on later ".
Carry your camera with you in the car and if you see something that interests you or looks interesting visually to photography work away and see how it goes.
Youtube is very good but only thing I tend to do is drift from theme to theme and get nowhere in the end..
 
Thanks folks.

@Harlequin565 Terrific film, Control. I'll have a look at Cummins as well, only really know one or two 'names' tbh.

Yeah, footer is a great word. lol
 
You sound like you are doing yourself an injustice by referring to yourself as a complete novice!

I did a local photography evening course last year and it has made a real difference to my photography (although, I still have an annoyingly high percentage of crap photos) It covered both 'taking pictures' and photo manipulation (on Photoshop). It introduced me to the manual settings, which I now wonder how I ever took photographs before. Things like the 'rule of thirds' and 'rule of odds' etc have helped to know (although they are more guidelines than rules). Also, Youtube has many good tutorial videos - I'm sure there are other threads about which ones are best.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing some of your photos very soon.
 
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