I have been taking photos for years now but just useing point and shoot cameras and staying on auto .My goal is to get off auto and learn all the funtions on my new D7100..Where I live there is no camera courses to take so any info would be helpful like what kind of lens should I be using ?
Nothing wrong with Auto mode! if your worried about missing a photo that you want stay on it for now.
If you have time to get out for some photos switch to manual mode and try the following...
set shutter speed to the focal length of your lens (this will help with blur in most situations) Eg 50mm lens set to 50
usually on a sunny day set a higher f number say F16
this also gives you a greater depth of field for your lens.
play around with shutter and apertures and leave the ISO on auto for now this will allow the camera to set your "Film" type based on your shutter aperture and light coming into the camera
Give it a go there is no harm in trying it out and it will help ya learn a bit more of the manual mode.