2 replies to this topic

[Chamayne]

Hello, all.  I am a 4th grade teacher/librarian.  I live on a small family farm and I love to take photos of nature each day as I walk my dog.  

 

I know virtually nothing about photography but I know what I like when I see it and am more than willing to learn.  The camera I have was given to me by a family friend (a "real" photographer, one that he had in his arsenal) when he realized I was posting photos on Facebook from my Samsung cell phone camera and a point-and-shoot Sony.  

 

Long story short...my cause is suicide prevention, in memory of my brother.  I created a Facebook page called Becoming Christian Messengers (my brother's initials were BCM).  I take pictures on the farm (our family home place), add text (scripture, uplifting quotes, encouraging sayings), and post them with suicide prevention hashtags.  

 

www.facebook.com/noemptychair

 

I want to be able to zoom in on songbirds, deer, hawks, ground squirrels, and so on....and also flowers, bees, dewdrops, etc.  I have only the lens that came with the camera and don't really even know what all of it means:  3.0x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikor Lens.  Honestly, it's a foreign language to me at this point.  

 

So...I'd love any and all advice and will peruse this forum as time permits.  

 

Thanks ever so much! ~ Chamayne

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[Jim Jones]

First let me say I'm sorry for your loss...it's good to see that you have faith, and a cause, to help you through it.

 

Regarding the technical stuff about the camera - that's the (relatively) easy part to learn. You'll eventually get the hang of all the numbers and letters, etc. I just took a quick look at your page and your photos on Facebook - you've already got the hardest part of photography down. You have a good eye for composition and for colors. You've got some nice stuff!

 

Stick with it, enjoy the photographic journey, and don't stop being amazed at all the wonder and beauty God has created.

 

Jim

https://www.facebook...onesPhotography

[Patrick9]

Welcome to Nikon Forums. The 18-55 lens is a good performer. I use mine quite a bit. It is a wide "18mm" to normal "55mm" zoom. The rest probably won't mean much to you for a while. When you ant to take more control over your photo's then the rest will come into play. when you wish  To zoom in on wild life you normally need a longer lens in the 200mm or 300 mm range a 55 to 200 might get you by for the deer and bird shots and can be had pretty reasonably.

.When you have a question feel free to ask . There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here.