Best Shooting Modes for a Beginner

Richardreason50

Hi,
I bought my first DSLR (Nikon D3100) and I'm relatively new to this type of camera and what it can actually do. Most of the jargon and certainly some of the descriptions go over my head, but I guess I'll grasp that in time. I've done some research before buying and all the reviews, blogs and articles rate this camera highly so I want to do it justice.

What are the best modes and subject matter to be for photographing as a beginner? I have a baby girl (7months old) so I want to take good quality pictures of her mainly.

I bought it with the 18-55mm VR kit lens, and I was wondering what are some wise investments to get me started?

Any feedback, hints and tips are welcome.
Rich

Riddelske

First, welcome to world of DSLR. My first bit of advice is to study the camera well and get to know it. Take one button at a time and learn its functions. The manual is a great source.
It can be overwhelming at first so please don't get mad with it. If you have come from a point and shoot camera then it's going to be a bit different, so be prepared.
One thing you have to remember is that the better the lens, the more chance you will produce better pictures, but also knowledge helps to in obtaining these.

Subjects that you wish to shoot are a personal preference, but to start with try still life; this way you can learn without the hassle of movement. I prefer to shoot in manual and aperture priority mode. If you're still learning I would stick to one of the scene modes first.

The next thing you should consider is buying is a prime lens. 50mm is a good all around lens and is perfect for portrait work.

Regards

kravattisolmu

Play around with your kit lens to see if you use 35mm or 50mm focal length more when taking photos of your baby. You will soon notice the kit lens is a very good all rounder, but won't be the best match for portraits. Nikkor has great, affordable lenses for this purpose:

Nikkor 35mm DX f/1.8G
Nikkor 50mm DX f/1.8G

They both cost around 200 dollar/euro and used ones are 120-150 euros. They are ridiculously good when you think that many professional lenses go way beyond 500euros and up to 2000+ euros. Those two are made just for the purpose you have!

Also, learning can be much more fun with pictures. The manual is a huge text wall, but there are many books for the D3100 that explain things from the manual with photos.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321754549/ref=rdr_ext_sb_ti_sims_3 Ive checked this out from snapshots to greatshots. This book comes for every Nikon camera version.

kravattisolmu

As for modes, try to use A mode (aperture mode), and try get as small of an F number (depth of field) as possible to blur the background of the subject (in this case ur child). Kit lenses gives around f/4-f/4-5, which is decent. In A mode you control what you want sharp in the photo and camera sets the rest (auto ISO, shutter speed, white balance). I mostly use A mode myself.

Richardreason50

Thanks for the advice. Just got back from holiday, so I managed to squeeze in some play time with the D3100.

Rich