CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

I have a Nikon D3100, my first DSLR. Although I've learned a lot in the last month since I bought it I'm frustrated. I've been following this forum and others and read so much about 'do this' or 'do that' but people don't explain how to do this or do that. I've read a book by Bryan Peterson and it's the same-do this and do that. It's as if telling someone who understands cars to drive someplace as opposed to telling someone whose never seen a car and doesn't know that he has to put a key in the ignition, turn it, put the clutch in and shift the gear and let the clutch out and shift again and steer and brake etc.... Things that an experienced person may take for granted that a newbie doesn't know or understand. So I went to Amazon to look for a specific book that I could read that is specifically about the D3100 but again there's so many to choose from. I'm frustrated and tired of reading to 'do this' without it being explained how to do it. Or why. I don't want to just know what works and what doesn't. I want to know why something works and how it works. I need a book that will approach the subject of this with an ''ok, you have this new camera and want to know it inside and out and what it can do and can't and how to MAKE it do it's thing'' and not just be told to do it but have it explained HOW to do it. In other words assume this user has never held a camera before and take it from there instead of assuming the reader already knows how to do the things that it says to do. Thanks

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

what are your trying to do? I'm more than happy to help a newbie out but I need to understand what you are trying to learn. If someone says "do this" and you don't know how ask them to explain.

* I am not a professional, still have a lot to learn myself and may not always have the correct answer but I will try and give a helping hand.

EdAnderson Loc: Hanover, PA

It might be helpful to know your prior photographic experience, if any, what photographic subjects or techniques interest you the most, and what specific questions you want to start with. There are many of us on this forum who are very willing to address questions/issues as they are proposed.

rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

Nomenclature and Jargon in any 'technical' area can be frustrating.
Its like learning a 'foreign' language while you're trying to do a crossword puzzle in that language.
1. Read your manual and pay attention to the diagram naming all the functions.
2. Bryan Peterson is a good teacher of basics. "Understanding Digital Photgraphy" and Understanding Composition are 2 good references.
3. Check your local Camera Shop or Adult Education Center. Both usually have basic Digital Photography Classes for free or a few dollars.
4. Be patient. None of us learned any of this in a month or 3 or 300 months.
5. MOST IMPORTANT. Shoot photos using all the controls and features on your camera. One feature at a time, then combine some, then SHOOT SOME MORE. Shoot something every day, even if its your toothbrush.
Good luck and ask specific questions here...We'll help. But you gotta put in your time too.
Rocco

bhfranklin Loc: Boston Area / Cape Cod

Sorry...meant this reply to go to Coco Roger...
I had similar issues (feelings) with my new alpha 55 and found David Busch's book specific to the Sony a55/A33 very user friendly.

I suspect he also has similar books available for your camera. Worth a checkvia google David Busch. good luck!

emrob62 Loc: NEPA

Coco (or would you prefer Roger?), First, congratulations on taking a big step into the wonderful world of digital photography, and chiming in to this great forum. The one thing to keep in mind with regards to image capturing, is that we all see things differently, so what I might see and the way I want to capture it will be different from your. Because of this, how you use the camera is an individual aspect of the process. They key to the why' and hows of adjusting the settings is that mostly it is a matter of light. The varoius settings ie ISO f/stop etc, dictate how much light and how long that light is brought into the camera in order to grab the image you are looking at. For this reason, taking time to experiment with the varoius settings is as much importance as it is fun(if you want to take the time to understand it. You are right that it is frustrating to be told what to do without knowing why, and I'm sure that by the time this gets up there will be several others who can give you the more technical definitions and reasons. I just wanted to chime in with a friendly, relax and take your time with the learning. Good luck If you post some shots you take they will give you advice on what to adjust and why (if you ask) Good luck and have fun, there's a big beautiful world out there just waiting for your eye's to capture it.

forbescat

I'm going to take a risk and assume that you have not sat down with the camera in your hands and the manual in your lap. Right in the beginning are pictures of your camera and the names of all the different parts. Do the same thing that I would have to do if I lifted the hood on my car and wanted to identify the parts. Memorize them. Once you can identify each and every one, then you can move on to the next pages. It doesn't do any good to read the descriptive pages until you know the names of the parts. If you are still stumped, make a list of the words you don't understand and look them up. You have to speak the language before anyone can really help you.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Here is a pending UHH Frequently Asked Questions page concerning photo jargon:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user_page.jsp?upnum=175

les_stockton Loc: Eastern Oklahoma

It might be a iterative process. You ask a question. People give an answer. You might understand part of it, but not all of it, and have to ask more questions for greater detail.
Then people will provide the details.

Don't let it frustrate you. Everyone else has been through the same thing at one time or another.
And as experienced as I am, I sometimes find myself asking a question on something a little more obscure (or some aspect that I've not used before) and found myself getting answers that don't give me enough detail to know what to do.

Also remember that google is a great tool. I find that many times, I can google my questions and sometimes get better answers (better detail) than I can on forums. There are a lot of great tutorials out there, and google finds them for you.

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Thanks to all for your encouragement. To answer a couple of questions, I like nature photography, landscape and 'artistic' as opposed to portrait. As an example of do this or do that I read about metering that I should center or meter the sky if its dusk yet no explanation about how to meter. So I fiddle with things not knowing if what I'm doing is what I'm supposed to be doing. There's no step by step about ''once you have the camera in your hands this is how you meter....'' and again in talking about long exposures I read that if you want to go longer than the 30 secs the camera then I should go to bulb mode but with no explanation what it is, and how to do it. Then someone says to simply go to manual and scroll to 'bulb' so I try that and go to manual and scroll up and down through the list but nowhere do I see 'bulb'. It may just be something simple to understand once you know what you're doing but it gets frustrating to be told to do something without being told how to do it or in the case of bulb mode that when I do this or that it will solve my problem when it doesn't. I go to manual and scroll and just assume that he means turn the wheel and go through the list of options. Granted their minor things for the most part I agree but those are things I want to learn and like I say there's a difference between being told to do something as opposed to 'this is what you do, this is why you do it, and this is how you do it.'

emrob62 Loc: NEPA

Wikipedia offers this:
The term bulb is a reference to old-style pneumatically actuated shutters; squeezing an air bulb would open the shutter and releasing the bulb would close it. According to the Focal Encyclopedia of Photography[3]:

BULB EXPOSURE (B). Another term for a brief exposure—in which the shutter remains open only so long as the shutter release is held down. The word originated with the early pneumatic shutter release.
It is not clear when the term actually originated. It appears that when instantaneous shutters were introduced, they included a B setting so that the familiar bulb behavior could be duplicated with a cable release. This may have been the origin of the term bulb in reference to shutter settings. (See the photo captions.)[original research?]

[edit] UseThe bulb setting is used on some cameras, including some point-and-shoot cameras, to obtain shutter speeds slower than the maximum offered by the camera otherwise.

Because of the risk of camera movement, the camera is most often mounted on a tripod for the duration of the exposure. While it's generally possible to use the shutter release button on the camera itself, a cable release or electronic remote is often used to further eliminate the risk of shaking the camera during the long exposure. The cable releases generally include a locking feature to eliminate the need to keep the button or plunger depressed during extremely long exposures.

The bulb setting is useful for the following types of photographic subjects:

fireworks at night
the night sky and celestial objects (see astrophotography)
lightning
streets at night (creating streaks from moving cars)
[edit] On modern camerasOn some modern cameras, bulb is a mode available as an option on the LCD menu only, if possible at all. On others, including many Digital SLR cameras, bulb is available from the manual exposure mode or shutter priority modes.[4]

When set to bulb, generally on the "M" or manual setting of the camera, the shutter will stay open as long as the shutter release button (or shutter release cable or remote) remains depressed.

Some mid-level or bridge cameras such as the Olympus SP-560UZ have a 'limited' bulb setting, allowing time exposures up to 8 minutes and at an ISO setting of 200 ISO and lower.[citation needed]

Some specialized cameras use other image triggers.

les_stockton Loc: Eastern Oklahoma

With regards to metering, I can only answer with regards to my Canon camera. Your's might be different.
I aim at whatever I'm photographing, and with a half click on the shutter button, it "meters" the scene. At the bottom of the viewfinder, you can see the meter readout, and tell if you need to adjust exposure (aperture and/or shutter speed) until the meter readout indicates proper exposure.

Consider the meter readout will vary, depending upon the "style" or "mode" of metering your camera is set up for. Most DSLRs have at least 3 types of metering. One is average. One is center metering. and there's a center-weighted. There are others.

Check out this Youtube video on metering for the Canon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2qnIfJnuAU

PS. There are a lot of photography related videos on youtube that are great for learning.

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

but see? I appreciate the info but is everything except HOW to do it.

Xiaoding Loc: North Carolina, USA

Do not skip thru the manual, looking for this or that. Read the ENTIRE manual. then, buy a book on basic photagraphy. Read the ENTIRE book. There are no shortcuts.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Meter, adjust either your shutter speed, apeture or ISO until the blinkey is centered on your exposure meter.

Exposure Meter