Are you going to do it or not? That's the question you have to settle. I photographed my sister-in-law's wedding (none of the special shots, etc.). I did a google search on wedding photography and made a list of the shots they recommended in the various articles. I mostly shot in auto mode, used the built in flash, all of the photos turned out well, my brother and sister-in-law (and their families) were really please with the work I did. When my daughter got married, a professional photographer was our gift to the happy couple.

I use this lens on my D40 and have never had a problem with it. I've had it for 2 years. Focus is sharp; auto focus is great. I have also used it with my d3000 with similar results (always good). I highly recommend it.

While I normally shoot in Manual, I regularly go into the other program modes (usually shutter or aperture priority) in order to get quick shots with minimal fuss. I'll use shutter priority when shooting waterfalls. I use aperture when experimenting with depth of field. I think the important thing is to know the when and why of using these modes.

I purchased the q-strap off of e-bay 2 years ago and it works perfectly! I've done all-day fashion shoots with it and didn't feel any strain like I did when I used my Nikon kit strap. The nice thing is, it screws into the camera's tripod screw receptacle and it has its own screw receptacle so you can still screw your tripod onto the camera.

I bought into Nikon (with no regrets) for the simple reason that the Nikon was $100 less than the comparable Canon DSLR at the time I bought it (on sale). If the Canon had been on sale I would have happily bought into that instead. It's a personal choice--now go make it!

My first DSLR was a Nikon D40. My sister-in-law liked the photos I did so much, that she asked me to photograph her wedding. I shot in automatic (a big no-no), I used the on camera flash (another big no-no), I had a list of photos I wanted to do (a big yes-yes), I took tons and tons of candids a the reception. Was my photography first rate? No. Was it good? Extremely good. Was she happy? Yes and her new family all wanted copies of the photos. You can do a good job with the materials you have on hand if you think it through ahead of time!

Oh for the good ol' days of film cameras! They used to have depth of field guides on the lenses. Set the f/stop, look at the guide, and it would tell you what was in focus and what wasn't. Want to change the depth of field? Just change the f/stop on the camera and you'd have an idea as to what was and wasn't in focus! They even had the guides on telephotos lenses (at least the ones I used). I wish someone would develop an easy to use calculator for depth of field. I would buy it and use it!

People whip out their cameras and just take a shot--any shot, without thinking it through. You can see this at weddings, people will shoot from the pew, getting pictures at awkward angles. They'll take pictures of the bride and groom while standing well to the left or right of the party, with the party looking here, there and everywhere. A photographer takes that type of photo head on, asking the bride and groom to look into the camera.

Now, there are times I will whip out my camera and take a shot without setting it up. Usually it's the type of thing that if you don't take that shot, right then and there, you won't have an opportunity to take it again. A number of years ago I was on a whale watch on the St. Lawrence River. I took photos of the whales in the distance. Suddenly a whale came up right next to the boat, all of us jumped away from the whale (it was unexpected!). I was the only one to take the picture of the massive, greenish brown mountain arising out the water. Of course it wasn't in focus, but every time I look at the photo, I'm glad I caught it!

An alternative is to check out craigs list for a used lens. I bought my manual adjusting Nikon 70-300 on CL and it works well. I liked it so much that I bought a Tamron 70-300 for more money--I can use the autofocus with the Tamron. I spent about $110 for the Nikon. I brought my camera with me, made sure the worked with my camera, checked it carefully for scratches (on the lenses).