Thanks Ginny -- Couldn't agree more. We all learned from someone. My 11-yr old son is beginning to learn photography and is joining some forums to learn more. No, the question was not from my son but it could have been. Yes, he can read the manual but no matter what you read, you practice and look at others to give tips like some of the ideas given on this thread. When you come across people who are rude about a simple question, I guess it just helps me teach my son what not to be when he gets older.

If you go read a sampling of my over 5500 messages here, you will probably come away with a different sense. I get PM'ed on a regular basis by folks thanking me for my insights and direction. I'm not intentionally rude... just direct, assertive, analytical, detail-oriented, restless, by the book, intuitive, thoughtful, and yes, a bit judgmental. And unapologetic, on all counts. Photography and writing are the cores of who I am, and all the roles I've played, since 1968.

The best advice I ever got about photography came from two extremely blunt, direct, plain spoken people — my high school yearbook advisor for four years, and my manager during my early career, who was a highly talented art director. They were brutally honest about what it would take to get better at my craft. They were nearly ALWAYS right! The poke only hurts if you refuse to grow!

The RTFM admonishment has been around the Internet since the days before the 'World Wide Web', when there were nothing but chat rooms and bulletin boards for geeks. It was always understood as a friendly poke, meaning that the person asking the question needed to take a little personal responsibility for his/her understanding of the topic at hand. Those of us on the 'net back then weren't normal... We were mostly very serious about what we did, and didn't waste expensive bandwidth beating around the bush. If the information you need is already right in front of you, or downloadable, why should someone else read it to you?

Unfortunately, now that the 'net is fully mainstream, many do not understand that friendly poke. Again, I don't mean to be rude. I'm perfectly willing to help those who help themselves, and I do it on a daily basis.

The manual is *always* a good place to start. It's painful to read JEnglish (Japanese, badly translated to English), but they put ALL the good stuff about the gear in there. They just don't tell you WHY it's there. You have to learn that elsewhere, and through testing and experience.

Of course, photographic education is a lot more. Most folks have a choice — use a smartphone, or buy an adjustable camera and keep it on 'A' or 'P', or buy that adjustable camera and apply real knowledge gained through reading, testing, doing, viewing.

I'm serious about the time commitment. It takes a lot of practice, study, examples, and intense reflection to get really good at anything.

Isn’t this site for all levels of photographers and a place for beginners and intermediate “newbies”, hobbyists, semi-pro and pros to seek advice? For those of you that are so stinking rude, did you forget all the questions you asked when you started out? Give people a chance. This is supposed to be a place where we support one another. Sometimes asking a question takes a lot of courage because none of us want to appear ignorant, stupid, or lacking knowledge some others already have acquired. Take your frustrations out on others and stop with the high and mighty attitude ... as well as pushing people away that have joined this site as a means of learning.

ISO
Shutter speed
Aperture
Focus
White balance

But there are SO many others.

Read The F***ing Manual if you want to take it off 'full auto' mode. It only takes 30 minutes per page to truly understand it.

It only takes 10,000 hours of practice to become proficient (at practically anything).

Spend the time. You'll be glad you did!

I don't mean to be rude or flip, but sometimes newbies need a reality check.

GREAT photographers learn by:

Reading
Doing
Viewing tens of thousands of REALLY GOOD photos.

Dive in!