I have seen red wing blackbirds in south Arkansas, perching on a single blade of grass. They are amazing birds.

I have seen red wing blackbirds in south Arkansas, perching on a single blade of grass. They are amazing birds.

It seems that explaining "Manual", "M" mode setting as opposed to a book of instructions, is sort of like explaining jazz to a novice musician. There a number of settings that can be chosen by the photographer. ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, White Balance, Depth of Field, etc. "M" allows you to play with them in many ways. Your experimentation will lead you to like it, eventually even to love it. A musician has myriad scales and chords to choose from in order to play "jazz". Composing on the fly requires a lot of experimentation and knowledge of many aspects of musicianship. Once experience has done its teaching "Jazz" and "M" become preferred. Musicians hunt sounds, Photographers hunt images. Good luck, play pretty, and happy hunting.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Nice lesson there. I like them and am still using my Cool Pix for distant subjects.

You have a good eye! Don't know about the other one. Excellent photos!

Thank you, everyone, for you kind comments.

We've come a long way! Thanks, for your nice words.

Photography has been a lifetime interest. I still have my original camera, an Eastman Kodak Bullet Camera. I used it quite a bit when I was in elementary and high school.
Somewhere in the house are examples of photos I took with it. I learned to appreciate black and white and the idea of blacks being black and whites being white have stayed
with me for ever even for color photos. I'm posting a few very recent photos I took with a Nikon D3300 using a Tamron 24-70mm lens. They were shot handheld and post processed, with View NX2. I have become opinionated over the past nearly 75 years. Handheld is prefered to tripod, and low light has always been my favorite challenge. I've learned to look for
interesting subjects, and not fear the challenges. This is not my first post, and may not be my last. I tried one of the contests some few years ago, but decided that, like music, excellence
always surpasses competition. Please do not argue the point. My mind is made up. Hope you enjoy the photos.

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A. I like to know what the camera sees! Sometimes I'll download an interesting shot.

Aye!

I like the third from the top and the second from bottom. All are useful depending on purpose.

This made my wife laugh! Being 75 made me appreciate it! Do you have her phone number?

I really liked #2. Best focus, composition and color.