Hey Doc ..... think Joey would wanna listen to anything from a smug Britt, ha,ha,ha,ha I don't think so doc ..... less he's in the UK and can't find a unlicensed baseball bat, ha,ha,ha,

Hi Joey, and a warm welcome from the UK. Just in case you get a little fed up with American accents from time to time you could learn a lot from this set of instructional videos - http://www.photographycourses.biz/all_photography_videos.html
Perhaps you can let us know where in the world you are - go to "My Profile and find the "Location" section.

Hey Doc ..... photography is painting with light and once you understand the basics it'll come naturally how you modify your exposure .....

..... public libraries will have books on basic photography (film) from the 60's, easiest way for anyone to learn .....

..... the beauty of digital is instant visual results, we didn't have this luxury in the film days .....

..... light striking the film or with digital the sensor, is what makes your image .....

..... the light enters your camera through the lens ..... the light is regulated in two basic ways, how large the lens opens and how long it stays open .....

..... the opening is called your aperture and the time is stays open is called your shutter speed .....

..... Exposure is subjective, you'll hear The Correct Exposure but that's nonsense because there is no such thing as Correct ..... a drop lighter, or a little darker is all subjective and you control this by using camera settings .....

..... choosing your aperture and shutter allows you co emphasize how your image looks, and you have to make compromises based on the results you seek .....

..... Set your ISO (film/sensor speed) to the base ISO ,lowest number .....

..... Use auto focus, BTW this has nothing to do with Auto Exposure .....

..... in Automatic mode, focus on a subject and take the picture .....

..... In playback you can now write down the aperture and shutter speed your camera chose for that pic .....

..... Now turn your mode dial to Manual. Set the aperture and shutter speed you wrote down. Take that same picture and your results should be exactly the same as the pic you took in Auto ..... You now have a test picture to play with ..... Remember that manual relies on you to make the decisions, what a bummer huh, the camera's not gonna do anything for ya ..... but this is how you fully control your image .....

..... Slowing down your shutter speed will make your picture lighter ..... think about it, if the lens stays open longer more light's gonna enter ..... and if instead you increased the shutter speed the picture's gonna get darker because the lens stay's open for a shorter time ..... Shutter speed controls Blur which is important when you want to control motion of fast moving subjects but forget about that until you get a hold of the basic exposure principle .....

..... Changing your aperture is another way of regulating your exposure ..... using a larger opening, lower number, you change the size of the lens opening, more light comes in and your image will be lighter ..... choose a smaller opening, larger number, your picture gets darker because less light can enter a smaller hole .....

...... Aperture controls your depth of field, that's the area that will be in focus from front to back in your picture ..... when blurring the background or for-ground you'll choose your exposure settings based on aperture .....

..... with film we only had full stops basically to change the exposure but with digital we have the luxury of fractions of a stop, this allows for slight exposure changes .....

wow Wascal this is great advice I can't wait to delve into all my instructions. . One question regarding light. I was in Texas last week and very cloudy. I took no pics outdoors because everything was so dreary if I slowed the shutter would this help that situation??? of course would use a tripod (probably have to right???)

Hey Doc ..... Yep, slow down the shutter speed, use larger apertures (small numbers) and you can raise the ISO (higher Numbers) which I didn't get into .....

..... and yes, a tripod is a good accessory when using slow shutter speeds .....

Oh Craggy this is very strange but I have a gal that stayed with me as an exchange student, she is like a daughter to me and she is from the UK. and as for you I have never seen anyone that resembles my father in his younger years as you. and as for my profile I will get that updated now. Bossy bossy people on here. hehehe I love this site and wow all the help. You all are so welcoming. thank you