Learn to use your in camera or post processing color temp control, you can make your photos as warm as you want.

Fuji makes a pink camera for their instant film!

Find a Kodak "Master Photo Guide" and follow the tables. Remember the exposure for the lights (which are bright) is different than the exposure for the background (which is usually dark). Flash for the background and a higher shutter for the lights. Not difficult, Experiment!

love my Tokina 500 mm f8 mirror. Very light and I can handhold. As for exposure limitations, remember ISO variation!

love my Tokina 500 mm f8 mirror. Very light and I can handhold. As for exposure limitations, remember ISO variation!

Wide and fast. What ever your budget can withstand. Remember the earth is revolving so long exposures will result is star streaks. Vary your exposure times.
Take a look at the web articles for night photography it's not as easy as point and shoot.

Learn photography - take a course at your local adult ed or camera store. Then the manual will make sense.

Each film size has a "normal" lens focal length. For 35 mm film is a 45 to 60 mm leans. For most digital SLRs normal is a 24 to 35mm or so lens, except for full frame - back to 35 sensor sixe. Remember 110 film, those lens' in the miniature cameras were about 24 mm. Some compact digital cameras now have normal 12 -15 mm or smaller, especially the smart phone cameras. 120 film for large format cameras, normal is a 110 to 120 mm. It's not about the "view "of the human eye which can be close to 170 degrees, it's all about the perspective without side distortion.

Start as near the original image as possible, as suggested; the orig negs. Remember there are lots of scanners out there from the $99 specials that essentially take a pix of your pix to real scanners costing from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Your final scan quality is what for what you pay for. Then there is always the other half, post processing on a computer, many programs with various levels of processing variation. Most will do some level of sharpening.

I have seen in the advertising and several topics discussion about "ability to fine tune a lens." What's the story, if the lens is properly constructed and elements are aligned, what is there to "fine tune." Is there really that much slop in the camera mounts. I have seen that in the one lens does all compacts. If a lens really needs adjustment send it back to the manufacturer. If the "fine tune" is to compensate for poor workmanship, don't buy it in the first place.

"Protecting the glass" Use a lens hood!
Varying exposure to "create a photograph" try them all. Most of the websites show before and after filter photos.
Buy at your local store, try for the effect, return for a refund those that you don't like.

Don't buy a camera specific book. These instruction manuals say turn the knob or press the button and an adjustment is made. They don't tell you what effect the adjustment does to the photo.
Buy a book or series of classes so she can learn about photography and what the various settings mean and how their combinations result in in a good picture. Try Nikon School or your local camera shop.
Pretty good with a camera phone, remember they are automatic, set up for what the camera program wants to do.

Think about how you use your camera, if the shutter fails during a shoot, sh*t, your outta luck for the time it takes to have the shutter replaced, plus shipping/delivery. Working in the meantime? Go buy another body!
Q? - why didn't they count shutter releases with manual cameras? Because it didn't happen often?
An electronis shutter fails, was it the shutter or the controlling electronics? If your worried about the shutter count - replace the camera.
It's not like your hard drive manufacturer that has a spec of "mean time between failures."
You do have your storage backed up, don't you?

Like so many new photographers ( or picture takers) your comments show that you don't understand the basics of capturing light as a photograph. I suggest that you take a basic photo class at your local camera shop or adult evening school. Learn the differances of ISO, aperature, white balance, shutter speed etc so you can ge the best out of your equipment. You might take a picture but a photographer will make a photograph!
It's not equipment - it's how you use your equipment.