You are off to a good start. Nice lens. I have the Sigma 150-500 and like it too. You have been given some good advice regarding the exposure. I set "highlight alert" on my camera so that any blown out areas blink on my playback screen. That gives you a chance to make exposure changes right away. Also if you camera will do it you can set it to take three exposures. One under, one over and one at zero. It helps when you are taking shots in direct sunlight. Then you can merge them together in post processing. Hope this helps.