It may seem obvious, but have you tried to shoot in manual mode? If that works, then try a semi automatic mode like aperture or shutter priority mode, but make sure you start with the lens set to the smallest aperture (highest number).

Twisted Sisters

I happened to notice a beautiful light from the sun on my wine glass. A switch to rose made it better. This was taken using an old, Nikon 35-70mm, F/2.8 lens on a Nikon D750. It took some patience, waiting for the shadow to elongate. The sun stars came with an aperture of F/22.

Rose wine worked out very well for this image. This is not a high resolution photo, but if you zoom in you can see five sunstars.

You can use a "poor-man's" gray card, either the palm of your hand or a gray rock. The following steps assume Manual Mode, with Auto-ISO off. You could also use Shutter- or Aperture- priority.

1) Take your pet to where you want to make the photograph.
2) Aim at the "gray" and half-press the shutter (don't worry about focus).
3) Adjust shutter, aperture or ISO until the meter points to the middle of the scale.

This will get you close to the correct exposure. With those settings, take a test shot and tweak as necessary.

I went for a walk and picked these dried up wildflowers. Lighting is through a window, late afternoon sun and used a gold reflector with a black background. Nikon D750, 105mm, f/22, ISO 400.

Take in the numerous waterfalls. Many are a short walk from the road. Wagner Falls is picturesque.
Don't forget the south side of the Upper Peninsula:
1) Take the ferry to Mackinaw Island. Its fun to taste the fudge at various shops. Rent a bike for a nice ride around the island. There are no cars.
2) Visit Kitch-iti-kipi, "The Big Spring" outside of Manistique.
3) Northern Sun winery is unique in that it makes all its wine from cold-hardy grapes, grown in their vineyard. Say Hi to Dave and Suzy and enjoy some of their wines.

Snapseed is also free. Has many retouching tools, ranging from 1-click, global to selective areas. You can also define an export size/resolution. I edit my photos and export as 1200 pixels on the long side to make small emails and for social media.

Costco charges $10 for a 20"x30" print. Some of the locations take better care of their printers than others. However I have been very happy with their prints and have several hanging on my walls at work.

I had a Honda Fit. Great gas mileage. Unfortunately the small-diameter, low-profile tires were no match for Michigan roads. In the 20 months of (Honda Fit) ownership seven of my tires were destroyed by potholes. During my approximate half-century of driving other cars only one of my tires ended up being replaced due to sidewall bulge. The original equipment tires that came with the Fit are absolutely substandard. They have thin sidewalls and do not even come with a mileage rating. This is not a slam against the Fit, except to say that Honda really missed the mark with the tire/wheel combination.

Fabulous camera! I had a D70 that died so graduated to the D90. It was a definite cut above the entry models and much cheaper than the full-frame cameras. It went everywhere with me for about 4 years and produced many 20"x30" posters. I bought a D7100 when they came out and \my sister now has the D90. Someday a FF is in my future.

Check out the ranger-led night hikes. Fun for everybody, as long as none of the kids have the light-up shoes!

I believe the same thing happened to my D90. The best solution is to order a new rubber ring. It costs about $10.

If you check around you will find that this lens is very good. Some say that it is second best at everything. Any lens you use will have some drawbacks and some advantages. I feel that the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks.

My D7100 goes with me pretty much all of the time, with that lens attached. I never know what opportunities await, but I am ready. The build quality for the 18-200 is very good. Hence this is the perfect walkabout lens and am very happy with it.

For something light, fast, very sharp and inexpensive, I would vote for Nikon's 35mm f/1.8. On the crop-sensor it is pretty close to a lens with a "normal" field of view. It is about $200 new.