Hello newbie from Florida .....

RinconPhoto · May 10, 2009

Hello my name is Anthony , I'm From Lakeland and my wife purchased a Nikon D40 for me for our Wedding Anniversary . She purchased it from a friend its only 6 months old , but one fault that it has something in the sensor area that shows up on the photos, So i guess I have to take it to a Camera shop . I'am in a Car Club and enjoyed taking photos of vehicles with a basic digital camera , But after using this camera I'm addicted to taking pictures of everything now . My main goal is to improve in my photo taking , to learn how to take night photos now that I have a real camera , Learn how to use a flash and when to use a flash cause I noticed sometimes when the flash is used the pictures dont come out as nice .

I'm basically a virgin when it comes to all the buttons on this camera so I like to learn when to use certain settings , I dont have any filters or wide angle lens , just the basic set up that comes with the nikon .

I would like the people on here to direct me to the right way with out spending alot of money on extra's I dont need because I only want to do this as a hobbie and of course for my car club and family ,but I do want to take quality pics so I'm willing to spend but not like a proffesional .

I practice every day taking photos of anything .

Thank YOu

coreduo · May 10, 2009

Buy a tripod. Necessary item. Only 30 dollars. You can tinker with it by increasing or decreasing f-stops or shutter speeds. Without a tripod, you cannot be so sure you got the right meter reading. I believe that by setting it on automatic on a tripod would register the right meter reading. Increase the reading by +1 or -1 or the shutter speed +1 or -1. You have to consider ISO too. If you want to enlarge it medium format or in an 8 x 10 print, you got to lower the ISO to 100. I think that is the lowest. Well anyway, keep on experimenting. Experience makes wise. I started with a D40 too.

RinconPhoto · May 11, 2009

I went out and bought a tripod today ,,, Wonder if I need filters or a wide angle lens .... any suggestions on those ???

jedi32277 · May 11, 2009

all depends on what type of shooting you want to get in to.

RinconPhoto · May 12, 2009

My main goals of course are family photos and Cars wether it is at car shows are from my car club , ...

I did take some pictures on RAW and when I went to go download it to my computer it wouldnt let me down load them photos ???? Does anyone know why ???

ShotGunNik · May 12, 2009

That's weird, on my Canon, I was able to hook up the USB cable that connects the camera to the USB hub on my work PC. Then, I locate the icon indicating I have new hardware connected, open the file selection and go from there. This should then lead you to a folder containing the shots you just took.

Also, much faster way if your computer isn't outdated like my work PC lol, is if you just insert the Memory Card that you used in your camera for pics and insert it into the memory card slot on your home PC or laptop. Then follow the same steps.

RinconPhoto · May 12, 2009

My photos go to through my documents then to my picture folder I guess its windows, On the camrea had 3 pics that were taking in fine and the other 30 taken on raw the raw were the ones that didnt show up on the screen , My computer is outdated and doesnt have a slot for the memory card...LOL...Oh man while typing this I looked through what you were tlaking about connecting the USb and I remember I said no for download new hardware and I didnt down load the RAW decoder....and I erased all those pictures cause I got mad ....LOL...Thanks again for the help ... I need to calm down I got over excited cause now I finally have a camera that I enjoy taking photos with ... :mrgreen: