Camera help

Phil Young said:
Hi Ruth.

Try bouncing your pop up flash indoors to make the kit lens work inside! Set it to the highest power and in manual mode, have your hand direct the flash up to a ceiling. The light will then 'bounce' from the ceiling onto your subject and allow you to use lower ISO and faster shutter speeds. See- you don't even need to buy a flash unit when you know how ;)
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Excellent advice for using pop up flash.

Even better if you use a piece of white card or paper to bounce it up.
 
I'd use white card, not your hand. Your hand isn't white, and this will quite badly affect the white balance.
 
I really appreciate all the help. It's wonderful. Thank you. I defo will be getting a new lens and not a new body. :-) x
 
If you're at the level I think you are, then buying a camera like a D600 or D800 could be the worst thing you ever do, photographically speaking. They're both much more complex than your D5100, and if you haven't yet mastered the camera you already own then all that will happen will be that you confuse yourself further. The D5100 is perfectly good; get a book about basic photography, read it, shoot pictures. Maybe look out your nearest camera club and find out about joining. You need knowledge and experience, not a more expensive camera.
 
Ruth, if you want one lens to cover a wide range then I'd go for the 18 - 200 rather than the 18 - 300. Less reach at the far end but much better optically. I found that out the hard way!
 
phil8139 said:
NO NO NO NO........

Do not spend money to help you take better pictures, the camera will HELP you take better pictures.

Ruth, you are in the run before you can walk mode, Your camera is up to the job, you are up to the job, you just need to combine the two!

Spend money on training/glass/beer/training. Teaching yourself is all well and good, but without the opionions of your fellow photographers, you are teaching yourself your own habbits.

Slow down, learn, improve, build, develop, master, move on.

Phil.
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Thats the best advise there is Ruth you need to learn your camera. Great photographs are taken from knowing your camera Brilliant photographs are shot with knowledge. learn to use what you have before you pull yourself to pieces over failed shots. Thats the best time to upgrade your equipment but then id go with a new lens and learn to use that first
 
Instead of shelling out lots of money I suggest spending just £10! This £10 will make you a better photographer more than spending 2 grand on another body or a grand on a lens or even £150 on a prime.
Go onto amazon and buy the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson!
This will set you up for all your photographic life.
 
Don't forget a lot of photos you see have gone through post processing to make them look better.

Realspeed
 
Ruth, loads of excellent advice, if you are starting a photography course, it is quite likely that they will use a book called basic photography by Michael Langford, and I still have my copy on my shelf from 20+years ago and it is still relevant now.
 
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