New D40 owner

[catxtwo]

Hi gang,

I've been lurking around here for some time now and it seems like a nice/knowledgeable group of people - good for you.

I recently purchased my first digital SLR (the D40) and I am having a ton of fun with it.

That said I've never been more than a point-n-shoot person. I am suddenly extremely interested in learning as much as I can about photography (mid-life crisis w/o the Porsche payments?). ;)

I read Scot Kelby's The Digital Photography Book (http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9410986-3483937?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175944796&sr=8-1) which, IMHO, was awesome. Hopefully it will keep me from making a ton of noob-like mistakes.

But, the engineer in me feels that I should probably devote some time/effort learning about 'photography' itself. For example, my understanding of aperture is limited to, "the amount of light allowed into the sensor while the shutter remains open." And I think that "f stops" are some type of "well defined scale for describing any specific aperture value used in practice."

See? My basic understanding most likely does not map very well into better camera utilization.

I am hoping that someone may offer up a book suggestion or two. I loved Scot's book, but it purposely glossed over the technical aspects of photography. How/where do I learn the "geeky" details behind all of this, and do you think it would be a waste of my time to do so?

Thanks in advance,
CxT

[Rooz]

congrats on your d40. looking forward to seeing you post some photos.
i only have 1 "book" and it's thom hogan's d80 guide ebook. i believe he is in the process of writing one for the d40. the guides are excellent.

www.bythom.com (http://www.bythom.com)

[rawpaw18]

Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, is a good place to start.
Revised edition.

[catxtwo]

Thank you guys!

The Understanding Exposure book is on the top of my list - I'll probably pick it up today!

-CxT

[Rooz]

most people post exif data in the "photo of the day" thread so you can learn a fair bit from them too. i have. :)

[r3g]

Congrats on the new toy, I dont feel so alone with my D40 anymore lol. I spent the 2 months while i was waiting to get mine trying learn as much as i could have things like f-stop and shutter speed. I got it for the most part but there were still some holes in my understanding. However once i got the camera and began using it all the things I read began to make full sense. The more you play with it the more youll understand :)

[fionndruinne]

Hey, it's getting to where we could even start a clique! How exciting.

Don't give me all your Sigma, Tamron and expensive Nikkor glass! We're the kings of kit lenses, that's where it's happenin'! Show me a 18-55mm and I'll show you the best lens in the world!

Uh... so that probably wouldn't go very far.

[abyssknight]

Glad to see this camera's user base growing. I've had mine a little over a week and I've shot close to 400 photos. It's addictive. ;)

As far as guides go, don't forget the in camera help! The information display shows a nice diagram of the aperture and shutter speed as well as help images to decide on a AF mode and such.

[XaiLo]

Congrats and welcome to the community, Bryan Peterson is a great starting point, happy shooting hope to see some pics soon.

[kdc41]

Hi CxT - congrats on your purchase!

For a gentle introduction to photography take a look at http://www.shortcourses.com/using/index.htm

For some great tips and more detailed info (covering both photography and post processing) take a look at Earthbound Light (http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototip-archives.html), Cambridge in Colour (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm) and Ron Bigelow Photography (http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm). The archives of PHOTOgraphic (http://www.shutterbug.com/refreshercourselp/) - now owned by Shutterbug - have some good tips as well.

Ken