Ok...
I just took the plunge and have decided to get serious about being a decent amateur photographer. My motivation is to capture my daughter as she grows up, and to document the enjoyable life that my family has managed to achieve.

But I have no clue on where to start learning. I just picked up a new D80.

Do I start learning the individual features on the camera? I'm simply clueless!

MUCH
to you guys that know what you're doing!!

 

I think just start shooting is the best advice anyone can give you at this stage in the game. Take some time to carefully examine other people's work and see if you can incorporate the elements of their photos you like in your shots. Gradually you can grow into your own own photographic 'style'.

So in summary: take a lot of pictures and play around with all the settings on your D80!

 

Also buy 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson and 'Digital Photography' by Scott Kellby. Two books that will make you go Aha when it comes to photography.
Otherwise just go out and shoot tons of pictures! It's free with digital cameras so go nuts I've realized that I've learned the most through mistakes, you must be prepared to do them and mess up some pictures. Try to change some of the settings in the creative mode and see what happens, you can always read about what these and those settings do, but seing what they do after you've taken the picture is how you learn.
Good luck!

 

Thanks guys! I like that approach! That I can do.

Interestingly, I also went to Barnes and Noble and bought those exact books. Extremely well written books indeed. And definitely makes me appreciate you guys that have a clue about this stuff. There's a lot more to it than just point and shoot. (duh) Learning what to look for seems like one of the most fun things to learn.

 

I agree with what the others have already said, start shooting and shoot a lot. This accomplishes two very important things: 1.) You understand the functions of your camera and how each change affects the photo. 2.) Your daughter gets used to you taking her photograph and will act more natural in front of the camera in the future. More importantly, enjoy yourself and your daughter...afterall this is what life is all about! Good luck with your endeavours.

 

ditto shoot, shoot and shoot more.

 

This is a very good point; in my experience when most people who aren't pro's (ie models) try to 'pose' for a shot it'll turn out less well than if they had just acted natural.

 

Heh heh...
How is this for natural?


Then when she saw that I was busting a gut laughing...


Totally uncoached, I asked her how many smoothies she'd had so far. The above was her response.

You make a great point about her being "used to" the camera. And now that I think about it, that explains why she's so good in the photos that my wife has been taking. Riley has certainly become used to the camera.

 

Haha those shots are awesome!

 

LOL, those shots are priceless!