Been interested in photography for years now and finally pulled the trigger on a camera. Decided on a Nikon D5100 which came with an 18-55mm lens. Made a bundle out of it and also picked up a 55-200mm lens as well. I am hoping to learn as much as I can about the camera and hobby. Decided to take a few pics before work. Here they are, let me know what you think and any critiques or tips would be appreciated. Pics were taken with the 55-200mm lens and have not been edited/






This was me messing with the color pic effect on the camera...

Sweet camera, and a good start on pics!

Were you shooting in "P" or one of the more controlled modes?

From a purely aesthetic standpoint with the lilies, I'd switch to aperture-priority ("A") and open it up as far as it'll go - a shallow depth of field is better when you're looking at just one flower. On the other end, with the daisies, I'd tighten up the aperture to f/16 or higher, get low, spot-meter on the flower, and get as much in focus as I could - consider the sky as a backdrop if at all possible.

Just my nickel.

Thanks.. i will take those suggestions and play with them. The pics were just taken in auto mode as I only had a few minutes to snap them.

I bought a D5100 a few months ago. I wish I could find cheaper hobbies.

Congrats on the new addiction. A couple of minor nits if I may pick. The second image is a bit blurry. Not sure if the wind gotcha or you might've been shaky. Third pic is a beautiful subject , nice and sharp. It might be improved by moving it off-center a little. Google 'rule of thirds' and see if it may be of use to you.

Do yourself a favor and break out the manual and experiment with every single option the camera has, learn what it does and when to use it. You may decide NOT to use a given option and that's best done from a conscious decision. Lots of choices with that rig.

After you get comfortable with the controls, start taking it off program and be brave going to manual for some shots. You'll blow a lot of shots but you'll learn fast. For creative work, single point metering can be your best friend, even in program mode. Have fun.

Just going by the subjects, I imagine you would have an absolute blast with a good macro lens, OP.

Don't ever shoot in Auto.

P is a good alternative.
By holding down the +/- button and turning the wheel, you can adjust the exposure on the spot.
Turn the wheel alone, and you change the shutter speed/aperture without affecting the exposure so you can tweak your depth of field.

Other important ones to watch are white balance, ISO, and picture control which you'd change by opening the menu up with the "i" button.
Picture control determines how much colors are boosted. You'd want vivid for flowers and bright colors.

Hold down the ? button in pretty much any menu and it'll explain all the options.


Here's some more good info on how to use your camera better. He sometimes goes off on tangents about stuff, so take his opinions with a grain of salt.
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d5100/users-guide/controls.htm

Study up on exposure, and depth of field and how those things are affected by focal length, aperture and shutter speed.

Find a subject, turn the camera on manual, take pictures with various settings and then review the photos to see the actual results.



I think the last shot, the one with the daisies and the B&W background is the best composition of the lot.  The first shot lacks a clear subject.  The lily shots would have worked better with a shallower depth of field to push the background out of focus and make the lilies a clearer subject almost in the same way that the B&W forced the daisies into being the focus of the shot.

JMHO

ETA:  Don't forget to have fun.  

Nice pics for just starting out.

DEFINITELY read your camera's manual and learn what all the settings do.  Pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure if you haven't already, and give it a read.  It's a VERY good  explanation of the trio of factors that affect exposures.

Thanks for all the input. A copy of Understand Exposures is inbound. I have read the manual and have been playing around with different setting and whatnot. Here are two additional pics that I personally really liked from yesterday.

This one probably could have had the flower centered more, or the background stuff out of focus... again, still figuring it out.


I am really having a fun time with the color select... this is the grille of my Silverado.



Again thanks for all the feedback, advice, and critiques!

Photography is pretty damn fun!  I took my camera to work last night with my 70-300mm lens and tripod to try to shoot the moon, but it got cloudy, so I just did a couple long exposure shots of a couple things around the building.  They came out looking pretty neat!  

Understanding Exposure will really help you to understand what all the settings actually DO when it comes to how the image looks.  

Nope, don't center it more. You're bang-on the "rule (guideline) of thirds" with that. Yeah, a little less depth of field to blur the background would've been good, but it's a good step.

Same for the grill. Would the bowtie look right head-on dead-center (outside an advertisement in a magazine)? Of course not. Angles and non-centered are what give our pictures depth.