I’d also highly recommend “Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision” in order to start to develop more than artistry in your photography and more of a message.

Flickr.com is a pretty sweet place to look around for inspiration, cool photos, as well as find out information by asking around in the forums.

A couple cool sites to subscribe to are:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/
http://digital-photography-school.com/

I’ve learned a lot of good tips from the articles they post there.

And the last bit of advice is to practice. It really takes experience to understand light and how your camera works.

Enjoy.

This easily replaced my 18-55mm (recently dropped and damaged, 3yrs old) and a Tamron 70-210 zoom (20+ yrs old).

They sell all kinds of technology stuff, including Digital camera equipment. Most are Open Box condition (floor samples, demo’s) and refurbished. Check them out.

You have had a lot of great advice so far and I hope I can provide something new and not repeat too much.

I switched to DSLR about 3 years ago now (D50). When you start shooting, if you haven’t already, one of the many things you will notice is how quick you can take pictures. This is great because you can take multiple shots in seconds and not miss some other expression or action.

Shoot, shoot and shoot often. Make sure you have memory card storage and/or extra memory card. Nikon does and excellent job of taking the RAW and converting to JPG. I almost never shoot in RAW. Sure, there is more data in RAW and will allow you more post processing ability, but the extra storage it takes, may not be necessary. Depends on the situation.

Don’t forget to look behind you. Be observant. If I am shooting a party, soccer game, concert or outdoor event, I often will keep the other eye open so at a split second I can capture that also.

Get up close. A picture of the overall scene is nice, but move in or zoom in and get up close. You don’t need the whole body or head for that matter to make a great picture.

I shoot almost always on pre-programmed settings (Auto, Shutter speed priority, Aperture priority, etc., unless the situation requires something additional… like Concert Photos (http://blog.capturethisphoto.com/post/2008/02/Winter-Jam-Concert.aspx), Beach Photos or Sports photos (http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=4825517).

When taking outdoor pictures, remember the BEST time to do so is early morning and early evening when the sun light is not so harsh and shadows are few if any at all. http://jim.blacksweb.com/post/Fall-Colors.aspx

I am sure you will be using PhotoShop…, but you may want to try PhotoShop LightRoom. This is specifically made for working with photographs, adjustments (exposure, contrast, cropping, tint, white balance and much more are incredibly easy and you can apply the same settings groups of pictures.

For your family photos, to share and allow them to make purchased of your photos you may want to try ShutterFly.com. They neat feature where you can create one or more web sites share your photos and allow others to purchase prints. http://jim.blacksweb.com/post/Sharing-Photos-with-ShutterFly.aspx

Taking the picture is half the work… later you need to sift through the hundreds of pictures you may have taken at an event an narrow it down to the 10 or 20 that are the best worth sharing. LightRoom is great for this also.

Oh… don’t forget to enjoy your self.

I look forward to seeing some of your pictures.

Parke – Yeah, I’m really excited about the group of bloggers I’m going with. And yes, Keely is pretty awesome (maybe some of her photography skills will rub off on me)! I can’t wait to meet her and everyone else.

May – Great advice. My camera just arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon and I’ve been taking pictures of everyone and everything in the house!

I would say to shoot as much as you can. Shoot shoot shoot. Anything that catches your eye. Have your camera out and ready at all times (being aware of thieves, of course).

Avoid shooting portraiture outdoors around noon. The sun will create the raccoon eye effect. Best lighting is early morning/dawn and dusk.

You’re already equipped with a good camera and two nice lenses for wide angle and telephoto. I’d say to invest in a midrange (24-70), but that’s for next time.

I know you’re looking for a more Ansel Adams feel, but I always find close ups of people the most interesting.
I am sure you’re going to get a wide range of great subjects (landscape, people, nature) on your trip. I’m envious! Have fun!

I learned all the shutter speeds/f-stops, ets, but I truly rarely use them. They never stck in my head- maybe it’ll be different for you. I control all of that w/ photoshop w/ my pics anyway. But then again, I’m a photojournalistic photog that is known for digital manipulations/editing. Feel free to browse my FB fan page (search Lily Pad PR and it will take you there) to see what I’m talking about.

Good luck & the most important thing my retired photog Grandpa said is : “doesn’t matter if it’s fancy, some1 w/ a crappy, beater camera can do as good or better if the handler knows his instrument like the back of his hand”.