Photography Digital SLR

I have always enjoyed taking photos, just as most of us do, however when my first child was born, the old trigger finger started snapping frantically. Almost every movement of my daughter was captured and not very well at that.

A few holidays later, a couple more children and a new batch of grey hairs on the side of my ageing head and I would appear to have become captured by the photography bug.

As a family, while our children are still so young we visit one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth, for our family holiday's; the Lake District. The first digital camera I took to the Lake District on holiday was the Samsung L600, a very simple point and shoot 6.0 mega pixel device. At the time it took pleasing photos, but of course the camera could only do what I was setting it up to do. I promised myself that I would invest in a better camera for the following year as I was really enjoying the shots I was getting.

The next camera was a Fuji  FinePix 5700, which had all the characteristics of a Digital SLR but was not one. This camera took some really beautiful photos and this time I found myself getting up at 04:00 in the morning to capture sun rises over the lakes. However the first time I done this I found myself sat on the lake side with thirty odd budding photographers, only they had these massive cameras on tripods and there was I trying to hide what was by now the equivalent of my manhood. It was at this point that I decided to once again rethink the equipment I owned.

So I have now bought myself a standard Digital SLR the Nikon D5000 a standard 18 - 55mm lens,  along with a telephoto zoom lens 55 - 200mm, tripod, a few filters, lens hood, camera bag and I am good to go. WRONG!!! it wouldn't matter if I owned the finest camera equipment in the world, I am the idiot who needs to be taught how to use the camera, otherwise I might as well be still using my Samsung L600 point and shoot.

So this is where you guys come in, any advice or tips would be so welcomed. I am off on my holidays two weeks from today to the Lake District once again and this time I would really love to take some stunningly beautiful landscape and wildlife Macro images. So what would you advice me to do.  I am reading up as much as I can on photography but I still think that old fashioned experience will always lead the way.