Just starting photograhy - can't work my camera!

[MrsDarko]

I bought myself this yesterday

fujifilm.co.uk/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/d-slr-long-zoom/finepix-s1900

And I have taken the odd picture of dandilions (trying to get to grips with macro) but I'm struggling with everything else! how long does it take to work these cameras out?

have you ever used a manual slr? do you kow about aperture / exposure / focal length / depth of field etc?
if so then it is just a cae of reading te manual an lots of practice

if not then a book form the lib will ehelp

and shoot in RAW format not jpeg so you an adjust th white balance in Photoshop later

No I've slowly worked my way up from using disposable film camera, then a kodak digital and then a cannon powershot. This is my first "fancy" camera. I managed to get a few good pics yesterday in the garden but most were too bright or blurry or dark. I must be doing something wrong.

Both DS and DH have Nikons (D70 and D3000) and it is really all about playing about with the settings, reading books and lots and lots of practice.

At the moment they take the pictures and then look at them on screen, then look at the settings for each photo.

There should be a box that you can get up which shows your every setting ie speed, fstop etc

do you have a local photography club in your area? they will have people willing to help you.