It's a great camera, but without an understanding of lighting it's not going to make your pictures any better.
I had a quick flick through your pbase and uploads here to get a feel for where you are with your photography.
My assesment would be very much that you are at the point and shoot stage, which gives you a great learning curve to jump on
First and last and always, photography is about light. Always. Light defines the shapes we take images of, the balance between the shadows and the lights is our creative tool. Learning to see the way that light works in imagery takes a little time and research, but the rewards in the quality of our images is huge. The better we get at lighting, the less we tend to be hooked up on technical wizardry. That's why great photographers can take great photos with a phone. It's not about bucks or luck but practice, thought and technique.
Here are a couple of places to start that should make you think. First up try some window light portraits by using a well, but not directly lit medium size window as a studio softbox. Have your subject turn at different angles to the window, and shoot from different angles to see what effects you can get. Be careful what gets in your background.
I would also reccomend "Strobist 101" as a great way of learning and understanding light, but with the caveat that you stick to one light until you are getting great results.
You're in a helpful and friendly place for advice.
If you looked at the difference between my first and latest posts you would have to say I'm a different photographer now!
Looking forward to seeing more of you and your photography,
Paul Silver.
PS. One thing you'll never have to do is blame your gear!
Thank you Paul. I appreciate your advice and will follow your instructions as I value and appreciate those with far greater experience than me who are willing to teach and dare I say mentor.
