"I got a Nikon camera, I love to take the photographs.."

I can't seem to get that Paul Simon song out of my head. Although it seems appropriate when the next line of the song is "please, don't take my Kodachrome away" because my skill with a single lens reflex camera goes back to those pre-digital days with my trusty Canon Eos Rebel.

This Christmas I got a new Nikon D5200 SLR to replace (or substitute) for my little Canon point and shoot. I had finally had enough ribbing from my professional photographer buddy, Dave Nishitani, who once asked me "when are you going to get a real camera?" Tanya also encouraged me and suggested that it would be fun to get some higher quality photos of our travels. So I bit the bullet and got this groovy new camera and I'm all set. I quickly realized that I had forgotten almost all that I had learned from my photojournalism class 30 years ago. What is an f-stop again? How do I adjust the aperture with the film speed? Oh yeah, we don't use film anymore. Darn, just when I thought I could revive my darkroom techniques. What's the rule of thirds? Or was it nines? Anyway, I went to the library and got several books on digital photography and even one specifically on my new camera. So, now I'm on a quest to absorb all this new information and become friends with my new tool. I was going to say "new toy" but Nishitani would surely tell me the "toy" was my point and shoot. We'll see how this all goes now that I have a "real camera".