Aloha & Thanks Beforehand!

Hello to all. . . .

Let me begin with apologies beforehand as even though there is no stupid questions...unless you haven’t dealt with a 50++yr child of the 70's who in addition to dealing with the consequences of trying to jam all of the 60's & 70's into just a few months, is also negotiating his way around a cerebral roadblock of a few years prior that still have the detour signs in place.

I have had a Nikon D50 for the past year and ½ and in addition to being afraid to clean it, I have absolutely zero confidence in taking advantage of all it has to offer. In the auto mode, the pictures I have shot to date, have all been deemed to be above average, by folks who have nothing to gain by B.S.’g me. . .with a small % of them good enough to publish.

My problem is that no matter how many times I read the manual or several other of the books I’ve acquired, when it comes to wanting to shoot something on the fly, I have no clue as what to do. Ultimately, nothing happens when I press the button, or what does happen is not considered a picture!

All I’d like is to be able to know what to do given a certain set of circumstances, short of seeing how far the camera will fly with the telephoto on!

If there is anyone who would like to give me a hand, I am a good note taker, and a non-whiner!

Thanks!
Whuzerd
Kanab, UT