Originally posted by Sage97 I'll try to reshoot after work today and experiment with these modes. Newbie comment - I'll study more on "focal length range" to understand your statement a bit more. I am actually auditioning and comparing the Nikon D7000 and the K5. They are both really good and I could either way. I will have to make a decision soon.
Really appreciate the encouragement. I never thought I'd enjoy taking pictures as much as I am enjoying it now. I haven't played guitar (my number passion) a couple weeks now. When I get a little better, my beloved guitars will be my next subjects!
If you look at film cameras or full frame digital cameras a 50mm lens was the standard focal length - it is good for shooting in many situations from taking portraits if you are up close, to landscapes and architecture if you have enough room to step back. Shorter than that are you start to get into wide angle lenses, and bigger than that (85-100 mm and up) you get into short telelphoto to longer telephoto.
On an APS-C sensor there is a crop factor, so that a 50mm lens is like shooting a 75mm lens on a full frame camera. So the 18-55 kit lens (which most people will tell you is a lot better than the kit lenses other companies bundle with their cameras) works out to a focal range of 27- 82.5. This lets you cover most urban situations, and so gives you a lot of flexibility in your compositions. When I tried to take pictures of my kids at a playground using a 50 or 55 mm lens, I found I had to step back too much to capture them.
Hope this clarifies things.