another question, wtf are lens?
lens: kit lens [18-55 mm] , macro lens [EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6]

Save your money and get another hobby.

thanks shea shea, awesome advice, it does have manual exposure, there’s actually many settings on it to the point its quite daunting where to begin etc

Playing with the shutter speed will affect how much motion blur you will get in the final image – fast shutter speeds will ‘freeze’ motion, slow shutter speeds will blur it ( an extreme example is light trails from cars where the exposure is over several seconds). Don’t forget the relationship between shutter speed & aperture – if you have your shutter open for longer, you’ll need to ’stop down’ the aperture (ie go to a bigger number) to prevent over exposure. If your shutter speed is very fast, you’ll need to open up the aperture (ie smaller f number) to get enough light to prevent under exposure.

Aperture is one of the factors that controls depth of field (the others are focal length of the lens and the distance from the camera to the subject). Depth of field is the amount of your picture that is in focus, in front of and behind your actual point of focus.
A small aperture (eg f16, f22) will produce a large depth of field (everything from the foreground to the background will be in focus – good for landscapes). A large aperture (f2.8, f1.8) will produce a very shallow depth of field (your subject will be in focus, but things in front and behind will be blurred – this is good for portraiture or any situation where you want to isolate the subject from the background which might be distracting).

I can thoroughly recommend Bryan Petersons book;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Camera/dp/0817463003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271321372&sr=8-1

which offers simple advice and good examples.

Then devour your user manual and play with your camera until you don’t have to even think what you may need to do to get great shots.

Look on this link for composition ideas.

http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm

Your referance to a "normal" camera is a little confusing because a normal camera is one that the photographer can control using specific shutter speeds and lens apertures. My guess is you are calling a simple P&S camera "normal". If this is true, your only recourse is to read the manual and follow the instructions and be aware that you will NOT be able to shoot light graffiti, star trails or light streaks of cars driving at night as well as a large number of other favorite techniques used by photographers when using a fully adjustable camera

Learn the basics, then master the basics.

Learn how to compose and frame a shot. Learn how to use lighting — highlight and shadow. Learn what an exposure value is and how f/ stops, shutter speeds, and film speeds effect an exposure. Learn how different focal length lenses change your framing. Learn what depth of field is and how to use it creatively.

Once you gotten proficient with the basics, keep at them until you master them. In other words, know your craft as a photographer. Don’t go out and take a few hundred shots in hopes that you’ll have a half dozen good ones.

Start to think in terms of the frame of your viewfinder and how to compose within that frame. Start to think "photographically." In other words, when you see something that might make an interesting subject, figure out how to compose a picture of that subject. Have an idea what your finished picture will look like before you ever put viewfinder to eye.

There are no tricks to photography. It’s a lot of work to get it right, but once you do, it is one of the most rewarding hobbies/vocations you can have.

http://www.adorama.com/airc

http://www1.nikonusa.com/slrlearningcenter/index.php

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndex1Act&fcategoryyid=101

You may get this message when you try the Canon link: Application Error. If so, just click on "Support" on the toolbar and then on "Resources & Learning" on the drop-down menu.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

TIA!

I started out by checking out photography on google. Then I went to the library and checked out pretty much every book that had to do with photography. I take the camera every where I go, and just keep shooting!
Experiment with all the different functions on your camera. And experiment with the editing process. Some of the better pictures that I have taken are because of the editing. The more pictures you take, the better you will be with it.

Good luck and Have fun with it!

- If you have photoshop, there’s a few things that can really make your pictures look their best. Use adjustment layers and masks with curves to get the proper exposure and contrast for your image.

What shutter speed will you need to make the movie screen not look like it’s flickering yet not get too many frames making it looked blurred?
Based on that shutter speed what aperture do you think you’ll need?
Based on that aperture/SS combo, will your couple be properly exposed? What are you going to have to do to overcome that?

Figure out what tools you’ll need then find those tools.