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I am new at photography. I have a Nikon D5100 and I am confused how to use a DSLR .. I have it for 2 months now. Going out and take anything I want.

I want to take Slow Motion pictures with it. Is it possible to take with standard 18-55mm lens? How? Any sites I where I can learn everything? Is it possible to learn by myself?

I am quite not sure how many years it takes to become a photographer and how do you identify yourself say as a professional photographer ?

How do you publish your book? Going to Publish company and be accepted? I am sorry that I have many questions but I found here easy to ask ...

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    \$\begingroup\$ Hi Peko, welcome to the site. It will be hard to answer all these questions at one time, you would be better to ask specific questions one at a time. \$\endgroup\$
    – MikeW
    Commented Mar 2, 2012 at 6:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ When you say slow motion pictures, do you mean video, or time-lapse photography (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse_photography)? \$\endgroup\$
    – MikeW
    Commented Mar 2, 2012 at 6:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ Here are some other questions about learning: books, blogs, videos and so forth: photo.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/learning \$\endgroup\$
    – MikeW
    Commented Mar 2, 2012 at 6:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ Start at the library or bookstore. A book on the fundamentals will give you a strong base to start with and ask more specific questions! \$\endgroup\$
    – Itai
    Commented Mar 2, 2012 at 13:57

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It is eminently possible to teach yourself photography, as there are a vast amount of resources available these days to enable you to do just that. Perhaps a good place to start would be to get a book on general photography techniques, using that to learn the proper terms to search for online. The web has thousands of tutorials and blogs - just search for photography tutorials and browse.

There are no rules to when you can 'call yourself' a photographer. Technically you are a professional photographer once your main income comes from selling your photographs. However, it will probably take a lot of time and practice before you can start taking photos that sell, though this of course depends on how talented you are. I would concentrate on thoroughly learning the basics than thinking about the commercial aspects at the moment.

As for slow motion pictures, by which I think you mean long-exposure pictures, they can be taken with your DSLR and any lens. Read your manual and look for Shutter Priority and Bulb modes, and search the Web for 'how to take long exposure photographs'. The idea is that the shutter is open for a long time, blurring motion.

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There are many places to learn photography. A few quick places to start: lynda.com, kelbytraining.com and the free video podcast DTownTV on kelbytv.com. That said, the best way to learn is to try different things and see what the results are.

Being a professional, though, is about learning how to start a business and to be professional. A good place to start, in the USA, is talking with SCORE (Service Corps Of Retired Executives). They have a lot of free material and advice on learning how to start a business. And contrary to what some people think, a photography business is like 75% business and only 25% taking pictures.

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Yes, it's 100% possible to learn photography by yourself. Internet is full packed of information you need. Visit this website for starters, it will help you at the beginning - http://www.digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners. I'm not connected with the website in any way, I just found it very useful when I bought my DSLR.

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