Thanks all for taking the time to comment. I have been out again with my k-r but still stuck to auto as husband was with me and he kept wandering off and was getting impatient! Planning a day out by myself so I can take as long as I like playing around with the settings.

These photos were taken at West bay in Dorset using my K-r and the 18-55mm lens it came with. All taken on auto mode till I have a tiniest bit knowledge of what I would be doing on manual. I have lightened them up slightly in picasa as the day was a bit dull. Any comments and pointers would be most welcome. Thanks for looking.

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Thanks for your help guys....head spinning now

Lots of info to take in and I will just be going out experimenting as I realise that is the best way to learn.

I bought my K-r about ten days ago but today was the first chance I have had to get out and give it a go, I just went out and took a lot of photos which I then promptly deleted but then that is one of the major benefits of digital photography.
This is my first dslr and confess to being totally clueless about what settings I need to use when in manual mode so for the most part today I stuck to the auto setting. I have included a couple of photos in this post and need some advise in how to achieve the certain shots I am looking for. I am using the 18-55mm lens that came with the camera.

The first shot I took at low level and the foreground is blurry...how do I get the foreground sharp and the background blurry? I am guessing but using manual settings but where do I start?

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Same again with this one, although background blurry which is what I wanted but some blurryness in foreground too -

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I love the colours in this one but maybe not as sharp as it could be? The day was quite overcast though.

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And finally this one, I can see the difference in colour and quality compared to my old camera.

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I haven't edited any of them apart from resize them. I love taking pictures and realise I have so much to learn with my camera. Any pointers would be very welcome.

Tracy

Thanks all for the kind welcome.

Good Afternoon All,

I have just bought a K-r camera and feel a bit overwhelmed when I first switched it on! This is the first dslr camera I have owned having taken lots of photos on a fuji s800 and s7000. Although my pentax is just out the box and I have had a few practice shots round the house I can't wait to actually go somewhere photo worthy to try and begin to understand it.

I have so much to learn about all the settings etc and some is going completely over my head but as I plan on having this camera for quite a while I know I have lots of time to understand it. I can't wait to begin taking some good pictures with it and look forward to your many helpful replies to my continuous questions I am sure!

Tracy