I'm a lifelong outdoorsman who put down his rifle and picked up a camera back in 1983 and shot everything from birds in flight to macro for twelve years, until the demands of taking over a family business and looking after aging parents put an end to my days afield. I retired two years ago, and moved up here on the shore of beautiful Lake Murray. There's plenty of wildlife, and after two years of looking at one potential picture after another, it's time to start clicking the shutter again.
After laying my gear aside when I shot Kodachrome 64 on a Canon F-1 with a manual focus 500mm f 4.5, I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle, coming back to hobby that's now a new world of digital cameras, autofocus lenses and computer post processing. I can see I have a lot of work to do, getting myself up to date on the new tools of the trade; fortunately, there's a lot more knowledge disseminated, and a lot more good instructional material available now, than there was back when, and if some things are more complicated, well, there's so much we can do that was difficult or impossible in the old days.
So here I am at sixty-two, a veteran in the field, but a neophyte in the digital world; it's going to be an interesting experience, (almost makes me feel young again), and I look forward to learning from you all.
Bill, welcome to digital imaging! Yes, it's a challenge at first...so much to learn...but the good news is there's a ton of information here - shortcuts and tutorials - to help you get up to speed. I learned so much in my first six months here I could hardly believe the progress and I'm still learning even today.
We'd love to see your work in the Eager to Learn forum where we tend to be more gentle and explain/teach more than the regular forums. If there's anything I can do to help you find your way around the site or to help you get started posting, let me know.