NYC Photo Safari

I bought a new camera last month.  This is the camera I purchased....Nikon D3100.  I did some research and this camera was recommended as a great D-SLR for beginners.  It even has a 'guide' mode.  I knew nothing about the fundamentals of taking pictures and I wanted to learn some of the basics.  There are so many cool things to photograph in NYC, that I wanted to take advantage of my time here.  I saw on Groupon an offer for a NYC Photo Safari.  I clicked on the link to find out. (I should have bought the Groupon...duh!)  If you clicked on the link you saw that there are several 'safaris' to choose from.  I chose the Central Park Safari and I signed up to go yesterday morning, August 13th.  The safari is led by a professional photographer.  I met the group at the Belvedere Castle in the middle of Central Park. The group was is limited to only eight participants to make sure you have some one on one time with the teacher for tips and feedback.  Our first assignment was to take a picture of one person and the castle.  The teacher took on of me for an example. (see below).  Next we moved on to Shakespeare Garden where we worked on our close-ups, my favorite....the flowers.  For the third exercise, we photographed the road and the fence.  Next we moved onto the stone path followed by the curved bench.  After the bench we moved to the sundial.  Finally we moved to the garden sign, steps and the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre.  When the safari ended I had learned many different things about my new camera.  The rest of the afternoon, I walked home through the park and shot some more pictures using my new 'skills'.  You can see those photos here.  Below are the pictures from my Central Park safari.