devilfather cause i ask lot of question haha
i am still new on DSLR i think go for entry level
D7000 over budget and bit heavy xia XD
feel 5xxg enough

Let me be the 1st to say Welcome to the Nikon club.

Its your 1st DSLR (like me), don't be too eager to get the latest and best with the most megapixels camera. Buy what your budget allows. Just so you know, there are lots of guys still using their d40 and they are still taking lots of fantastic photos. Maybe they (those using d90, d7000 and above) take one step to make an adjustment while you (and me) might need 2-3 steps to do the same thing but end of the day you still get the photo. if your skills are better you might even take a better photo that a total idiot using a d3s or d4.

Lots of the guys out there use their camera to cari makan full time or part time, so minimum they need is a d90 or d7000 because when doing an event you just do not have time to fiddle with your camera.

Like me use this camera to fully understand how to take good photos, shutter speed, iso, and aperture. Remember to take photos as much as possible with different settings to learn and experiment. Don't use auto ya.

Yeah get a flash unit. Really helps oppose to using the build in flash.

welcome to nikon... please do share your first few photos like I did and get feedback from the sifus here.. many sifu are super friendly! 

perk of getting a nikon, you feel more pro as compared to canon users.. according to my friend who playing dslr more than 5 years. FEEL only... don't get me wrong.. haha

D5100 is a good body, I shld have gotten it too because the screen is so useful sometimes(Im too short to get high angle shot). O well~ 

take it steady and slow, like the abv sifu said, try different settings for one shot, grab the skills to know the light conditions, background, etc..

most important is, use your gear and shoot!

Good job bro After 1 year, i cant even take the same quality photos of stars like the one u have just after 1 week using the camera... If there is no light pollution, i bet u can take photos of the Milky Way....

Some food photos taken with 50mm f1.8G

Not pro here but what I know is kit lens like mine only has till f/5.6 and so the 'bokeh' shots are not as nice as those dedicated for it. You can still get blurred background with kit lens, just not as good. Also this 50mm f/1.8 is prime lens, unlike kit lens which you can zoom, with prime, you need to move with your feet backward or forward to shoot. Prime lens are good for portrait and of course bokeh shots if you like it, and sharper I think as well as works better in low light conditions because of its wider aperture (which allows more light inside). May I know what model you're using and your kit lens?

I wanted to change to D7000 few days ago...still thinking. I'm just currently using D3100. You can play around with your kit lens first  Happy shooting!