Any tips on using a DSLR camera?

[Andrew W]

The one thing I'd add to what's been already said is that the first thing I would consider spending more money on, if you have a yen to, is a better lens (assuming you got a kit with a lens included). I've always preferred a better lens on a cheaper body than the other way around. If it were me, I'd do that before buying a tripod though it's very much a personal choice of course and there is no correct approach.

The most important thing is to shoot a lot. Getting comfortable with your camera will enable you to take better pictures. Have fun, photography is a brilliant pursuit.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Thought I'd wave a hand here

Some good advice going down from the guys and I can't really add too much more

Having something worth photographing is a first point, and then getting an interesting angle view - composition
getting the point you wish the viewer to pay attention to  a third of the way in from an edge is considered good form - look up golden thirds

Remember you are painting in light - you may struggle to get the crisp look you want if you don't have enough light or long enough exposure to get enough light on the sensor (then a tripod becomes a good thing).
I assist my pictures with external flash units which are great to use (if you want some I have some of my old ones for sale cheapish as I upgraded to super duper "expensive" Profoto ones a year or two ago.)

Not enough can be said about good quality glass (lenses) - worth investing in a good one.

Getting extra light can be useful as it allows you to choose to have a smaller aperture (or f stop) on the lens. This will allow for a greater depth of field - so that more of your picture is in focus.
Shallow focus can be great for portraits or style shots where much of the rest of the picture is blurry adding focus to what you wish people to look at , although I like to have a deep depth of field when shooting guitars as it annoys me to see one part of the guitar crisp looking and the rest all out of focus

Just my initial £0.02 - I'll think of more later

[Lew]

If you're referring to the graininess on the pickup select switch that's because as there is less overall light the camera has to compensate aka it boosts the iso setting aka more noise in the image

The human eye can adjust to different light levels much better than a camera, hence studio photography and feline guitars have these fancy lighting setups

Technically you could use a smaller iso and a longer expose time for less noise (more time for light to get into the camera) but the camera needs to be kept still (ie on a tripod) to avoid ghosting

Got it. Ta  8)

Think we'll get the hang of what we have before we sink any cash into it.

[JDC]

Aye I wouldn't be sinking cash into it, better to learn how to capture good photo than to "fix things in the mix"

I think fundamentally good photography is knowing how to use the available light in the best way

[FELINEGUITARS]

Wifeys Xmas present. I've not a clue how to use one but it didn't stop me having some fun. Any tips for us on how to get the best out of it?

have fun experimenting

try taking the same shot over and over but with different settings and see the difference in results ( great thing with digital is no printing costs etc just to se what you've got)

set the camera on aperture priority  and the camera will select the exposure/shutter time for each shot
start with the lens wide open maybe f2.8 and do successive shots with a higher and higher f number
then have a look at each of the pictures to see what it looks like once they are all done

on the above shot you will start to see more and more frets coming into focus

I used to do a lot of shots using natural daylight often with great results, but couldn't always wait around for a nice day to take pics so a studio light became worth it's weight in gold

I started out with something like this and added softboxes etc to the system
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalcameras/jessops-portaflash-digital-studio-kit-studio-in-a-bag-49294191/

[Lew]

Ah, that's good to know. I wasn't sure how to get more of the image in focus.

[Johnny Mac]

Remember to take the lens cap off