The goals I set for myself include learning the ability to shoot manually, and starting to wean off of auto. I have a beginner Nikon body with a nice 200-500mm Nikon lense. I'm getting great shots so far, and I put myself in great positions where I do not rely on the camera to try to make a bad scenario into a good photo. However, my goal is get that extra quality out of my shot by understanding exact what settings I am shooting with at any given time to maximize my potential.