Manual is great to learn about what's happening and why. Remember though, that once you have a good grasp of the technical aspects, you can then use that to make the camera do the work for you.
Canon cameras are particularly good at this, as they have a unique way of controlling the relationships between parts of those aspects. See the /v settings on the mode dial.
Once you have the camera doing stuff for you it starts to get out of the way and your mind becomes free of those distractions. Your photos will improve as a result.
As mentioned in other comments, you can use a more appropriate aperture here because f14 is too small and you'll suffer from diffraction as a result.
The reason it's a problem, is similar to when you squint your eyes. The light gets spread more than is ideal and the image will have reduced sharpness.
Ideally, you should try not to go beyond f11, as that's usually where most lenses will start to become effected.
It's worth noting that despite this, if you need a small aperture then don't be afraid to use it. The reduction in sharpness won't really notice until you get to larger print sizes, such as 1 x 1.5 metres.
Even then, it's much better to have a great photo without ultimate sharpness, than a super sharp photo that's boring or just bad. If you have the time, such as with non moving subjects, none of these things should happen. If your subject is moving, things get complicated quickly.
Sorry to go on a bit, I just wanted to bring some context and info to the subject of diffraction, as it's an important one, but once you know the whys and wherefores it's easy be aware of and incorporate into your workflow.
A friendly warning, please be careful when suggesting the rule of 3rds, especially to the less experienced. It's greatly misunderstood and as a result it generally causes confusion and boring photos.
I've made a mistake, the 55-300 does not have the fast AF I suggested it for. Apologies for that.
The 70-300mm VR AFP f/4.5-6.3 DX ED has much faster AF. It works on your camera, is affordable, and the best tool for your usage here.
Interestingly, I've read that with VR teles, switching off the VR will actually get you slightly faster AF. It's only really for slower speeds, so that makes sense.
You should only use DX lenses.
When the play is close to you, set your position to allow for that.
Edit to reflect that I got confused with which lens I recommended. Sorry!
AF-A and AUTO AF Area select should be fine. If not, try AF-C. It will track the subject it's locked to. If its not locking where you want, you'll have to use AF-S and Single AF Area. That requires predicting where the subject will be, and if it's going to move you'll need to set 3D to track it.
maybe some of the blur in my photos is actually better explained by camera shake (shooting at 200 mm on a 1.5x crop sensor)
This depends on which lens you are using. If it's a Nikon with VR there should be no shake. If it's not focusing fast enough, a better lens may be needed. I'd recommend the Nikon 70-300mm VR AFP f/4.5-6.3 DX E
Of course, no lens or camera can help if your problem is technique. The D7500 is a fantastic DSLR and with a suitable lens there's no reason you can't get the results you're after. Technique is crucial in that with all else accounted for, poor technique will reduce your chances.
That's understandable. I said that I hope you can use the concepts that you connect with, and I tried to imply that to do so you may have to read around the authors.
What I'm trying to say is that these authors are professional photographers and also teachers. We aren't in their classroom, we can't request a different approach when it's not clicking. But they aren't wrong.
Get past their style and focus on the concepts and, at each one that interests you, use different authors to change the approach.
I also agree that cropping isn't a bad thing per se, but I do think that it doesn't really help with composition. It's another retouch tool to tidy up, like dodge and burn etc.
Additionally, attempting to make your image as final as you can in the viewfinder, can only go to improve your compositions. Practice....etc.
This is the thing. I’m no pro but if I was going to be I would shoot Canon. Accessories are just one of the many reasons; TCs, flash use (they even sorted the stupid fixed ISO), connections, microphone options. I’m sure I’ve missed some.
