Re: Photographers???
well that's all you need. once you know all that it's up to you to practice and develop your own style - that's not something that can be taught.
if it's too much to read, playing around is a good start. changing settings and seeing how they effect shots.
yes, manual mode is great but i don't know why would need to manually focus. you can change the settings (Single** Point AF, Dynamic Area AF, Automatic-area AF) to enable you to move the focal point but still with the precision of auto-focus.
i only bother with it using my manual lenses as i don't have a choice.