I just bought a Nikon D3100, what should my first lens be?

The package i bought came with the kit lens, but i want to invest in a high quality lens that can do more.

i know little to nothing about lenses so if you could direct me to a site that explains more about them that would be much appreciated.

I don't know any "just lens" sites that are reputable. The closest thing I can give you is http://dpreview.com/...eview.com/ which is pretty much everything

as for lenses, they come in a variety of different sizes. Quality comes with price. That is the simple truth.

There are quite a few different types of lenses: Wide angle, normal, telephoto, fisheye, super wide angle, tilt-shift, and probably some others that I have no idea exist.

I suggest you keep the kit lens for some time until you get to the point where you know exactly what you need. If you want to replace the kit lens, the Nikkor 18-200mm lens is a great choice for all around photography. It covers your basic wide angle, normal, to medium telephoto range.

for portraits, the 50mm f/1.4 AF-S lens
for macro, 60mm AF-S, 85mm AF-S, or the one I use on occasion, the 105mm
to replace the kit lens, the 17-55mm AF-S lens
for super wide angle, the Tokina 11-16mm
for telephoto, the most common are the 55-200mm or 55-300mm AF-S lenses to compliment your 18-55mm

shoot for a couple of months until you get an idea of what you really want to shoot. I survived an entire year on my kit lens before I got a new one.

Depends what you want to shoot.

all around starter lens id say 50mm 1.4
portrait/weddings 24-70 2.8 ($1500)
sports 70-200 2.8 ($2100)
wildlife anything above 200m but those get very expensive ($3000-10000)
and macro would be a 105mm 2.8 ($900)

these are the nikon prices you can look at sigma and get them a little cheaper but the quality will not be there. The only lens i would look into sigma for are the 24-70 and the 70-200.

and if i were you i would start with the 55m 1.4

Depends. First, make sure you even need a lens before plunking down a whole pile of cash for one.

On my D5000, I found that I didn't have the reach for shooting aircraft, outdoor sports, and wildlife with the 18-55 kit lens. I chose the 70-300mm VR Nikkor lens for my first add-on. Much faster response and far better built than the 55-300mm lens for not much more. I never miss the 15mm between 55 and 70. And since I only need it for outdoors, I saved over $1000 compared to a faster, bulkier zoom lens with less focal range.

For low light indoors, I find the 35mm f/1.8 is more than adequate though another fast prime like the 50mm f/1.4 would be good too.

Wide lenses are usually the most expensive and least understood. Try keeping your kit lens at its widest setting and experiment before you go 'ultra wide'. Each mm on the wide scale is like $100 at least.

You can consider Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

70-300mm telephoto zoom lens with f/4.5-5.6 maximum aperture for Nikon digital SLR cameras
Vibration Reduction (VRII) minimizes effects of camera shake to produce sharper images
2 Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements delivers super contrast and resolution performance
Internal Focus (IF) system provides fast and quiet autofocusing; 4.9-feet close focus range
Measures 3.1 inches in diameter and 5.6 inches long; weighs 26.3 ounces; 5-year warranty