What settings should I use for fashion photography with a Nikon D3000?

I have the 18-55mm lens. I wanted to start a fashion blog and was wondering what settings i should use for my pictures to have a professional looking finish.

Certain settings do not give photos a professional look. Years of practice with expensive lighting and even more experience with post production work is what makes professional looking fashion photos. If all it takes is a certain setting on a camera, every teenage girl would be be making professional looking photos… This is clearly not the case. The first step would be to take a basic photography class to learn how to use your camera on manual mode.

All the settings do on any camera is get the exposure and white balance correct, everything else depends on you. You alter from these basics to get the effect you want, you determine where to focus, how deep the depth of field is, what the lighting is, what the composition is, camera settings won't do any of that, but you have to know what you want these to be.

Basically a camera is a recording device, it's a light tight box with a means of mounting a lens, a sensor and associated circuitry and a shutter mechanism.

To get a 'professional' finish you have to have an idea in your head for the look that you want in the finished image, you then create the lighting, composition etc. In front of the camera to give you that look and the camera records it.

Whatever the lighting requires. A different camera would be really helpful. Sorry, just sayin'…

There's no way we can tell you what the settings for anything would be. It is all dependent on the light you are working in. I can give you some guidelines to work with, but the rest you will have to meter and set properly.

Shutter speed:
Hand held camera still life no slower than 1/80
If your subject breathes no slower than 1/125
If your subject breathes and moves no slower than 1/250
If your subject breathes and runs like the wind no slower than 1/500 (sports)
If you are using a flash? The rules all change. Never mind

Aperture:
Your aperture should be equal to or greater than the number of subjects in your photograph. It has no REAL scientific or logical bearing, just happens to work.

ISO
The lowest possible ISO you can use without underexposing your image AT ALL. You never want to brighten a photo in editing or post processing.
If you're using an ISO you know will cause grain issues in your camera slightly over expose and reduce the exposure in post. Don't blow anything out-just slightly.

The rest? You have to meter and balance it out. It isn't something you can buy a camera and viola! Have professional looking photos. It takes a learning curve, knowledge, professional lighting, posing… All of which don't come by just asking what settings to use. It's something you have to learn to do yourself. Sorry I couldn't give you the magic settings! Wish I could!