Regarding a kodak retina III c?

i have recently purchased a kodak retina III c that is in perfect working condition! im extremely excited to start working with my first 35mm slr.. i have a dslr and a few polaroids and a couple minolta's... but i've decided to get serious with my retina:) I love it to death but i'm afraid that (as an amateur photographer) i wont be able to obtain the same quality of pictures i can with my dslr. I love messing with depth of Field and aperture setting and such (to get the whole "blurry background" thing..) but with the retina III c you set the light value based on readings from the exposure meter.. which in turn sets the aperture and shutter speed to match. is there any techniques or tricks i can use to achieve a nice, dimensional, photograph with the lens being as it is? (which is the standard 50mm)