what kind of camera I’m using to photograph a wedding, or a family shoot, etc. Okay…not sometimes, all the time. I think there’s a slight misconception that the camera makes the photographer and the photos great…this couldn’t be further from the truth. I mean, obviously, more advanced cameras make it easier to get more advanced images, but only if the user knows what he/she is doing. If I handed my camera to “joe shmoe” at the wedding reception and asked him to take some pictures for me it wouldn’t work…especially since I manually expose all of my images.
In 2002 my dad bought me my first SLR film camera. I was so stoked that I finally had a professional level camera so that I could take better pictures. When I developed my first roll of film I was extremely frustrated. The images didn’t turn out better than what I had previously been able to do with my point and shoot…this was because I knew NOTHING about proper exposure and composition. It took a lot of time and practice to learn how to expose an image properly.
The first digital camera I ever bought was a Nikon Coolpix something-or-other…it was a “point and shoot, and was for my wife…since I had my fancy film SLR. The Nikon was a 5 megapixel camera…top of the line for 2005! One of my favorite images of all time was taken with that little camera…not because it was the best high-end latest DSLR out there, but because I knew what I was doing with it. The photo now graces a hallway in my parents house as a 20×24 canvas print.
I guess my point is this: if you’re interested in photography and think that the camera will make you better, you’re wrong. Learn the basics of properly exposing photographs until the camera you currently own won’t allow you to use the skills you learned. Once you have to buy a new camera, it will allow you to advance your creativity and ability to properly expose a great image. If you don’t know how to do that before buying such a camera, a lot of frustration will follow.
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