I so want one of these!
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Recently on the Photography Talk forum someone had posted a really good question. “I have been reading up on all the posts trying to soak up as much information on photography as possible. I quickly realized that it can be very overwhelming. I really have no idea where to truly begin.” and this got me to thinking, “Yea, where does one begin when just starting out?”. Since I’m returning to photography myself and pretty much re-learning everything, I thought I would do a blog entry about it since I noticed my reply was getting really long!
Where to begin
The biggest thing to keep in mind is you are NOT going to learn everything there is and you are NOT going to take amazing shots that take people’s breath away. At least not right away. To me, photography is a skill like painting or woodworking. You can’t just pick up the materials and create something amazing instantly. Well, some people can and we hate them. Just kidding, we don’t hate them, we are just envious of them for this ability. If you ask any professional photographer out there, they will tell you they still are learning new things every day.
Do some soul searching. Yep, I said soul searching. What I mean by this is you want to think a little bit about what you want to do with your photography. Do you want to just take basic pictures, do portraits, landscapes, abstract, macro, eventually become a pro and open your own business? This will help in in the next few steps. Understanding what your goals are will help you determine what type of equipment you need, how much you may end up spending on it and so on.
A lot of photographers tend to specialize in a specific medium, whether this is intentional or not it happens. I refer to this a lot but as you progress along your path you may discover that you are really good at taking portraits or are really bad at them but you’re really good with landscapes. This might be something you may want to focus on and make that your primary skill set. If you’re looking to make money, leverage that strong point. However don’t limit yourself with just one medium.
Gear
Cameras are generally the first step. Obviously you can’t take pictures without one. Once you have a good idea of what you want to do with your photography, research various cameras and find the top five that suits what you want to do and then narrow it down from there. I suggest having at least three cameras. Now you don’t have to get all three at the same time as they can be expensive and not everyone has money lying around. The cameras I suggest are a really good full size DSLR (or Film if you prefer that format), a decent point and shoot and finally a Holga. (I’ll explain later)
I suggest starting with the point and shoot especially if you are brand new to photography. The reason for this is they are pretty simple and do offer some, if not all the features that a full size DSLR has. The biggest reason is a point and shoot is portable. They are easier to carry around with you and quick to get to when a photo opportunity presents itself. It’s also good practice in developing your “eye”.
The full size DSLR (I’ll refer to a full size camera as this) is your tank. Tank is a gaming term referring to the character that takes the brunt of the work and is the central point. All the heavy stuff is handled by the tank. This camera will be the one you go to when you want to get that “perfect” shot. If you are say, doing portraits, this is the one you will want to use in a studio setting, not the point and shoot or Holga. If you have a specific idea in mind for say a landscape, use the DSLR. The DSLR is also more versatile that the other two with the ability to use different lenses, flashes and filters. This allows you to be more flexible in your photography.
The Holga. Yep, I recommend a plastic toy camera and here is why. It’s not digital, it’s light and it takes really interesting pictures. The Holga is your escape from the rut you can get into with digitals and their convenience. It also doesn’t have all the various settings or lenses the DSLRs do. The Holga allows (and forces) you to think about composition, exposure, subject matter and so on. This will help you to “see” the image and think about your shot before you shoot with a DSLR. In other words, do I have my settings right? From what I’ve read and somewhat experienced, it’s easy to fall into a “single setting” and get stuck there. Plus it’s kinda fun to see what you can do with this cheap little plastic camera. There are two kinds, a 120mm film and a 35mm film. I suggest the 35mm film version. 120mm film is a little expensive and with 35mm film you can get more pictures. Plus it’s kind of exciting to actually wait for your pictures to be developed and then physically hold them in your hands.
A tripod or two is another good investment. You can dump some serious cash into them but when you are just starting out get a decent but not to expensive one. Also consider the head of the tripod. If you can get one that has one of those pistol grip heads then do. It makes adjusting the camera much easier and faster than having to twist and turn two different knobs. I would recommend a regular size tripod and a smaller one. The smaller one comes in handy if you are trying to do macro photography. It allows you to get a little closer.
A good camera case is another essential item. There are several different kinds out there and again this also goes back to what you ultimately want to be doing. I’ve recently outgrown the case I have so I’m in the market for a new one. I primarily want to do landscapes so I need to find a case that is easily portable, not too heavy or bulky and that I can stuff with things other than just camera gear. If you are primarily going to only shoot portraits and remain in the studio then you don’t necessarily need a backpack type of case. You at least need something to keep your camera safe and secure and the dust off it when it’s not in use.
Filters, lenses flashes and memory cards. Let’s not worry to much about that now. Don’t overwhelm yourself at first. Although if you really insist on getting these items I would suggest a UV filter for lens protection, but keep in mind you may be removing it a lot. A polarizer and natural (or neutral) density filter are two others that are good to have. With filters it gets a little tricky as they can affect your aperture and F stop settings. This is why I recommend avoiding these right away. Once you understand F stops and aperture and how they work together then look into filters.
Lenses are awesome but can also be a crutch. There’s so many out there and knowing which one you need can be hard to figure out. Again, it all depends on what path you end up taking in photography. If you are doing portraits, you probably don’t need a mega zoom lens. If you are doing landscapes you probably don’t need a macro lens. But if you are at a point where you have gotten your camera settings down and have a good understanding of aperture but still don’t know what your primary specialization will be, then get one of each. A decent telephoto, macro and maybe a fish eye for fun. But again I suggest worrying about lenses and filters at a later time.
Flashes, like filters can get a little confusing as well. There are a lot of different kinds and they have different purposes. This goes back to what do you ultimately want to be doing. There’s also the debate over flash, strobe and constant lighting. Myself, I just have the built in flash on my camera and use it occasionally. I found that in most situations I can capture a good picture without the flash. Granted it’s not a jaw dropping picture but it seems to look better without the flash. A lot of this is just due to me not fully understanding how my flash works. That’s an area I haven’t started focusing on yet. For me, when I do a portrait, I rarely use a flash but use constant lighting. This comes from my background in television, I’m just used to that set up but someday I’ll move away from that and into the flash side of things.
Memory cards are pretty basic. Just make sure you get one that has good storage capacity, especially if you are going to use the RAW format. Get at least a 2GB card at the minimum. (I’ll explain RAW in a bit.)
“So I got my gear, now what?”
Learn it. Take some time and RTFM (Read The Flippin Manual!) on your gear. You’ll be surprised at how much you can actually learn from reading the manuals. If you read about something that you don’t understand, Google it. There’s tons of sites out there that could probably explain it better than the manual can. After reading the manuals, read through it again and this time, have your gear with you and work through the examples they provide. If there is something that isn’t making sense, run through it again until it does make sense.
Once you feel comfortable with the stuff you just learned, go play! Seriously, go play. Try out the different settings in different scenarios but take either mental or actual notes on it. This will help you to understand why one shot looks like crap and the next one looks awesome. When taking your notes also note the environment. Were you outside, indoors, what kind of lighting was there, fluorescent, Incandescent? Light from a window, were you shooting into a lit window and so on. When you look at your picture and compare all the factors contributing to how the picture turned out you’ll start to recognize how to adjust for those situations. (This is where learning early on about aperture, ISO and those other settings come into play!) At this point you can start to develop your formulas for great pictures with your gear.
Practice, Practice, Practice
As with anything, practice makes perfect. But not always in photography, however it will help you deal with situations a lot easier and quicker. The more time you spend with your camera the better you’ll become with it. You will be able to react to situations faster and get the camera settings adjusted more quickly than if you weren’t familiar with your camera. There’s nothing more frustrating than when a great picture opportunity presents itself and you miss it because you’re fumbling around with the settings and miss it. By the way, digital photography is a god send for practicing! You can re-use your memory cards over and over as opposed to having to buy and develop a new role of film each and every time. When starting out, stick with the jpeg setting. This is easier to work with on your computer, when you become more advanced, switch to the RAW format. RAW removes some of the post processing the camera does and leaves you with a more true picture. It’s also a memory card hog so if you don’t have a large capacity card, you can’t take many pictures in RAW.
If you have all three cameras, practice equally with them. It’s easy to get stuck using one or the other. Now in the case of the Holga, I reserve that as “special time” as it’s a little different because it’s film. I don’t want to waste shots and it’s really good if I’ve had a really stressful week at work. It can totally flush all of that stress out of my mind.
“But what about classes and instructional videos?”
Classes are good but I don’t see the point in spending the money unless you want to try and make a living at photography or become a serious hobbyist. If you are only interested in taking pictures of your dog then don’t waste the instructor’s time and your money. If you truly want to at least be a serious hobbyist then yes, take some classes. They can go over stuff a lot better and you have a live person you can ask questions. Instructional videos are good as well to. There are a lot of good ones online for free. Adorama has a great set of videos. The only problem with videos is you can’t really ask questions in real time. You may be able to send the host an email and hopefully it doesn’t get caught in their spam filter.
Other things to consider
Besides photography gear, you may want to think about other things like clothing and accessories. If you’re going to do a lot of landscapes then look into some decent outdoor gear like a wide brimmed hat, rain gear, jacket, ect. The wide brimmed hat is good in helping you to shade your screen or viewfinder so you can see your picture before you actually take it then realize you didn’t notice something due to glare that ruined your whole shot. It’s also good for keeping the rain out of your eyes. Other things you may want to consider are a notepad or voice recorder to take notes of your shots. For example, if you are doing portraits for a local youth soccer league, it may be a good idea to jot down notes for each picture like the counter number, subject name, team ect. There are apps for smart phones these days that allow you to do this and upload them to a website so it’s easier to access when you get back to the studio. GPS is another item you may want to consider. I’m still not sure on why but it is an option available to you.
Wrap up
So as you can see there is a lot for you to learn with photography and this is just the beginning! Whatever you do, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Take a break now and then and let your mind soak in what you have learned. Then go back and partake in it some more. Most of all have fun, it’s a whole different world when viewed through a lens!
Cool new bags for 2012! I'm in the market for a new one myself, just in time for Xmas!
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Sony has announced FREE photography classes.
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