One question I get a lot from friends and family who are just getting their feet wet in the world of digital photography is “What kind of camera do you suggest??”. The truth is, most entry level camera are pretty similar and most of them do everything (and more) that the average person will need them to do. One thing you’ll learn as you get more and more into photography is, it’s less about the camera you choose and more about how you use it. My first DSLR was a $200 used Canon Rebel XT that I bought off of Craigslist. I made great images with that camera, so I definitely believe as long as you have a camera that can shoot in manual, you can do amazing things with it! I actually recommend to my friends and family that they focus more on the glass (lenses) they invest in as opposed to the camera body itself.

First of all, for the most part, I would recommend everybody who’s interested in taking better pictures with their DSLR run out and get a prime lens. The nifty fifty (the Canon 50 1.8) is an amazing choice! At right around $100 it’s very affordable and it will change your images and the way that you shoot. I got this lens with Christmas money the same year I bought my DSLR and it opened up new doors for me!

Why is this lens better than the lens that comes with the camera? The simple answer is, it lets in a lot more light, so you are able to shoot in lower light situations. It also allows you to open up your aperture and get a nice depth of field (the blurry part in the backgrounds of photos).  This is a lot more difficult to accomplish with the lens that comes with the camera. As photographers we know that the lenses are much more important than the camera body itself. Camera bodies essentially all do similar things, so the differences for the types of photography you’re looking to do for most amateur photogs is not much.

Here are a few of my old images shot on my Canon Rebel with the nifty fifty!

With this lens you can experiment with shooting techniques and get effects that are much more difficult to achieve with the kit lens. I DEFINITELY suggest this lens to anyone who’s a budding photog!! If you’re interested in learning more about digital photography basics and also about how I use my 50mm lens (and even playing with one, if you shoot with a Canon camera!), make sure you sign up for Photography 101! It’s a class geared towards anyone who’s interested in learning how to take better photographs with their DSLR by me, a full time, working wedding photog! This is great for bloggers, wedding pros, moms who want to take better pictures of their little ones, people who want to take better travel pictures, dog pictures, cat pictures, food pictures, etc, or anyone else who has an active interest in photography who’d like to learn more about how to use their DSLR! I have two seats left and I’d love to meet two more awesome people on December 6th! Go here to register or find out more info!