Fun With Photography: My Equipment

I get asked a lot what kind of camera I have and what equipment I use. First of all, let me just say that a great camera does not make for a great photographer. That being said, it is helpful to have a nicer camera and different lenses because you can do more with them.

My camera is a Canon Rebel XSI aka the Canon 450D

One of these days I hope to upgrade to a Canon 5D Mark II, but as it's a bit pricey, that's going to take awhile.

I have 4 lenses that I shoot with. Some I use more than others and there are different circumstances where I'll use one lens over another.

First lens is my kit lens, or the lens that came with my camera. It's a 18-55m. Nothing special, but for basic shots and some macro it works well.

Next is my 70-300mm zoom lens. It's also known as a telephoto. It's great for zooming in from far away at flowers, animals and some landscape details. This picture of Big Ben was taken with my telephoto.

Because the telephoto zooms out so far, it's pretty important to have a lens hood on it to prevent your pictures from being blown out or getting too much sun flare in your lens. I don't always shoot with mine on, but my pictures usually turn out better when I do.

Next is my 50mm f 1.8 lens. It's a prime lens, meaning it doesn't zoom in or out, it's a fixed lens so no movement. I use it a lot more than I use to. It's awesome for portraits, close-ups and even works well for some landscape shots. It also creates great bokeh. A lot of my 365 Project photos are taken with my 50mm lens.


Last, but not least is my 10-22mm lens. It's a wide-angle lens and in my opinion works best for landscapes or if you are in a room and are wanting to capture a large number of people or details in the room.

This photograph is an example of the wide angles capabilities.

Another piece of equipment I use is a tripod. I have a cheap Wal-Mart quality tripod right now, but it's on my list of things to upgrade. Tripods are great for night shots. with a tripod you aren't getting any camera shake and it truly can take your night shots to the next level. Almost all of my night shots that were taken on our last vacation were taken with a tripod.

Some people are fine with just taking pictures and not doing any sort of post-processing on them. Since I'm aiming to be a professional photographer and because I like the look of my pictures more after they are processed, I purchased a photo-editing program.

I own Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. With photo editing programs you have several choices. Rita over at the CoffeeShop Blog wrote a great post about the three most popular programs on her blog just a few weeks ago. Check it out here.

I will say though, if you're going to get a photo editing program, you really need to get a book that teaches you how to use it. It's not a program that you can just figure out for yourself right off the bat. I recommend Scott Kelby's book, The Photoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers. I seriously call it my bible, because it's so amazing and very helpful when you're first starting out.

If you have any questions about my camera, lenses or photography, feel free to email me. I'll do my best to answer your question!