Beginning Photography
Tips and Equipment

Just a few beginning photography tips on lighting, speed, aperture, lenses, filters, and other accessories will provide the amateur photographer with valuable information that can greatly improve picture quality. Of course, expensive cameras and lenses will make the job much easier and can create even more impressive photos. However, I bet you will be delighted with the improvements you can make with your photos using a basic digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera with two to three lenses besides the standard lens. Also, by operating in the manual exposure mode instead of letting the camera adjust the exposure, you can have so much more control over the outcome and have better results. (I’m sure you have noticed that your camera doesn’t always know what’s best for different lighting and depth of field situations.) Also, keeping in mind some rules about composition can make a big difference in how well your subject is presented.

I resisted switching to digital at first, but the flexibility it offers with being able to take and delete photos without added expense and the creativity you can delve into through editing pictures with computer software makes digital photography extremely attractive.

I have a 100mm macro lens, an 18 – 70mm standard lens, a 75 – 300mm zoom and a 2x teleconverter. I use all my lenses frequently except the 2x teleconverter because when I combine it with my 300mm zoom to shoot very distant objects or animals, the images often turn out dark. I would prefer a 500mm zoom for such shots because more light is let in and the image is much better. A tripod is beneficial when using a zoom lens to avoid hand shake.