Photography For You

Wow! It's been awhile since I posted last. I was hoping for a post last week, but it was super crazy with all kinds of meetings at school and parent teacher conferences.
So, here I am finally with a little post for my photography loving blog readers. Lots and lots of friends have been asking me for advice about purchasing a digital SLR camera-that's one that you can change lenses on. Just yesterday, I went with a friend to Ritz Camera to look at what her options were. Since so many people have been asking, I thought I might do a little blog post on it.
Here goes.....
I started with a Canon Rebel XT. (Every post needs pictures, so here I am the day I got my camera. SO excited! How do you like my cow slippers?!)At the time, the Rebel XT was relatively new and was the only Canon of its kind on the market. Since then, I have recommended this camera (or the newer versions) to friends who asked-in fact, about 7-8 people have bought it after our conversations. Hmmm, maybe Canon should send me some commission!
Anyhow, since then-Canon has come out with an XTi, XSi, & XS. The Canon Rebel XS is what my friend decided on yesterday. It is cheaper than the XSi and there are minor differences.
The Rebel is a great starter camera because it is user-friendly and can be as advanced as you need it to be. It's great for family shooting or for beginning photographers. My advice is to get a good starter camera (like the Rebel) and when you are ready to invest more, buy better lenses. Lenses really make a bigger difference in image quality than a camera body (once you have a good one).
Anytime I am looking for camera equipment or other technological stuff, I look on cnet.com. You can search for whatever item you are searching for and it will give you reviews as well as places you can buy online with prices (you can sort from low to high). One thing to beware of: if it appears too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful about purchasing items like this from ebay or other online stores that don't seem reputable.
The most important thing is to get to know your camera and become comfortable with its features.
Here are some great places to help you with getting to know how to use a Digital SLR:
Digital Photography School
A photographer in California has started this great blog for "Momtogs" - moms who love photography. It looks like she is going to be posting technical aspects about photography for beginners.

I hope this was somewhat helpful to you! There are also other great cameras out there besides the ones I mentioned, but I am familiar with Canon, so that's what I told you about! :) If I can be of help in your camera search, please feel free to email me!

I am planning to do a post next week about backing up your images. Stay tuned!