Want to start in Photography? Read this first.

My inspiration for this post is a thread I recently read on a photography forum I frequent. I seem to get a lot of my blog post ideas from there. I've seen threads like this in the past, but I usually don't bother thinking about them, or even bother to comment on them. But this one struck a chord with me. I won't give you the exact quote, but the opening post of the thread came from a brand new poster and it went something like this:

"Hello everyone! We've been taking my infant to photo studios to get pictures taken, but have been less than pleased with the results. My wife and I have decided to buy some photography equipment and take our oun portraits. We have no experience in photography, but would like to know what equipment we need to take good pictures."

Sound innocent enough? Well, to a grizzled amateur, the insinuation is that any Joe Blow off the street can throw some money at some photography gear and shoot amazing shots. This is pretty off-putting to people who may not have ever made a dime on photography, but have spend months, years, or even decades working towards bettering themselves at their chosen craft. To a professional, who's spend years training, years refining their work, and thousands of dollars on equipment, this is a slap in the face. It would be akin to saying, "Hello! Professional photographers, like yourselves, in our area suck. What equipment do I need to buy to put you out of business?".

So I've blown it a bit out of proportion, but the insinuation is there. The problem is, non-photographers think that there's nothing more than pointing your camera in the direction of something interesting and clicking the button. They also tend to believe that a really expensive, fancy camera will make great photos automatically. Occasionally, I'll show some of my work to friends, co-workers, and family, and more often than not, I'll hear something like, "Wow, those are great shots, you must have a really nice camera!" It's as if they are using the fact that I have DSLR, and they have a $200 point and shoot as a crutch for why they can't take shots like that. I've taken a page from the book of Scott Bourne (he mentioned this one once when he hosted TWiP), and when I hear people say something like that, I'll usually respond with, "Yeah, I got it at the same place Shakespeare got his pen." Maybe it sounds a bit arrogant to say that, but really, people should give credit where credit is due, but I digress.

So now, to relate to the title of this post. Do you want to start in photography? If so, there are some things to think about. Here is a list of questions you need to ask yourself. This list isn't all inclusive, but it will get you started.

• Why do I want to learn photography?
• Have I done any research on photography?
• What genre do I think I would like to shoot?
• Do I have an idea of what gear I would need to buy?

The first question is really the most important part, as it will dictate a lot of decisions later. If you just want to get some snaps of the kids playing, you probably can get away with point and shoot camera. If you want to learn the ins and outs of photography, you probably want to get a DSLR. If you want to make money with photography, you probably want to go through some kind of training, and buy pro level (read: expensive) gear.

This next question will help you to decide if this is really something you want to undertake. Photography has a very steep learning curve. The terms, phrases and acronyms you hear will be like learning a new language. For example, "I made this shot at ISO 100, 1/20sec, f/13 hand-held with VR on, spot metered off rocks, then recomposed." The other thing that you really need to understand is (and I hope your research will lead you to this) that photography is as much (or more than) an art as it is a science. There is certainly a technical aspect to photography, but the artistic side is going to make or break your shooting.

The third question will help you to narrow down the types of equipment you want to buy, as well as help you look at how to accomplish that type of photography. Shooting landscapes requires a completely different skill set from shooting portraits. I can make great looking landscapes, but I am pretty bad at portraiture, and I have over 10 years experience in photography!

Once you've taken time to think about the first three questions, you can begin to decide what equipment you want. Here, you'll want to decide what camera system you want to buy into (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Olympus, etc), and any additional equipment you might need. The answers to the first three questions should answer that for you. If you want to do portraits, you're going to have to invest in lighting and a set of lenses that give you an appropriate field of view. If you want to do landscapes, you pretty much need a tripod, someway of triggering your camera remotely, and a wide angle lens.

The point I want to stress is that photography is not easy. Once you get the basics, there's still a lot to learn. It's not for everyone. Please make sure to take your time, do your research and don't jump in unprepared, or you'll get frustrated very quickly.