What's the Best Camera? How did I start?

You may have heard the saying "the best camera is the one you have on you" and this is so true when you're just starting out in Photography. There is a ton to be learned with just using your phone as your camera. With your phone you can learn valuable skills such as: composition, natural lighting angles and the basics when it comes to editing.

If you're doing photography just for fun there is nothing wrong with using your phone or what you have on you, you don't need to be going and buying a super expensive DSLR or Mirrorless Camera.

Now, if you're wanting to take your craft more seriously with taking on client work, you'll want to first invest time into your education. There are a ton of free resources to learn how to use your camera and learn how to shoot in Manual Mode, rather than pointing the camera and letting it decide what looks best. YouTube videos can be an amazing resource. One channel that helped me a lot when starting out was called "Digital Rev". Their videos are old now but still have a lot of valuable sessions to learn.

Another Youtube Channel that's Fantastic for those just starting out is "Fenna&Photography". Fenna talks a ton about what gear she uses and how she uses it, as well as how she first got started and what she does now.

When I first started my photography journey I was a little kid with a plastic film camera, I never ended up knowing how half the images turned out because we always ended up losing the film but I still loved taking photos regardless. Then when I was in High School I begged for a DSLR for Christmas, but my mom didn't know what a DSLR was and probably ended up being talked out of buying one from a store Sales Person. She did though get me a Canon Powershot SX-500-IS Point and Shoot camera with a fixed lens that only went down to a 3.4 but hey it was enough for me to learn the basics. With that camera I learned Composition, Lighting, Posing, and I seriously thought I was so professional with my small camera. I took that thing with me everywhere.

For a while there I completely forgot about Photography until I was a Stay-At-Home Mom with my son. It wasn't until I was looking for Professional Photographers to photograph my family that I remembered "I can do Photography." I'm just not that good at it because I had never thought about it as a way to actually make money. I was looking for ways to make money at home without getting into Telemarketing or an MLM and Photography just seemed to be the perfect solution.

The Next Camera I purchased was an older model DSLR. It was the Canon 50D which at that time was already 9 Years Old, but it shot RAW format and I could learn Manual Mode. Which is all I needed. Remember when starting out that you might change your mind or realize you don't want to run a business but just want to do photography for fun. It's always my advice to go with the least expensive option that will get the job done.

So there you go, the basics in just starting to think about photography as a business and what camera you might consider buying or using and how you plan on doing photography. Whether that's for fun or to run a potential business. Whatever you decide, there's no wrong way to practice and get better at your craft.