Hey Ya'll! How's it going? Spring is in the air and a great time for photography. This week's blog is how to take great photo's on a budget. If I were buying a mirrorless interchangeable camera as my first camera. Now I have done blogs on what I think a first camera should be a good point and shoot like my trusty Canon G7XII. Here is a link to that blog First Camera. There are 3 key factors to taking great photo's. First and most important is Your Photography Skills. Second of importance is the Lens. And the least important is the Camera Body. Let's talk about them. In this blog I will reference Sony brand camera's but all camera brands will have similar products at similar prices new and used. 

Photography Skills- These skills are the Most important and something that is learned over time and you don't need a fancy camera to learn them. You can learn them with a phone or a point and shoot camera like mentioned above. These are things like composition, framing and creating an artistic eye. Seeing like a photographer. These are learned things except maybe the artistic eye some folks just have that but composition and framing come with shooting . There is also some technical aspects like the exposure triangle to learn and use. Learning about aperture , shutter speed and ISO and how they affect the photo. And then there is editing. That is as much as important as the taking of the photo itself. Even back in the film days this was important. Ansel Adams was an expert film developer and printer back in the day creating new techniques and processes to get the image he wanted. These are things that you can start right now learning. There are tutorials that can be seen online and workshops that you can attend to help you with this part of the process. It doesn't matter how good of a camera kit you have if you don't have the photography basics and editing basics you'll still have poor photographs. This learning process will last the rest of your life. I'm still learning new stuff every day.

Camera Lens- This is the most important thing you can Buy to improve your photography. This is what you and your camera see through to capture the image you want. You don't need to spend a ton to get a good quality lens although you certainly can. When you're first deciding on your first kit you have to decide on what sensor size you want.  Full Frame or APSC sensor size. Here is a blog I wrote on APSC sensor types. APSC Sensor Cameras And Here's one o Full Frame Sensor. Full Frame Sensor Camera's.  No matter what type of sensor size camera you choose here are a few tips on getting a good lens on a budget. First you need to know what you're going to shoot. If you are going to shoot portraits or things in low light a wide aperture lens will be preferred. With Prime lenses you can get wide apertures like f/2.8, f/1.8 or even f/1.4 or wider much cheaper than a Zoom lens with a similar wide aperture. Another way to save money is by buying used. Here is a blog I wrote on buying used Buying New or Used. Third party lenses like Sigma, Viltrox, and Tamron are good choices for lenses for folks on a budgets. Just keep in mind that most camera companies put restrictions on third party lenses like maybe shutter burst rates. This may be important if you are a sports or wildlife photographer. If you are a Landscape or travel photographer another option is to get lenses with a f/4 AMT2016-sony-a6300-review-0423-2Photographer: Anthony Thurston maximum apertures where a very wide aperture is not needed. These lenses will be smaller and cheaper. Thats what I use on my Sony camera's. All camera companies have their top of the line lenses. Sony's is the "G Master" lens. I only have one of these lenses a 100-400. I bought it used and an older version than the most current version. But it is great quality. Research is the key. Reading blogs, reviews, watching youtube videos and talking to other photographers will help you decide on what you need and the best way to acquire them.

Camera Bodies, No matter what you see on the internet or advertisements the camera body is the Least important item in the three things I mentioned above. I use a camera body that came out in 2018 (Sony A7III) and it gives me great photo's. The only time I would recommend getting the newest body is if you are a full time Wildlife Photographer or Sports Photographer. Everyone else an older used camera will work great. The camera companies make it sound like you can't live without all of the fancy features that they offer but really you don't need all of that to get great photo's. Just about all of the photo's on my website were taken with a APSC 24 mega pixel camera or my phone. I still shoot a 24 mega pixel camera now. For my type of photography I don't need the latest and greatest. The camera body I use now can be had for 900 bucks used. Compared to a 2500 dollar newer version Sony A7V.  Things to consider when getting your camera body. Of course APSC or Full Frame but also battery life and type is important. Anything 24 mega pixel or larger will work. In body camera stabilization is great to have. If buying used shutter count is like the odometer reading on your car. Lower is better. If buying used buy from a quality dealer they will have the shutter count on the camera. Again Research is the key and go to fellow photographers they will love to talk about their camera's and will usually let you shoot them and handle them.

Taking great photos can be done on a budget but remember it's just not the camera or lens it's your photography skills that will make a great photograph. Camera brand doesn't matter even though every Nikon owner will say theirs is the best and Canon will do the same but they all know Sony is the best. LOL Just kidding . Any brand made in the last decade will produce great photo's. I chose Sony because they were the first company to really adopt the mirrorless camera's and I switched from Nikon to Sony and have been with Sony ever since .  In my camera club I one of just a few that shoot Sony.  Remember research is the key! Until next week . Get out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link