Tools of the Trade
Tara Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 6:21AM Several lovely readers have asked me what photography equipment I use...
I use a Canon Rebel XSi that I have had just over a year now. Last winter Dan and I decided to take a photography class together, it was a "community course" at a local college, and we purchased the camera about halfway through the course. I am the type of person that really needs to know how to do something, so I knew that the only way I personally would enjoy photography as a hobby was by knowing how to use the settings on the camera. So the class was a great start, it was pretty basic but I left knowing how to shoot in manual and all the fancy terms of aperature and ISO and shutter speed and what not.
For lenses... Since January I have been using a 50mm 1:1.8 the most. I personally love the super shallow depth of field type of shot. And lucky for me, a big wide open aperature means that the shutter speed will be faster in low lighting. So thus that is the lens that works best for my winter, indoor, late at night shooting.
I also use an 18-200mm 1:3.5-6.3 quite a bit. This is what I use when outdoors as the ability to zoom or get a wider open shot is more of priority for those shots.
I use my 90mm 1:2.8 macro lens way to infrequently. It is a super fun lens to use and to play with... but unless I have a macro type of shot in mind when I set out it is less likely to be on my camera at any given point. But that may change as we get closer to summer...
I also use a Dolica tripod... a lot. So much that the base is almost always connected to my camera. (as you can see in my photo above... did you also happen to notice that I hold my left pinky out? 11 years of playing the flute will do that to you)
So that is it... for now! I have my eye on a few new lenses and a gorillapod and a hand held flash....
Reader Comments (3)
i'm so glad you posted this! i've had the same camera as you for just under a year and have not been focused enough to learn to use it on my own. i think i need a good beginner class to get me going...can you let me know the details on the class you took? thanks!
Your shallow depth of field shots are my favorites, they're so inviting.
You played the flute for 11 years? Me too! If you were in an IL state high school honors competition between 1996-1999, we have probably met at some point. :)
Terese, the class I took was at North Central College in Naperville. There are several places in the city that do similar type of classes/workshops- I really want to try the Chicago Photography Center's courses.
Julia, thanks! Funny how there are so many similaries across the blogiverse! I went to high school in Iowa.