I finally did it: I splurged on a new camera - my first DSLR! I actually purchased it way back in May but, as you know,
a family emergency took precedence and learning to use my new camera definitely slid down my list of priorities.
On the advice of a photographer friend,
Melissa Oivanki, I bought a modest
Canon Rebel T5i and a
Canon wide angle lens. I also purchased a simple light kit (
something like this). Melissa gave me excellent advice, explaining that it's the lenses that really make the difference. I'm already saving up for better lenses!
Because
I often talk about money, I decided to be honest about this purchase and admit that I really struggled with spending the money! It took me a year to finally go for it. I questioned whether it was worth it to make this
investment, but I
really enjoy taking photos. With my new camera, I'm thinking that I might even take some photography courses. My old Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 (discontinued, but
this is similar) was a wedding present Hubs and I bought ourselves in 2008 and it served us well, documenting international adventures in Greece,
France, Portugal, and
Hungary - plus many trips to the States - and all of our memories at home. Ultimately I decided that it's worth it to not only support a creative endeavor (it's good for the brain!), but also capture fun memories.
Unfortunately, my old Lumix was slowly failing. The biggest issue was the colour
sensor - it stopped reading aqua properly! Aquas came out looking like a flat blue and pictures started turning out grainy and dull. It's been difficult to set my old Lumix aside and reach for my new Canon, but already I can see a major difference in photos - look at the velvet chair below!
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| New Camera |
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| New Camera |
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| New Camera |
I've never been able to show you how vivid it is, and how much green is
in the hue - it always photographed like a flat blue microsuede, not the
luscious velvet it is:
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| Old Camera |
I'm so excited to be able to photograph the lakehouse more accurately, without
everything looking yellower, bluer, paler, brighter, darker, grainier, or more washed out in
photos. Hopefully I can depict things more true to life, like our DIY
solid maple counters, which are quite pale in real life but always
photographed with a yellowy tinge. With my new Canon, I'm capturing them a bit better already:
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| New Camera |
My old camera still photographed close up details fairly well...
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| Old Camera |
But I love how
crisp close up photos are with my new camera, even with my having no clue what I'm doing:
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| New Camera |
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| New Camera |
Some days, though, I feel a little overwhelmed and frustrated. Although I've always enjoyed taking photos, the technical side has never thrilled me as much as compositions. Frankly, some of my photos are ending up
worse than with my old camera, but I'm trying not to get discouraged and just focus on the joy of learning something new.
I'm especially having trouble focusing when I take photos of rooms and I have to be careful with the wide angle lens that I don't end up with weirdly stretched out real estate listing-style photos!
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| New Camera |
I'm slowly phasing out my Lumix, so you'll see a mix of photos for the next few months. Once I get the hang of it, I'll be taking new photos of
the lakehouse so you can finally get a better feel for the space (and maybe even a video tour...).
While I try to figure this out, if you've come across a great tutorial - especially for shooting interiors - I'd love to know about it! Also, if you happen to stumble across an aqua camera case, I'd love to know about that too ;)
