I have received a few messages asking me if I could share the camera I use and what apps I use to edit my photos. I will start by saying I am NOT by any means a professional and I solely use my camera for fun. Any information I share is from my own practice and experience using my camera and/or apps and Photoshop and these are just a couple basic tips.
This is the camera I have except the one I got came with one other lens. If you are thinking about getting a camera, you are also going to want to invest in some cleaning materials such as a lens cloth.
Taken with my Canon DSLR
I have had a Canon for about three years now and I take it almost everywhere we go. A few years ago I got he Canon Rebel camera bundle for Christmas. It came with three different lenses but I never use the lenses it came with. I have found that when you buy a camera, the investment does not end there.When I tested out the lenses that the camera came with, I realized that it did not give me the "look" I was going for in my pictures. So that lead me to a lot of YouTube photography tutorials about lenses and camera settings. After a little bit of research, I decided that it was time to invest in a 50 mm f/1.8 and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. The difference between the 1.8 and the 1.4 is the "aperture priority," meaning one lens allows you to have a little bit more depth than the other. To say that these lenses brought my pictures to the next level is an understatement. Even though my pictures had greatly improved, they still could be better so that lead me on a search for the best editing apps and tools. Photoshop is my first choice because the tools in Photoshop can really make your photos come to life. If you look below, you can see the before and after of Shannon with Roxie. Depending on the light and time of day, you are going to want to change your ISO, shutter speed, and aperture settings. Now, do not be afraid of these terms because it took me months to wrap my ahead around what these meant exactly and how they worked hand in hand with each other.
Taken with my Canon before editing
After editing
ISO - controls the sensitivity of the film or the sensor that absorbs the light. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light. By choosing a higher ISO you can use a faster shutter speed to freeze the movement
Shutter speed - determines how long shutter remains open as the picture is taken. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time
Aperture / F-stop - defines the size of the opening in the lens that can be adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film or digital sensor. The size of the aperture is measured in F-stop in camera settings.
For example, on a sunny day, I would have my ISO at 100, my f stop at 16 and the shutter speed to 1/100 second. Now this is just a basic example so you might need to keep adjusting these three things depending on your light. You will need to adjust these numbers even with the slightest change in lighting and depending on the "mode" your camera is in. I use "manual" or "creative" mode most of the time. I will use aperture priority mode only if I want the camera to set the aperture for me based on the light, but I like adjusting the aperture myself.
After A LOT of tutorials and articles, I finally had a good grasp on how to properly use my camera.. but trust me when I say I am STILL learning. My favorite time to use my camera is during special events, vacations, or parties, but I am starting to bring it with me everywhere I go.
When I am out and about and I do not have my camera on me, I will use my phone to take photos and edit in VSCO cam. I usually use the SS1 filter and adjust my exposure, contrast, warmth/coolness and sharpness from there. I like adding a lot of exposure to my picture for the light but remember the higher the exposure, the less clear your picture will be. I like adjusting the "temperature" of the picture if I want the picture to have a cooler blue tone or a warmer orange yellow tone. Very seldom I will adjust the contrast or saturation but if I feel like my picture looks "washed out" I will adjust these settings. The more you play around with these settings, the better you will understand them!
I hope this helped and if you have any more questions you can send me a DM!
Rachel
