CAMERA

Canon T5i -  a wonderful camera for DSLR beginners

Canon 70D - a more robust and powerful camera 

Olypmus Om-D -  a Micro 4/3 camera is smaller, light weight but still offers the capability of switching lenses. This is what I own and love!!

LENS

There are two major categories of lenses, zoom and prime. Prime offer a crisp quality to it's focus. Zoom is incredible for convenience and variety of options and not having to haul a ton of lenses around. A zoom lens shows a range (ex. 40-150mm) where prime is just one number. Now what do the numbers mean? ___mm is a number that represents the focal length. The smaller the number the more your camera can "see" the bigger the number the more "zoom" your lens has! 

24mm - this is great wide angle lens for photography inside room, for traveling

50mm (25mm 4/3) - portrait photography favorite and typically affordable!

85mm (45mm 4/3) - this is my favorite lens for candid shots, you can stand a little bit back and not intrude, but still capture a close shot. 

Most camera stores will let you rent or experiment with lenses! If you don't have a friend that can let you try out a lens find a camera store either rent or see how it feels right there in the story. It is always a good idea try a lens out before you make the commitment. I heart faces share a great visual representation to the difference between focal lengths! Read the post here.

Phone Camera

If you just have a camera on your phone, it's completely ok! I will touch on how to make the most of your phone camera. All of the pictures below were taking with my iphone, a great picture is completely possible without a big fancy camera. And just because you do not have all the buttons, doesn't mean the above terms aren't important to keep in mind. We will keep coming back to those terms.

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A Beautiful Mess’s Photography Gear We Love & Recommend as well as All About Prime Lenses & Focal Lengths

ASSIGNMENT

1. In our Facebook community share the gear you are working with and if you have had any issues reach out with questions on Wednesdays during our afternoon Q+A! 

2. If you have an phone do some research on apps that can expand your photography capabilities. Share if you find any great new ones or share your favorites. If you haven't already check out the APPS on our sidebar. VSCOCAM and Facetune are especially going to be important on our editing day!