newbie needing guidance

[nikkibrew86]

hi there,

newbie to the forum but not to photography (sort of), I live in Newcastle and have a canon 400d (which i personally love as it was my 1st camera that was bought by my boyfriend instead of spending the money on a PS3! which is why i love it alot!)

I have owned it for over a 1yr now, I studied photography in college and have always been interested in it, but never had the money to get the camera or lenses iv wanted.

I toi in burlesque and boudoir photos which iv taken a few for friends for their other halves and some arty ones which iv played around with to create a lovely little pieces.

I love architecture, old buildings, funny little lanes, I always find when I'm sat on the bus or in the car my eyes seem to find very interesting things that i think "now if i could just stop right here and take a picture it would look class" photography kinda runs in my family my mums brother was a photographer and i have two sunset pictures of south Carolina in my house which were taken back in 1979 and they still look like they were taken yesterday. my uncle frank had his own dark room and only used very old cameras were black and white was your only options.

iv got a few little projects of my own that i am wanting to do and also in the process of opening my own studio.

now iv only ever used the lens that the camera came with (which has been frustrating at time when you see a shot and you know for fact it would look better if you could just get that bit closer.) it has served me well and the software i use has been adequate enough to make a few adjustments to the photos. but i and my photos could be better...

i was wanting some help with choosing some new lenses (money isn't a barrier but i don't want to pay any more than i have to 200-500 is a happy medium) for portrait / close up with great detail / landscapes and building photos / and a happy snap walkabout lens that gives me close up and distance without having to keep changing lenses.

also some advice on editing software, as what i use is just some standard stuff that came with my laptop.

iv been looking around the net on various reviews and there's so much that its hard to decipher what i need.

so here i am a bit about me and what i do so hopefully there are some wise souls to help me out.

Many Thanks

Nikki

x

[PhoTc]

Welcome, I'm new as well so can't really offer photography advice, but I'm sure you'll get some. Definitely get photoshop tho

Tc

[TJ]

Hi Nikki, welcome to the forum, and a nice long first post, so i'll do likewise!

I use Nikon equipment, so I might not be able to comment on which Canon lenses are best for you, but there are plenty Canon users here and they'll be able to probe you more to work out whats best!

In terms of image-editing software, you probably have 2 routes, and within those routes, a couple of different options. From your photography experience (you mentioned studying it at college), I'm guessing you may have had some exposure to image editing software? If so, it's probably some Photoshop variant, and it is probably easiest to use what you remember (even if it's only vaguely). Photoshop, and more commonly for amatuer users, Photoshop Elements, is a very powerful slimmed-down version of the big Photoshop CS4 software which retails at about £600. Elements you can pick up for about £60 - I'd say this, and a few other programs are route 1.

Alternatively, you may think more about a workflow solution, rather than pure photo-editing power - and this is route 2. Software like Adobe Lightroom, Apple's Aperture and LightZone offer fewer photo-editing capabilities, but a better photo database solution. This type of software is typically more expensive, and you need to question what your needs are. The biggest advantage for this software is the ability to organise and manage a large volume of photos, cross-referenced, and tagged, and in specific folders etc - it works using indexing to create a very powerful library of your photos which should make them easily accessible.

90% of first-time users would find Adobe Photoshop a very adequate, educational first stop. The software is relatively cheap, widely used, and there are stacks of tutorials. I'd start there, but if you're going to be opening a studio and need to quickly edit a large volume of photos, something like Lightroom might be better.

Keep us posted on your progress

[tenchy]

hi Nikki and welcome to the forum.

For software, TJ has covered Photoshop, which is excellent as is elements.

For a free option try the Gimp : http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
pretty much as much power as Photoshop for free.

An option for lenses could be a Sigma 10-20mm for cracking landscapes at about £350, and a 50mm f.18 prime for sharp portraits and low light stuff, at about £100 ?

[chaz]

Welcome to the forum.

[Roger S]

Hi and welcome. I'm sure you will enjoy the forum and all the great comments on here. Read over some of the past threads, and then post any questions you have. We'll be more than happy to respond.
Roger

[Napalm]

Hi Nikki and welcome to the forum.

Nathan

[macca85]

welcome to the forum, look forward to seeing some of your work posted on here

stuart