How to start in Photography
The most important thing in photography is not the machines and the tools but knowing how to use them. There is a very strong tendency among people who want to get into photography, to attach great importance on acquiring cameras, lenses and other accessories. In the world of the electronic photo, this tendency is also observed for the editing software. This, in a way, makes sense, since we are constantly overwhelmed by advertising coming from the companies who are trying to sell their products. Even worse, most internet sites dealing with photography do nothing more than promoting products. After all, we live in a consumer society.
But, to get into photography, this is the best way to make someone not progress properly or not at all. Below I will describe some of the tools one needs to get started seriously in photography and to do it starting with the best bases and perspectives.
A good camera.
The camera is of course the center of all the work. But one does not need the most perfect, the most capable, the most expensive camera to get started. I would even say that this one would only be an obstacle for him, with its complexity, the infinite possibilities and applications and that, eventually, by the time he manages to learn how to use it, it will all have been overcome. There will be much better ones in the market by that time.
What the beginner in photography needs is a good camera–luckily there are no bad cameras nowadays–one that has the absolute basics, and doesn't get in the way of learning. A basic camera that can change lenses and that's all ! What I would call the Right Camera for learning Photography.
Whether this will be a 24X36 camera or an APS-C or a Four Thirds, what is needed is that it does not create a problem for him. That's ALL !
A good Lens
The other big pitfall is the lens. And the lens is, after the photographer's mind, the most important tool in photography.
Today the market is flooded with incredible constructions that promise... But in reality they are nothing but a source of problems for someone starting in photography and most importantly a big financial waste. What one needs to start is a simple lens, not necessarily one of those that, incorrectly, we call zoom, a lens that will be easy to learn its behavior. Because, yes, lenses have a behavior ! And the more complicated a lens is, the harder it is to know what it does. And by extension, it is hard getting it to do what WE want and not what it wants.
For the 24X36 camera the most classic lens is the 50 mm. For APS-C the equivalent is the 35 mm and for the Four Thirds the 25 mm. I am sure this is the best way to get into photography and learn to command your tools according to your needs.
A tripod
The most often forgotten tool is photography. A tripod is very important because, on the one hand it allows us not to make shaky pictures and on the other hand it forces us to go slowly. And slowly is the only, the absolute way to learn good photography. A good tripod will probably last us a lifetime, proof is the Gitzo Reporter I bought back in 1979 which is still my main tripod today.
A computer
I don't think that there is today a question about which computer, Mac or PC, for someone who needs to create good photos. Personally, and because I started many many years ago, I found myself with the Mac.For the simple reason that it used to be the only computer that could manage the question of color correctly. Therefore, I''m always on Mac.
Nowadays there is no significant difference between the two systems. I'm not talking about Linux which, thanks to those who maintain it, it is essentially an outsider.
So, all that is needed is a computer that has enough power and enough memory. Which is not particularly difficult. And of course, to be able to properly drive a demanding screen.
A good monitor
Another of the forgotten tools for creating a photo is the computer monitor. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what a good monitor is. Photography is particularly demanding and if we consider that 90% of the monitors on the market show the colors almost unpredictably, we will easily understand why the monitor is one of the most determining factors in creating correct photography. A photography monitor is necessarily an extremely accurate and therefore, expensive tool. I can say that the photography monitor alone can cost as much as a camera. Without this, however, our work is doomed to be very mediocre if not bad.
On the other hand, we need a good monitor to train our eyes to see colors and tones correctly and accurately. And in that job a monitor plays a very important role.
Calibration Hardware
No matter how good a monitor is, it is still a tool that has its weaknesses. The most common thing that happens to it is that it loses its accuracy over time. So it needs some other tool to help it get back into the right path again. And here comes the calibration hardware. It is a small device that connects to the computer and measures the performance of the monitor and its deviation from the correct color reproduction. It then instructs the computer to send the monitor such a signal that the colors look correct again. Today there are several such devices and their price is quite affordable, so that there is no justification for not using them.
Software
More important than the computer itself is the program we will work with. Here, although it seems like there are many options, actually the most serious one is only one: Photoshop. Of course, there are many more, many worthy ones, but for many reasons they all come second. There will be the opportunity throughout the course of this site to explain what and why.
A printer
So we come to the last tool we need to create a photo, which is the printer. Of course I'm talking here about the Artistic Photography. I think that, essentially, the photo doesn't exist if we don't have it printed on paper. There are hundreds of uses of photography but, when we talk about Photography as an Art, we can't imagine photography other than on paper. Especially when we are an artist who wants, if not to make a living from his Art, at least to be able to distribute it in some material way.
Nowadays, good photo printers have such a good performance that at times, they almost seem to reach the quality of classic photography. It seems to...
Again, as with the monitor, there is a huge difference between a common photo printer and a true photo printer.)