I’ll admit it: for many years, I was intimidated by the prospect of joining the world of digital photography. My experience with photography for the most part had been limited to tinkering with my father’s old film camera as a kid and learning secondhand from friends and coworkers. But as my career as a Graphic Designer and Art Director has progressed, I’ve found myself collaborating with photographers more and more often, and I realized it was finally time to make the leap of purchasing my first DSLR camera.
I didn’t have the biggest budget for a new camera, so after asking around for recommendations, I scored a Canon Rebel t6i on Craigslist along with a kit 18-135mm telephoto lens. The telephoto lens has been great to learn the basics on, but I’ve found myself wanting to shoot in low light often so this last weekend, I went to Best Buy and purchased a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. Already I can tell the difference in the quality of using a prime lens—in particular for using in taking portraits. These two lenses cover most of what I need, but walking around Dallas and shooting landscapes, I’m already itching to get my hands on a wide angle lens and see what I can do with it. In good time.
As an Art Director, my work sometimes involves collaborating with professional photographers to capture a specific look and feel for a client project. As with any collaboration, there is always a knowledge gap between the two sides. The more overlap, the better the communication between the two parties, and hopefully, a better product in the end. Part of my reasoning for diving into photography was not only for my own creative fulfillment, but also to help bridge that gap in my work between myself and photographers. Often there’s a type of effect or a particular shot I want and understanding what types of lens or equipment are necessary to achieve that could be tremendously helpful. Who knows, maybe I’ll fall in love with photography and give up my day job (cue the LOL). But until then, I’ve got a long way to go. Right now I’m starting at square one. Let’s see where it takes me.
Below are some of the photos I’ve taken this first month.
