Once upon a time, I believed that the best kind of camera was a cheap disposable one. I only took pictures for very special occasions, so it just wasn't worth the money to invest in a "real" camera. Even those cheap disposable cameras would sit around for years, collecting dust, never managing to accumulate so much as 24 images.
And then came Alexis.
Suddenly, I came to realize that cameras are more than a necessity. I ran out and bought the cheapest digital camera I could find, and for a while, that was enough. But as Alexis became more and more mobile, it became more and more annoying that my digital camera liked to take a walk, eat dinner, and smoke a cigarette before actually snapping an image. I missed SO many amazing pics because of that delay.
When I had finally had enough of that nonsense, I invested in a real camera. A Canon Rebel XTi, to be exact. Mr. Canon and I have grown very close over the past two years. I fondle him, and he repays me with amazing images.
Now I tell people who are expecting a baby to forget that changing table, go buy a DSLR camera. You will not regret it. Promise.
If you're in the market for a new camera, here are some links to stuff I use.
My exact camera is no longer made, but this one has replaced it. It's better, and for that reason, I am bitter.
I most frequently shoot using my 50mm lens. I like it because it pretty much photographs things as I see them (no zooming in nor out). It's absolutely amazing in low light situations.
It also creates crazy fantastic bokeh ("bokeh" is the fancy word for when the background is fuzzy and yummy while the foreground is crisp and clean). Like this:
I also have a 75-300mm lens which comes in handy at sporting events and such. It makes things that are far away seem closer. The downside to the one that I have is that it does not have image stabilization, which means sometimes it's hard to get photos that are crisp and in focus. It's a couple hundred bucks extra for image stabilization (not worth it for me, personally). Here's the 75-300mm at work:
Just for reference, here is the same concert photographed with my 50mm lens:
I am head over heels in love with my macro lens. It's an inexpensive little toy that screws onto an existing lens (like a 50mm). It makes it possible to get really close to things. I love to use it when photographing bugs and flowers. Like this:
This fisheye lens is cheap, but it does the job for me when I'm looking to shoot really wide angle images. A fisheye lens pushes things further away. (It gets its name from the warping that happens at the edge of the image, caused by the distortion of the lenses.) Here it is in use at Conseco Fieldhouse:
Some other things I frequently use include: this set of filters, this camera bag when I want to haul around all of my fun stuff, this camera bag for every day (I use it as a purse), and this fancy and adorable camera strap.
(FWIW--All of the above images are SOOC. I very rarely edit anything as I'm too lazy to take the time to really learn how to use PhotoShop.)
