Twelve Weeks to Better Photos: Week Twelve, Camera Accessories

It's the final week of the Twelve Weeks to Better Photos Course... it actually makes me a little sad! At first the lessons were sort of a trial to get through, but now I don't know what I'll take photos of each week! No worries though, I'm sure I can find a few four-legged models to photograph...

This week's lesson is about camera accessories. You can see the full PDF for the lesson here. There is no shortage of stuff you can buy to go along with a camera - I actually have an entire amazon wishlist full of camera stuff to get when I finally win the lottery. There's lenses, filters, flashes... the list goes on and on. I definitely recommend taking a look a the full PDF lesson, because it goes over a lot of things that I don't have room to go over in one little blog post.

In My Camera "Bag"

I have to put bag in quotes here because I don't have a real camera bag... yet. For now, here's what I shoot with:

Canon Rebel T3i
I love this camera.I'm so incredibly happy that I upgraded to a DSLR. The T3i is the next version of the T2i (which is also a great camera). One of the differences between the two cameras is the articulating LCD screen. For me, personally, I love having an articulating screen. I had one on my old camera and used it, and I knew I wanted one on my DSLR too when I decided to upgrade from a point and shoot.

18-55mm Lens
This is the kit lens that comes with the T3i. I've seen a lot of people lament over the shortcomings of kit lenses, but from a beginner's perspective, I don't mind it. I know it's not the best lens out there, but it (usually) gets the job done. I like to use my 50mm lens as often as possible (more on that below), but I've found the wider end of the 18-55mm a lifesaver when shooting in close quarters. Will other lenses beat this one out in image quality? Yup! Do other lenses do better in low light? Yup! But this one still works for me when I'm in a pinch...

50mm f/1.8 Lens
For the price, everyone should have this thing. I've really come to love this little prime lens. Sometimes I still get frustrated that I can't zoom the way I'd like, but the image quality and bokeh with the 50mm is outstanding. I'm always happy with my photos when I get them uploaded to my laptop. Not to mention that without the wide aperture I wouldn't be able to take half the photos that I do indoors. I keep this lens on my camera as much as possible.

A Gray Card
This is so handy. I hate white balancing with my camera. It's a pain (which I've mentioned before). I've read a few articles about how custom white balancing in camera is better than using a gray card in post processing, but, for my beginner eyes the difference isn't worth the hassle of doing a custom white balance every time I shoot. Instead, I take one picture of my gray card in the environment I'm shooting in, and I can correct everything in Lightroom 3 later. It's a wonderful thing.

Lightroom 3
Looooooooooooove this editing software! I don't do tons of editing to my photos - usually just a little cropping and white balancing - but LR3 lets me do so much more if I want. I tried 30 day trials of both Photoshop and LR3, and just had an easier time with LR so that's what I bought (plus LR3 is a lot cheaper!). Very happy with it.

Tripod
I don't break out my tripod often, but when I do it's a real life saver. I used to use tables and stacked up books as "tripods" and I have to say, the real thing works a lot better! I use it for self portraits and when I need to keep the shutter open for a little longer. I bought my tripod at Target for about $20 and it's definitely been worth the money.

Lightscoop
The lightscoop is the one thing that I might not have bought if I had to do it over again. I don't say that because it doesn't work - because it does do what it says it does - but I just don't use my flash very often. With my 50mm lens, I can usually make a photo happen without using a flash. For only $30 though, I'm don't really regret the purchase, especially now that I have a way to bounce flash off the walls easily when I need to.

RC-6 Remote
This is a fun toy. I really like having this little remote. It's another thing I don't use very often, but that's because I'm camera shy (I need to work on getting in front of the camera more). The remote is great for self-portraits and group shots and is just cool to have. I wish I could articulate just how fun this little remote is.

What I Learned

There is a lot of camera stuff I want to buy... I think I could go bankrupt buying it all up all the same time, but I'll restrain myself. I've mentioned once or twice that I'd like to get a wide angle lens, but the more I look around, the more I'm not sure what I'm going to get. There are so many options - prime? 28mm? 24mm? 10-22mm? - it's not easy to wade through everything that's available. Also, photography gear isn't cheap!

Overall, I think that doing this 12 week series has been really good for me. I've learned a lot about my camera and I think my photos have definitely gotten better over the past three months. Just being mindful about what my settings are and what my composition looks like have gone a long long way.

Have you done this week's course too? Link up!



Since this is the final week of the course, here's a look back at all of the other lessons I've done:

My Daily Environment

Landscapes 

Portraits

Shooting On The Go

Shooting Outdoors

Shooting Indoors

Composition

Flash

The Color Of Light

ISO And Shutter Speed

Aperture

p.s. I have to give a special shout out to to Kyria of Travel Spot. She's done every single week of the course along with me and she's really been rocking it the entire time. Definitely give her a click and check out what she's done!