The Gear

First things first. I would not buy the “kit” lens that is often packaged with the camera body itself. Instead, I’d buy the 50mm f/1.8 lens for Canon or the 35mm f/1.8 for Nikon instead (the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 does not auto focus on the Nikon D40, D3000, or D5000). This will cost you about the same or a bit more as the lens that would come with the camera, but it’s a much higher quality lens that allows you to take photos in lower light and create images with the subject in focus and the background all blurry. It’s only downfall is that it doesn’t zoom – so if you want to zoom in or out you’ll have to get on your feet and move around. But it’s well worth it! You’ll need to stick with one brand in this stuff – so if you’re buying a Canon camera, then buy the Canon lens as the Nikon lens won’t fit.

Buy the Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens Buy the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens

As for camera bodies, either the Canon Rebel T1i or the Nikon D5000 would be fabulous cameras that you shouldn’t “grow out of” anytime soon. These cameras offer photos and video, have more megapixels than you’ll ever need, and do a fabulous job in low-light situations. Either of these cameras would be enough to use in a portrait business where you have more control over your lighting and environment, but aren’t as suited for wedding work where you have to shoot in lots of poorly lit locations and venues.

Buy the Canon Rebel T1i Camera Body Buy the Nikon D5000 Camera

If you’re looking for something professional that you could use to shoot a wedding, I’d highly suggest the Nikon D700. This is what we shoot with, and it’s amazing in low-light situations, it’s rugged and weather-resistant so you can shoot in the rain with it, and it’s just plain awesome (there’s a technical review for you!) If you’re going to have such an amazing camera, I’d actually suggest getting the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens to go with it. It’s a zoom lens, it’s sharp, it focuses amazingly fast, and it’s perhaps the most versatile lens I’ve seen for shooting in both well-lit and in dark locations. If I could only have one lens, this would be it (although I’d cry while giving up my other lenses!)

Buy the Nikon D700 Camera Buy the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens

If you’ve been REALLY good this year, ask Santa for this!

If you want one of the best cameras on the market (or if you want to buy us an amazing Christmas gift!), I’d pick up the Nikon D3s in a heartbeat! This camera has night vision. Seriously, it’s amazing. It will “see” more light than your eyes can, and it’s quality is astounding. It takes awesome HD video. It can take 8 pictures in one second! If I was even mildly good with words, I’d write it a love poem of longing and desire…but I’m not, so I’ll just link to it and hope that maybe someone out there really, REALLY loves me and will send me one for Christmas. A girl can dream, right? While we’re at it, I’d like a Nikon 45mm Tilt-Shift lens as well, but that’s more of a guilty pleasure gift than anything, and it is NOT something I’d suggest buying until you’ve mastered your camera as it’s hard to use. Unless of course you’re buying it for me, then buying is highly encouraged.

Buy the Nikon D3s Camera Buy the Nikon 45mm Tilt-Shift Lens

Suggested Places to Buy your Camera

Personally, I’ve bought the majority of our camera gear at the following three sites: Amazon, Adorama, and B&H.

They are all super-trustworthy, easy to work with, have competitive pricing, and have never caused me any problems. You may also have luck finding them at a local electronics store if you live in a larger metro area, but even the Best Buy in our town doesn’t carry most of these items so I do almost everything online. If you do purchase from one of the three stores I mentioned, we get a small referral fee when you enter the site by clicking our link and then making your purchase. It’s not a lot, but it is always appreciated. It wouldn’t make up for the fact that you didn’t buy us the Nikon D3s for Christmas, but we’d definitely be thankful.

Learn How to Work It…your Camera, that is!

Brandon and I have decided to offer a limited number of one-hour, one-on-one training sessions to help you learn how to work your new camera. What good is an amazing new camera if you only ever shoot in auto? Spend an hour with one of us talking about what settings to use for different situations, such as photos of your kids inside around the house, sports photos, portraits, and any other situations you may shoot in regularly. The photos will only be as good as the photographer behind the lens, so don’t let that fabulous gift go to waste. We’ll only be offering 10 sessions (during January and February only), so contact us now to reserve your session. The cost is just $75.

On a personal note, we’d love to know what you’d love to have for Christmas (think big, like the Nikon D3s or the new Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 lens…sigh.) Leave a comment and let us know!

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…go look. I mean it….

Okay, now that you’ve seen how stinking awesome his work is, you can see why I’d want to learn anything I can from him. Don’t get me wrong – I totally love natural light and the moods that it can create, but learning how to do this type of photography well will only allow me to be more creative as I shape a shot in my mind in the case where natural light just won’t do. So I finally splurged and bought his OneLight DVD seminar. Worth. Every. Penny. Pure gold.

I don’t really intend for this to be a review of the DVD (other than to say it may end up being one of the most influential learning tools in my photography career) but I had to mention it for all you other photographers out there who might be afraid of using flash or off-camera lighting and to share with my clients about what I’m doing to spur on my creativity. I purchased a few modifiers and radio poppers and set to work playing with them. Zack made it totally easy to understand. While I haven’t had a chance to get out in daylight and play yet, I wanted to share this one shot I took with it set up in my entry way with tungsten ambient light that never could have been taken without off-camera lighting. Thanks to my good friend Tamara who graciously modeled for me. I’m completely excited to play with these techniques and can’t wait to see what good things are in store for this year.  

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