Know Your Camera

Hello, all!  I'm going to revisit the topic of cameras for this post because I recently upgraded to a different camera myself.  I decided it was time to buy a dSLR (digital single-lens reflux) camera because I had somewhat outgrown my point-and-shoot camera.  I managed to find a good deal on eBay, and settled on a used Canon Rebel XSi with an 18-55 mm lens.  Despite the fact that it is used and an older model, it looks and works perfectly, and I'm very pleased with my purchase.

I know this post risks making me sound hypocritical.  After all, I did preach in this post about how you can still take good pictures with a regular digital camera and how the camera you have isn't as important as the skill of the photographer.  I stand by my statement, but in the same post I did also say that a nice camera can take good photography to the next level.  I'd like to think that this camera will help take me to the next level.  I feel ready to try stuff that my little camera just isn't capable of doing!

Anyway, along with a fancier camera comes a lot of confusion, which brings me to my main point: know your camera.  Whether it's a little point-and-shoot or a dSLR, you're not going to achieve your desired result if you don't know anything about the hunk of glass, metal, and plastic in your hands.  I feel extremely comfortable with the different settings/features on my little Fuji--I know that camera like the back of my hand--but my new Canon is a different story.  Granted, I've only had it for a few days, so it's expected that I'll need awhile to get used to it.  However, due to the complicated nature of this camera, I can tell that I'll have to do some serious Googling if I'm going to be able to use all of this camera's settings to its full potential.  

Here are a couple pics I've gotten out of it so far.  They aren't bad considering I'm still utterly lost when it comes to operating many features of this camera.  I was concerned that the camera I spent $450 on was going to yield pictures identical to my $100 Fuji, but I was pleasantly surprised.  There is DEFINITELY a difference.  

To summarize, whether you're working with a cheapo Walmart camera or a $1000 pro-quality dSLR camera, make sure you know your camera.  Read the manual, use Google, experiment with settings, and whatever else you need to do to get the results you want from your camera.  I know the phrase I'm about to type doesn't really make sense, but I'd love to be able to make my new camera "sing".  :)