I didn’t know what I was doing. I bought a DSLR because I knew it was a NICE camera. I mean, if the “lenses come off” that means it’s NICE and I’m going to have the BEST pictures out of all of my friends! Right?! Wrong. I shot my Canon Rebel on AUTO for TWO YEARS and I thought my images were magnificent… and they weren’t. They weren’t HORRIBLE but that little camera that I paid $1200 for was capable of SO MUCH MORE! I took it to Rome, The Bahamas, Florence Italy, etc. The whole time, I thought I was hott stuff with this fancy camera but really, I had NO IDEA how to use it.  I would shoot aimlessly, just hoping for a good shot. Ohhhhh how I wish someone older and wiser had sat me down and said “Sweetheart, you paid over a thousand dollars for a camera that has the capability to expose manually… and you don’t even know what that means”.  I had no clue. I just wanted GOOD PICTURES and I thought that if I bought a fancy camera, I would get amazing results.

Digital SLR cameras are expensive because they are high tech! They are MADE for exposing manually and switching lenses. When I was shooting with my Rebel on “auto”, I was literally only using about 5% of what that camera was capable of doing.  I PAID BIG BUCKS to have a nice camera and yet, I had no clue WHY it was a nice camera. So! I want to explain a little about Digital SLRs for those of you that are looking into getting one for Christmas for either a family member or for yourself.

A Digital SLR is for you if……..

• You are interested in gaining more knowledge about photography. Ex: learn about shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc.
• You are willing to really learn the art of photography and ENJOY it.
• You want high quality images and are interested in the technical side of photography
• You’re a parent with some photography background and want a GREAT family camera to capture shots of your kids!
• Photography is a hobby and you enjoy shooting and learning how to improve your skills
• You’re interested in eventually becoming a professional photographer