Am I dreaming or did I really spend 8 grand on gear?

For the last few months I've been reading the Canon reviews on this
website, read the forums here and had written down a wish list of
things I wanted but would never afford...


Well, I guess the question in subject line was purely rhetorical because I did. A rich "uncle" took his time to give me some money and when I did receive the dough it included a lot of back pay, then I got on EBAY and went Nuckin Futz Crazy.


Cut to the chase, I bought: A Canon 7d, EF-S 10-22m, EF-S 17-55mm IS, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS, EF 100-400mm L IS, Canon Extender 1.4x II, Battery grip, spare battery, Manfrotto 694 Carbon fiber Monopod, Manfrotto 190CX3 Carbon Fiber tripod, Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball Head, Sandisk 32gb extreme III CF card, A Gary Fong Lightsphere kit, Tamrac Expedition 6x backpack, Tamrac Velocity 9 Slingpack, La Cross BC-700 battery charger & 8 eneloops, and Hoya HMC UV, Cir-Polarizer, ND 2,4,8 filters.


I would have gotten a flash, but I already have a 580 EX II.


I probably went a little over kill.


After I graduate from CAL next year I plan on taking a many months long Major cities/ National Parks road/backpacking trip circling the US. I'm 26, single, no kids, relatively young and don't think I'll ever have this opportunity again. I'm pretty good at composing pictures but I've never dived into any of the technical aspects of photography. Usually, or closer to almost always, I would set my 30D to one of the presets and shoot my photos.


A question for the experienced, pro, or knowledgeable: what would be the best way to learn the technical aspects of photography? What are the rules of thumb that you use for specific instances? I plan on doing landscape, city scape, candids, portraits, whatever, so don't hesitate. Was there a particular source that you learned a lot from? A book, magazine, video of some sort, or etc?


I included a couple of pics of Half Dome in Yosemite I took this past August to show my skill level but my problem is, well, if photography was like a shooting game, I'm a run and gunner who is trying to learn how to snipe. I want to be prepared because I've never taken any photography courses and don't want to lose any once in a lifetime shots when I go on my road trip due to ignorance. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks! And sorry for the long post.





http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../aIMG_6042.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...10IMG_6071.jpg

Per your quote....





"A question for the experienced, pro, or knowledgeable: what would be
the best way to learn the technical aspects of photography? What are
the rules of thumb that you use for specific instances? I plan on doing
landscape, city scape, candids, portraits, whatever, so don't hesitate.
Was there a particular source that you learned a lot from? A book,
magazine, video of some sort, or etc?"





A great book to start with,...."Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson

[H]

I didn't see any fast prime lens on the list after you spent 8 grand , this is really crazy![8-)]

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Originally Posted by Todd Ovick

A great book to start with,...."Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson
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Thanks for the book suggestion, Todd. I looked up a couple of reviews for it and it seems like just the right book I need. Ordered. I can't wait to read it over winter break!


As for the Prime lens... uh...you got me, that was something I was unsure about. I have the EF-S 60mm macro but I couldn't decide on a better prime I wanted. I was hoping the zoom lenses would suffice until I found my niche in photography. I was seriously considering the 85mm L lens but I don't know what I'd do with it. argh!

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Originally Posted by JeffBP23

As for the Prime lens... uh...you got me, that was something I was unsure about. I have the EF-S 60mm macro but I couldn't decide on a better prime I wanted. I was hoping the zoom lenses would suffice until I found my niche in photography. I was seriously considering the 85mm L lens but I don't know what I'd do with it. argh!

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Hey Jeff,....a great "L" prime for you would be the Canon 35mm f/1.4L. it would be 56mm on your 7D (1.6x crop body) and would be close to what the human eye perceives (50mm). Primes are noted for their extra sharpness and with this lens, great in low light (f/1.4). also a great portrait lens. please read Bryan Carnathan's review. you should make your decision on a prime, fixed focal length lens after shooting a bit with your current lens'. IMHO.....

Without knowing what kind of subjects you are interested in shooting, there's no way to recommend a first prime lens.


If you like shooting landscape (judging from the images you elected to post), a wide angle prime would be ideal. Something like the EF 14/2.8L II would be impressive, but expensive and not necessarily the most cost-effective lens for an APS-C sensor. All the wide-angle primes are best used on 35mm sensors. You would also be unable to use any front filters except perhaps for ND grads handheld. The EF-S 10-22 that you got is probably best suited for landscape on a crop body.


If you like shooting fast action and/or low light, then the 50/1.2L or 85/1.2L II are the widest aperture lenses in production for the EF lineup. They are also very nice portrait lenses. But IMO, the 85/1.2 is the better of the two lenses.


If you like portraiture, in addition to the above f/1.2 lenses, you could get the 135/2L. Headshots are even possible with a 200/2.8 or 300/4. Some photographers like using telephoto lenses for portraiture.


If you like sports or event photography, then the 200/2L IS, 300/2.8L IS, and 400/2.8L IS are the appropriate lenses, but they are all extremely expensive.


And if you like wildlife, then prepare to sign all future earnings away to Canon because then we're talking about the 500/4L, 600/4L, and 800/5.6L (all IS). If you want to photograph birds in flight, or get that elusive nature shot, it is not a question of "if" you will buy one of these, but when. The 500/4 seems to be the most popular, as it is the lightest and most affordable of the group by far.


That's my quick overview of most of the L primes. There are some that I haven't mentioned, such as some of the wide-angles, macros, and smaller-aperture superteles. They too have their purpose! Personally, I find there's something very "zen" about macrophotography. The 100/2.8L macro IS works beautifully.


Now, there are situations where you buy a lens that opens up a whole new subject for you--for example, I was not particularly interested in wildlife until I got my 70-200/2.8L IS and discovered I kept using it @ 200mm. But for the most part, I think you have to explore and think about what subjects interest you most, then find the appropriate prime to suit that style of shooting. The zooms are there to facilitate that kind of exploration.

The best way to learn about the technical aspect of photography is to shoot a lot, recognize your mistakes and figure out how to fix those mistakes. You are set for every type of photography with the line up of gears you listed, so I suggest you hold on to buying anymore gears and concentrate on shooting and finding out a specific discipline. Good luck!

Bryan Peterson's "Learning to See Creatively" is also a great book.

I say I want to do portraits but I have antisocial tendencies and become too insecure to photograph other people sometimes unless I really hype myself. Part of that insecurity links back to not being comfortable with the technical aspects. I don't want to make somebody wait while I twiddle my thumbs, how embarrassing! Hopefully that changes after I go through some books and self-training. I'll keep the suggested primes in mind when I go out on shooting trips. A fast prime sounds very tempting but I only have enough for one more...


Another Bryan Peterson book?! I'll look into that book. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

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Originally Posted by JeffBP23

I say I want to do portraits but I have antisocial tendencies and become too insecure to photograph other people sometimes unless I really hype myself. Part of that insecurity links back to not being comfortable with the technical aspects. I don't want to make somebody wait while I twiddle my thumbs, how embarrassing! Hopefully that changes after I go through some books and self-training. I'll keep the suggested primes in mind when I go out on shooting trips. A fast prime sounds very tempting but I only have enough for one more...


Another Bryan Peterson book?! I'll look into that book. Thanks for the suggestion. :)
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I primarily shoot portraits and my subjects frequently wait while I fiddle with my equipment (yes, I know how that sounds). By fiddling, you're experimenting, and by experimenting, you're getting better. And if you're getting better, it means your subjects are getting better pictures. So they can just wait...


Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. Try different styles. One nice thing about a prime is that it forces you to use one focal length--and that constraint often engenders creativity rather than supressing it. However, I'm quite lazy and like my zooms. I typically only use a prime if I need the extra wide aperture because of a lack of ambient light.

Blessed are we to have a rich uncle, and shame on him for holding out on you. It seems that you have bought the sports car but don

The best way to learn the technical aspects is just to get out there and use your equipment. Of course, you can and should supplement that with a thorough reading of the instruction manuals, books on photographic technique, photography boards such as this, photographer's websites etc. etc. But, ultimately, what you do with your equipment is what will teach you best.


You'll make mistakes, screw up shots that you wish you'd got just right, get great shots that you didn't expect, but that's all part of the learning process. A process that never stops.


In many ways, it's much more important to develop an artist's eye than to obsess about the technical aspects of your equipment. Many of the world's greatest photographs were taken with equipment that we today might view as hopelessly primitive. But in each of those cases, the person behind the camera knew what to look for and how to capture it most effectively. Finding that skill is the real fun and reward of photography.

I bought $9000 in camera equipment (body, lenses, tripod, strobes, flash transceivers...not including accessories like cards, batteries, misc. lighting) in the span of about 6 months. Prior to that, I didn't own a DSLR.


So it's fair to say that I knew relatively little at the time I first started buying my gear. And yet I can assure you I know how to use what I have. It's called learning, and I know this is going to sound very arrogant or condescending, but photography is not exactly rocket science. There are more technically challenging artistic disciplines out there. Just try formulating your own ceramic glazes.


It's not that I don't appreciate where the sentiment comes from--I think there are quite a few people out there who buy a lot of gear but don't know how to maximize its potential. But that's not because the gear or the art is intrinsically difficult to understand. It's because those people don't CARE to learn how; they think that the more money they spend, the better they automatically become. So yeah I do get that.


But at the same time, to say that one can buy the sports car but not have the driver's license, frankly does a disservice to people such as myself who knew what they were getting into and went for it; people who are serious about absorbing as much information as possible and applying it to their process. The problem with waiting until "proficiency" is that it's a bit of a Catch-22. How am I supposed to learn how to take advantage of my 100/2.8L macro IS if I don't have a macro lens? Am I supposed to buy a reversing ring, extension tubes, and/or close up lenses first? All that does is teach me how to use those particular items. How are you supposed to learn how to use something before you have it to use?


So I don't buy into this idea of "grow first, then buy." In the long run that is an expensive proposition. The real problem that one is trying to avoid here is buying the wrong things for what you want to do, such as buying a 300/2.8L IS if what you want to do is shoot Yosemite, or indoor baby pictures. But that kind of mistake is not a product of the "buy then learn how to use" tactic. It is a consequence of the "buy before you do your homework" problem. For example, some people go out and buy the 85/1.2L II on the glowing recommendations of other photographers. And then they realize after they get it that it's focus-by-wire, weighs 2.5 pounds, is soft wide open, has slower AF than the 85/1.8, etc.


In short, the real problem is that people buy things they don't research, not that they buy things before they are experienced enough to know how to use it or maximize its potential.


When I decided to take my flash off camera, I got completely frustrated because I could not figure out how the various wireless transceivers worked and how they were different; not because I'm new to strobism or that I didn't know everything about lighting ratios, but because the manufacturers do not make their product description clear. And that's why it took me so freaking long to choose. I wasn't going to buy the cheap eBay triggers just because I needed to cut my teeth. I needed to understand exactly what I was buying into.


Anyway, here are some photos I took recently. They're not my best but I like them because they each have a story to go with them.


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Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria, order Columbiformes), at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. This crazy bird would NOT leave me alone. It walked right up to me while I put my pack down to switch lenses. I sat quietly, watching it for a minute, and it started to get a little bit too close for my liking. I thought it was going to attack me because it was inches away from my arm. I got up slowly and walked away, but it followed me around and puffed up its feathers. Maybe it was attracted to the color of my jeans. There was another specimen in the enclosure but it didn't behave like this one. I switched out lenses so I could get a closeup of the crown. Unfortunately there's some vignetting since it was late in the day, necessitating shooting wide open, and Canon hasn't updated EOS Utility to include peripheral illumination data for the new 100/2.8L. Other than some basic color adjustment nothing else was edited.


5D Mark II, 100/2.8L macro IS @ f/2.8 @ 1/160s @ ISO 640, no flash.


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Pair of Mandarin ducks (Aix galericulata, order Anseriformes). I like how the one on the left is looking at the other as if to say, "what are you doing over there?" They were quite busy bathing in the pond and had just come out to preen. I later got a shot of the male on the right, just as he was using his foot to "kick" his head...lol.


5D Mark II, 300/4L IS @ f/6.3 @ 1/80s @ ISO 320, no flash.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]JeffBP23<o:p></o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"]</o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]Clearly you are in the first stages of &ldquo;L&rdquo; disease. This is such a highly addictive and virulent disease that there is no known cure. Once you take pictures with an &ldquo;L&rdquo; series lens you will never want to stop. L series lens have the ability to turn an old, no talent hack, like myself into a real photographer. You will then find yourself paying whatever they ask just to get another lens; you must get your next fix as soon as possible. The craving is insatiable and in the final stages you will find that you have sold all of your possessions, lost all of your family and friends just to get money for your next fix, your next lens.<o:p></o:p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]In the final stages you will purchase the awesome 200 f2 and then your fate is sealed.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"]Good Luck
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]<o:p></o:p>

Learn to be self-critical, read up on composing photographs, study others. Get lucky. [:)]

I was stupid in college, and blew it all on stereo equipment....


It got worse when i got a job in a stereo store... I had no car, but I had a $10k+ audio system....


Photography is much more productive, even if you're not making money with it :)


He's going to have a lot of fun figuring out what all his stuff can do.

Listening to what this group buys, you'd never know we were in a recession...we alone may be the cause of the economic recovery!

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Originally Posted by Sean Setters

Listening to what this group buys, you'd never know we were in a recession...we alone may be the cause of the economic recovery!

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In Japan[:D]

When I pickup some new equipment, I won't be surprised if I spend that or very close.



5DMarkII - $3k


24-70 - $1.3k


Grip $300


Battery $100





And I'm waiting to see if the 24-70 is updated, how much the possible 70-200 2.8 is going to be, etc :) But ya, just to get the walk around lens and basics is ~$5k (Cdn)





Funny thing is I sold my equipment minus the flash lately, and I only lost $200 on it all in total, so I can't complain.. L Lens how their value as do good cameras.

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Originally Posted by Sean Setters

Listening to what this group buys, you'd never know we were in a recession...we alone may be the cause of the economic recovery!

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YES!!, i think its a matter of putting "wants" before "needs"...hehe,...some would rather have that "L" lens before they eat for a month or two!


heheheheeee....I know the feeling!!!!!

Wicker, those shots are nice and sharp. I'll definitely be visiting the zoos this winter break.


Scott, most people don't get 24 months of navy college fund back pay parked into their checking account either. I don't save money very well, it's a fact I'm sorry to live with so it was either camera gear or junk that wouldn't mean much to me. Those pics of Yosemite I took was after a back packing trip from Glacier Point to Half dome and back in one day. I carried 3 gallons of water for my party as well as 4 liters for myself, plus camera gear and food. 40 pound bag, 20 mile hike and completed in 8 hours. I'm not too worried about carting gear, but I do plan on taking lots of photos


I started this thread to see what kind of advice others could offer so that I could better prepare for my road trip. I have a little bit over one year before I hit the road and figured I should learn what I can now and use the extra time to practice. So far I've been getting some good advice and a couple of good book suggestions. Looking into one book allowed me to find Ansel Adam's, The Making of 40 Photographs. I have a feeling that book, especially, is going to be very useful because of my plans. Thanks for all the advice, so far, folks.


This leads me to another question for people. Please share your favorite park: National, State, or Regional. What is it about the park that inspires you? This will help me research my destinations.

You have already seen my favorite national park. Half dome is a fun climb. Timed myself, hoping to beat my time next year.

Monterey and all thecoastalareas are really nice :D

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Originally Posted by Todd Ovick

some would rather have that "L" lens before they eat for a month or two!

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New personal dieting plan I think! :D Now I'll get those new CyberSyncs AND loose 10 lbs at the same time!