Photography is both fun and serious, at the same time. It is hobby as well as a full-time career. It’s easy to take pictures these days, but it’s pretty hard to take a ‘WOW’ pictures. If you are not sure, try going through the pictures of some amazing photographers all around the world. You will be amazed to see the efforts taken by them. Reputed photographers take a lot of photographs (may count around 1500 or something!) and then pick say around 10-15 of them that they feel are good enough to be published. If you want to get the professional photographic experience of what it takes, this book by the National Geographic might be a good start:
Also, do read our exhaustive list of photographic books to follow. If this sounds exciting to you, why not deep dive into the world of photography!!! With the advent of digitization, taking those amazing pics is no longer the art that only few could afford. You have a flood of options in terms of camera, lens, editing software, apps and photography accessories. So, why not dive into the world of photography and have an exciting journey with it.
It is mostly a wrong assumption that just because you have a DSLR camera, you can take amazing pics. Of course, having a high-end extensive lens will have its own advantage, but it is not that an easy art to master as you would assume. I remember the first time I had my DSLR, it was too much overwhelming for me with the various options and I took a long time to learn how to click with ease. Initially, I would mostly go for the autofocus mode, but with time I started discovering how to blend the various modes and take great shots. There are floods of tutorials running on photography that teaches you how to be good at taking shots. So, if you are new to the photography world, read through all the articles in this series and learn to take amazing photos.
Your photographic learning will begin right from your choice of camera. We have a plethora of choices these days. Camera prices typically range from 10,000 INR and can range back to even 4,00,000 INR. Nevertheless, your choice of camera should be dependent on usage. If you are a hobbyist, it does not make much sense to spend two to three lacs on just a camera when you won’t be using it as much as a professional. A camera that ranges somewhere between 15,000 INR to 50, 000 INR might the job for taking a beautiful picture. All that you should know in this case is the technical and fundamentals of the lenses, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc and how to use them to the best of the knowledge while taking shots.
If you are someone who is just starting out and wants to take photography seriously, I would still suggest sticking to the range of camera that costs you no more than 50,000 INR. A camera that costs you around 40, 000 INR to 50,000 INR will have enough functionality to get you started. For the initial learning, you should focus on the various technical and fundamentals of taking a shot rather than the highly complex functionality of the expensive camera.
When we have too many choices, decision making becomes difficult. Technology is changing and advancing every six months. In that case it becomes difficult to make the right choice that would suit your need. In case you are not sure on the type of camera that would suit your need within the budget, have a look at our article that categorizes each of the camera types as per the usage and the budget.
If at the current scenario, you just want to stick to mobile photography, do pay attention to our series on mobile photography.
To sum up, for learning photography, all you need is a camera (even a mobile camera will do the job!) and willingness to learn. Once you are ready, take this series step by step and learn as much as you can to hone up your skill.