Got to start somewhere

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to learn about photography. I have owned a ‘point and click’ camera of one make or other since I was about 10 years old, but now I want to produce more than just the odd mediocre snap. I am planning on taking a Digital Photography for Beginners course starting in January 2009 and possibly taking it further after that, but in the meantime I am hoping to teach myself some of the basics.

Today Alan and I handed Riley over to his Grandma and headed out for the day with the intention of going around a few photographic shops to get some information and advice on digital SLR's. I wasn't going into this totally blind. I have spent the last few weeks pouring over 'What Digital Camera' magazine and a couple of books about digital photography, so I had a very basic idea of the kind of questions I needed to ask. What I wasn't planning on doing today was actually purchasing a camera. Today was just to check out the cameras and get some advice on a good make/model for a beginner.

Photographic shops are pretty few and far between around here. I spent some time last night looking on the internet and in our Yellow Pages and found just 4 shops within a 20 mile radius of our home. The first one we stopped at was a very small shop in the next town. Unfortunately this shop no longer stocked SLR's. It just wasn't viable for his business anymore as he makes very little profit from them. He did however, highly recommend a shop in Manchester city centre, which I didn't have on my list. As Manchester was a lot nearer than the other three shops on my list, Alan and I decided to go there first.

The staff member at Jacobs in the city centre was excellent. He listened to what we said and brought out two cameras for me to try that he thought would best suit my needs and our budget. He went through the differences between them and showed us some of the basics. He let us hold them and have a go ourselves and he didn't rush us. When we asked him which 'he' would choose if he was in our position, he told us without hesitation, and it wasn't the most expensive of the two either. Alan was so impressed with the knowledge and service that he told me to go ahead and order it.

Later this week we'll be heading back to the store to pick up my Sony A350 18-70, a Sigma telephoto lens (I can't remember which model), case and memory cards. I am so excited! I can't wait to start exploring my new camera and taking my very first photos.

I decided to start this blog as a diary of my learning journey. A log that I can look back on over the coming months and years to see how my photographs and techniques have improved.

Your comments on my photographs, both good and bad, will be much appreciated, as will any help or pointers you can give me. My email address is at the top of my sidebar if you wish to contact me. I would love it if you came along on this exciting journey with me.