How to start?

[newfolder]

Hello everyone!

I have two friends who are professional photographers. They do amazing photos! So I've decided to have such hobby as photography. That's why I have some questions which I want to figure out before starting.

1) The first question is the camera. Is it ok if I buy cheap camera for the first time. Or is it better to start with the professional one?
2) Is there any photography theory? Are the books or tutorials how to make photos. Or I need to do them when and how my heart wants do this.

I will be very grateful for your answers. Thank you

[JTcooper]

Hi and welcome to the forum. First of congratualation to your friends and you are so lucky to have friend like that and I'm sure they are not hesitage if you ask if you can be their assistance, I thinks that would be your best bet. I guess that how most people starting out

[another view]

Click here or on the Learn tab above for a lot of good articles to get started. To answer your first question, you don't need anything special to get started. A pocket-sized digital or an old film camera is fine for now (and still has good reason to be in a pro's bag down the road). Eventually you'll learn what you like to shoot and how you like to shoot it, and that will lead you down the path of what equipment to get. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment may help you to get a challenging shot after you've had some experience, but it won't take the picture for you.

There are a lot of theories and "rules", and the Learn section has some good primers on a lot of these. Check out the other forums on this site too!

[Canuck935]

Welcome to the forum! It's always good to have friends that are pro's. You might want to start out by learning from them. Go shooting with them, offer to be an assistant for jobs and such. Be observant, ask questions, and you will learn a lot.

I personally took photography classes at a community college and it was the best thing I ever did for my photography. I learned more than I might have ever learned on my own, and in a relatively short period of time at that. I started with black and white and color film classes so I spent many an hour in an actual darkroom. While that sort of thing may be seen as outdated in this digital era, the lessons I learned in the darkroom have been invaluable to me as I made the transition to digital.

As far as camera's go, it is just fine to shoot with a lower end body. In fact, I would prefer a low end body and a good lens as opposed to a pro body with a cheapo lens. One of the best local photographers I know shoots with an "outdated" 8MP Canon XT, but he uses L glass on it.

Good luck and happy shooting!

[newfolder]

Thank you all guys! You are so friendly! It seems I'll be regular forum visitor

Yes, this is really good idea to be an assistant of my friends! I even did not think about it.
Thank you, you helped me much!