New Camera

Photography is a pretty important part of blogging and I'm the first to admit that mine has been, well, sub-par. The last camera I bought was a Canon point and shoot that I purchased ahead of my study abroad trip to Oxford in 2008, but I've really been using my iPhone to take most of my pictures lately. I have a hard time ponying up a lot of money for something without researching it to death, so it's easy for me to put off such a purchase for a long time. Then, a week ago I had a call to action. Cassie of Primitive and Proper posted pictures of the Sweet Clover Sale Preview, and there was all the evidence I needed, right in front of me. My furniture looked so much better in her pictures, so much so even that I used her pictures on my post about the sale instead of my own.

In terms of listing furniture on Craigslist, the difference wasn't a big deal. But in terms of building a portfolio and blogging in a Pinterest-savvy world, the better photos were a huge wake up call. So I decided to go for it. Last night I stayed up late researching DSLRs and finally settled on the Canon T3i with the 18-55mm lens kit. I also bought the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens, otherwise known as the Nifty Fifty, which comes highly recommended by many photographers/bloggers.

Via B&H

I settled on the T3i after reading many reviews of the camera alone, as well as a bunch of reviews of the T3i compared to it's newer, more expensive counterparts like the T5i (the T4i has been discontinued). It's supposed to be great for beginners, a good value, and it was in my price range. After looking at options through Amazon where I get extra rewards since I have an Amazon credit card, I settled on buying it through B&H because it included a bag, a 16 GB memory card, and an extra battery for the same price as the camera was available on Amazon.com. The total came to about $730, which is a whole lot of money for me. But I'm kind of relieved to have finally purchased it, and I'm super excited to learn how to use it. 

Has anyone else invested in something fun lately? Have any tips for me as I learn to use my new camera?