Tutorial: Starting out photography on a budget.

Seems like everyone these days owns a camera in one form or the other. With the advent of technology packing different big things into little packages, you’ll soon be carrying a kitchen sink that’s built into your phone/PDA/camera/recorder/washing machine.

But at the same time, you can’t afford a proper DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera? (Or are you just spending your dollars into one of those phone/PDA/camera/recorder/washing machine thingies….) So where do you start if you want to explore photography yet not want, or can’t afford, to buy a camera?



I personally strongly believe that a better camera does not make a better photographer (but it does take a better photo). If you’re interested in photography but are just starting off or on a budget, here are some pointers to start you off on the right path. And require that you only have something to shoot with.

1. Understand composition
The most crucial aspect of a great photograph that all the best equipment in the world can’t give. Read up on the Rules of Thirds. Understand it. Apply it. Then learn when to break it.

2. Look at paintings
From the classic masterpieces to modern digital art. Why? Because the painter is a master of his domain, in that she controls not only what appears in the piece, but also the angle in which the viewer sees it.

A great painting has all the aspects that a photographer can only dream to control: composition, lighting, color, subject, background and angle. The sum of which totals to one thing, the evocation of emotions from the viewer. Which leads to….

3. Shoot with you heart
A great picture, like a great painting, evokes emotions from the viewer. If you shoot a baby (with a camera…), and get comments like “That’s a beautiful baby”, then congratulations, you’ve got a beautiful baby, but not a beautiful picture.

As important as subjects are, learning to shoot with your heart to further express a mood is more important than ‘just another super model’.

4. Pick up an image editing software, and…
If you only learn one thing from it, learn how to Crop an image.

This is a one of the most useful tools in your quest to better composition because it allows you to reframe your shots, so you’ll know not to make the same mistakes again when you’re taking a shot.

Here are some resources you can start off with:
Gimp The best free photo/image editing software out there. [Free]
FastStone Image Viewer Great image cataloging (ala Adobe Bridge) with minor image editing . [Free]
Picnik Online photo editor. Easy to pick up and use. [Free]
Adobe Elements 7 Easy to use, great features, low price [around US$139]
Adobe Lightroom 2 It's like Photoshop without the bloat, targeted solely for photographers [US$299]
Adobe Photoshop CS4 The ultimate in image manipulation, editing and creation. I use this for my graphic work, image manipulation, photography and digital art. [US$699]

Seriously, if you're just gonna do photography, get Adobe Lightroom 2 (if you're intending to go pro) or Adobe Elements (if you're gonna be a serious hobbist). There's no need to shell out for Photoshop (or you can use GIMP!)

5. Save cash!
By the time you’re halfway through improving the above, you should either
a) have lost interest in photography; or
b) find that the image quality (not the image itself, you should have improved) taken by your non-proper camera simply suck eggs. So it’s time to suck it, throw out the bad egg, and shell out for a proper DSLR. (How many egg puns can I squeeze into one sentence?)

I hope you find this helpful and answer some of the questions you may have. Do you have something you'd like to share? What about your own experiences when you first started photography?