Back in college, I took photography courses that opened my eyes to the world beyond point-and-shoot cameras. For the courses, I bought a Minolta SRT-101 from my uncle. The SRT-101 is a fully manual camera: the only thing automatic about it is the light meter. I used to take roll after roll of film and develop them in the school's dark room. I still used it after college, but without having a dark room readily available, I didn't have as much freedom with my prints. I had some bad experiences getting film developed and I've since shelved my SRT-101. That's really unfortunate because it's a great camera for shooting black and white images. The pictures I took with it are still some of my favorites.
After graduation, my grandparents bought me a Canon Powershot A70 digital point-and-shoot camera, which was one of the best digital point-and-shoot cameras available at the time. Most digital point-and-shoot cameras are almost fully automatic, but the A70 allowed me to at least change the aperture setting. Since then, I've taken thousands of photos and my A70 keeps right on shooting vibrant and beautiful photos. Despite the camera's advanced technology and photo quality, I found myself missing the versatility and hands-on experience of SLR cameras.
Over the past couple of years, I've found my interest in using the A70 wane. It's been a tough time because I really enjoy photography, but I often found myself frustrated at not being able to get the right depth of field or focus on the subject of my photo instead of whatever the camera chose. I started to feel like all my pictures looked the same and I blamed it on the A70's limitations. To be fair, I know at least part of the problem was my lack of creativity. I'm sure I could do more with the A70, but my mind has subconsciously been made up that it's holding back my potential.
At the beginning of February, I decided that was time to take the digital SLR plunge. After quite a lot of research, I finally settled on the Canon EOS 40D with a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens. Since the lens was backordered, I also ended up getting a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens. Both are fantastic lens, with the former offering super wide-angle shots and the latter offering extremely shallow depth of field.
I haven't been able to get out as much as I would like, but I am beyond happy with my purchase. I've found my interest renewed in going out simply to take photographs. I again pick up my camera to photograph something mundane that can be given new life in a photograph. I've found myself posing inanimate objects to get the best image composition. It's such a fantastic feeling to have something I enjoy so much no longer frustrating me.
I still have a lot to learn. The 40D is a very advanced camera with tons of features and loads of configurability. Not just that, but I have a lot to learn about different techniques. I need to learn about panning. I need to learn how to better take advantage of the depth of field and wide angle possibilities of my lenses. I'm sure I'll have enough to experiment with to last me years. And I am so happy to have so much to learn!
