New Camera | Beginner Advice Please!

Over Black Friday I purchase a new camera! Not only did I want to purchase a camera for better photos on my blog, but I also wanted one to bring on my future travels and use for my New Years Resolution (stay tuned)! I used a camera in college while taking some of my visual communications classes, but I never took a full-on photo class so my skills with a camera are definitively not the best.

I purchased a Canon PowerShot SX530 HS digital camera on BestBuy.com for under $200 the morning of Thanksgiving because I couldn’t wait until Black Friday. It has a large display screen and 50 times HD optical zoom lens. Plus, my purchase came with a free case and an 8 GB SD card! I originally wanted to get a DSLR but it’s undeniably a huge investment and I just wasn’t ready to spend that much money. I did however want to get a higher quality camera than a basic point-and-shoot that I’ve had in the past. All in all, I’m so happy with my purchase and I love playing around with taking pictures of my makeup products and random things around my house. I’m waiting for a good snow to happen so I can take photos and play around with white balance.

I’m also getting my hands into editing the photos which is a whole new world. I don’t have the best setup for taking photos in my room so a lot of my editing has been brightening/dulling the light and working with the shadows. I’m not an expert by any means in editing, but that will come with time. Currently I’m playing around with taking pictures against my vanity desk background, which is brown, and the white background of a poster board. Personally, I think the brown background has more character and looks more unique, but since daylight is currently minimal in Minnesota I’m usually forced to use the poster board for my backgrounds.

If you have any suggestions for photography beginners, leave them in the comments. I’m hoping to get a tripod in the next few weeks and may also look into the light box if I’m still unhappy with the lighting in my photos.

Thanks for reading!