This web page is dedicated to teaching you all about photo equipment. Whether you’re a novice or a professional, we are going to show you what equipment you need to purchase to get the best shots for your situation.

Cameras

What camera should you buy? Well, it depends what you are after. Do you just want to take quick snaps of your friends or beautiful pictures of flowers?
A point and shoot camera is good for quick snapshots. They are small and usually will fit in your purse or pocket. You can get pretty good quality with these little guys, but have their limitations. They are meant for general subjects. They don’t focus very close, so you won’t be able to shoot small objects. They usually have a tiny flash, so you need to be 10 feet or closer to the subject to get a decent flash shot.
If you want to get serious about photography, you’ll need to purchase a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex). A DSLR has interchangeable lenses, so you can shoot in a variety of situations. You can purchase a long lens to photograph wildlife or a macro lens to shoot closeups. You can add an auxiliary flash to take pictures in a dark room. We recommend Canon or Nikon brands.

Canon camera Rebel XS

Tripods

So you purchased a DSLR and want to photograph street scenes at night. You will need a good sturdy tripod. Why? Because you won’t be able to hold the camera steady enough to get a clear picture. Manfrotto makes a good line of camera tripods. Manfrotto has a total system of tripods and tripod accessories. You can purchase the legs and head separately to give you the best tripod combination. Get a quick change head because they are a life saver.
I know these are a little expensive, but they will last forever. My Manfrotto Tripod is twenty years old and still works as good as new. I have bought cheap tripods in the past when I first started out, and I was lucky to get 2 years out of them.

Manfrotto tripod

Photo Lights

The built in flash on your camera may not be good enough to get what you are after. You may have to purchase an auxiliary flash. If you want to place your external flash off camera, you’ll need a light stand to hold it.
There are lots of different flashes and light stands to choose from. If you choose a flash that is the same brand as your camera, it will be a lot easier to use.
Another alternative are flood lamps or some other type of continuous lighting. With flood lamps, you can easily see the light which makes adjustments easy to do. The only problem is, you need to plug them in which makes candid photography almost impossible.

strobe lights

Photo Bags

Now that you’ve bought all this photo gear, you’ll need something to carry everything in. A camera bag would be in order. You have a considerable amount of money invested in your camera equipment, so a high quality bag or carrying case is important. Don’t skimp on this.
I prefer the backpack style bags for two reasons. The obvious reason is the ability to carry your gear on your back. This is especially important when you have a long ways to walk. The second reason is they look like an ordinary backpack. Thieves are less likely to steal these than they would a regular camera bag.
If you are taking all your gear on an airplane, and carry on is impossible, I would go with an aluminum case. These extra strong cases will protect your gear under the roughest conditions. I’ve done this many times and never had a problem.

backpack photo bag