Hi my name is Carlee Dock and I live in Colorado too! I am an EI Speech Language Pathologist and i love my job. I hope to get my PhD someday or take a different route with writing curriculum. I am interested in taking photos just for fun. I do not know a single thing about anything photography related. I am not aspiring to be a photographer. That said, I have zero skills and would like to learn a little more. I was wondering 1) if I’m not financially reliant on this hobby, then how much money should I put into it? 2) if I don’t have a camera or any editing software, then could I still use some techniques from your class with pics from my iPhone? 3) if equipment was necessary, then which devices would be the most affordable and best for learning? I know that’s a lot! Thanks in advance for your help. I reached out to you because you’re in CO and you were an educator. My parents are retired teachers and here I am a therapist, so I felt we had some common ground.
Hello Carlee! Thanks for your inquiry. :)
I think the investment you want to make just completely depends on how much you're loving photography and how far you want to take it. You can do a whole lot with just an iPhone and an understanding of light. Fancy lenses and camera bodies really help with things like sharpness, depth of field, clarity - and just generally having complete control over your storytelling, but they aren't 100% essential to being a great photographer. When I'm out with my family during the day, I'll use my iPhone and have some great images from my phone that I love. So your investments doesn't necessarily need to be high. But as you get more and more into photography you may find you want to have more control with a fun lens or a camera body with more capability than your phone.
Yes, you can still learn techniques from this breakout even if you don't have editing software like Lightroom and Photoshop. I'll be photographing in several different rooms in my home. You will get to see how I use light, where I place my subject, how far away I stand from them and how I set up simple creative scenes.
If you do want to get a camera body and a nice lens, I would recommend going to your local camera dealer (like Mike's Camera) and asking them to show you options for someone just starting out. It's so difficult to just tell you the type of body to buy and the best lens, because it's such personal preference. That said, I shoot with Nikon (I have the D850 body) and have a collection of Nikon lenses (which you'll see in this breakout). When I was starting out I had the D750 and I've upgraded from there as I've gotten further down my photography journey. If you wanted just one very versatile lens, the Sigma 35mm 1.4 is a fun lens and great quality.
I hope to see you in this breakout! If I do, I can help you every step of the way. :)
This was amazing. Any level, Any camera, Any style. I origanally was interested in just the lamp light photos thinking I know the other stuff. Boy was I wrong. I have learned and referred back to these videos multiple times. These videos are so easy to watch and learn and see how to use light to your advantage without all the extra stuff. I am truly blown away by the ease of these. It totally made me feel comfortable when trying these styles on my own. D is such an amazing teacher and photographer.










