The Bloggers Guide to Camera Lenses - Introduction

One aspect of blogging I get asked about the most, by email or twitter is Photography. I love taking blog photos, it's something I enjoy the most about blogging. Although at times it can be frustrating, and take forever to arrange items in a composition you're happy with - but when you get it 'right' and can look back at a photo with pride and admiration it's one of the most rewarding feelings. 

Now, let me just tell you that do not by any means need a DSLR to be a blogger, in fact, I took the photograph of the lenses using my iPhone for example... but this series will focus on DSLR photography and lenses. 

One thing many people ask me the most is what camera I use to take photos, and what lights I use - yet the question I often get asked the least, and in my opinion the most important aspect of a photography kit is actually the lens. Over the past year one thing that I've found help me with my photography frustration is realizing how important it is to have 'the right tool, for the right job' - for instance, you wouldn't try to put a square peg in a round hole, so don't try and force a lens to work for you in a way it was never meant to.  I spent so long struggling to get my images to look how I wanted them to, and it was only after I tried a different lens did my eyes become opened to the world of photography and I could truly appreciate it that little bit more. 

I do however want to make it very clear that you do not need to spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds on camera equipment to become a successful blogger or photographer, and If I wasn't in a fortunate position due to my job and some amazing Christmas gifts I would not have the camera kit I have today.

Disclaimer

This post or series is in no way meant to be a brag about my camera kit, or how much any of it costs. I just want to say that I am in no means a photography expert, or tutor, and I'm sure that there are many more qualified people in the blogging world who could write these posts, I wanted to give back and share what I've learnt over the past year. Only half of these lenses belong to me, some of them belong to my work and as a perk of my job I'm able to use them outside of work for my own use

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Camera

 I have a Canon 600D which I received for Christmas in 2013 and it's the camera I use for all my blogging and YouTube and videos.

When I received my camera, I had no idea how to use it, and found trying to work out how to take photographs on manual the most frustrating thing - partly due to being impatient and expecting photographs to be 'right' straight away, without putting in the hard work. 

Lenses

So here's the deal. Each week I'm going to talk you through 6 different lenses that can be used for blogging and i'll be showing you the difference in images you'll get with each lens and answering any questions you may have about them. I'll also be giving you my pro's and con's for each lens - specifically for blogging.

The Lenses we'll be talking about are as follows:

Canon 40mm f/2.8 Lens - £121.25 (amazon)

Canon 50mm f/1.4 Lens - £249.95 (amazon)

Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens - £108.42 (amazon)

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 Lens - £326.49 (amazon)

Tamrom 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens - £749.00 (amazon)

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS Lens - £1,018.99 (amazon)

Over To You

I want to get as much information into this series as possible, and I think my twitter had a mini melt down when I mentioned I was going to be starting this series with people already thanking me before I even published this first post.

So here's where you come in, I want to make this as helpful as possible, so if there are any lens specific questions or there's anything in particular you'd like to know or want me to include in each post, please do let me know in the comments. There are no stupid questions here, and I'm happy to help in anyway I can.

Em xxx