Harlem Lovebirds: How Snapsort Ended My DSLR Envy

Mr. Love Bird unpacks our T2i

Yes, more Nigeria stories and pics are still forthcoming, but in the interim as Mr. Love Bird and I edit them I wanted to share a bit about my DSLR envy.

Well first of all before I got my T2i I had general "beautiful photography on blogs" envy. I would pore over blogs I admire such as Enjoying the Small Things, Cupcakes and Cashmere and Pioneer Woman dreaming of the day that my blog would have luscious photos. I just knew that when I finally got my hands on my own DSLR that my pictures would be just as stunning.

Then reality set in once my DSLR arrived. In the few months I've had it my pictures do not look like those on the blogs I admire. I quickly realized (and read on other blogs too!) that "a great camera doesn't make awesome pics - a great photographer does!"

BINGO!

Mr. Love Bird and I did so much comparison shopping when we decided to get our DSLR including a visit to the famed B&H on Thanksgiving Day. There really weren't any super, awesome Black Friday sales, but we did get a substantial discount through a small online store based in CA. It was in budget, and we actually purchased it on Black Friday.

As part of my camera research I would look up the FAQs of blogs whose photography I admired and use a tool Mr. Love Bird recommended to me called Snapsort. It gives a side by side comparison of cameras.

I was quickly finding that our entry-level DSLR was beating out many of the crazy-expensive, super-fancy cameras of some of my favorite bloggers.

Who knew?!

Now it's up to me to get schooled and learn tricks of the trade and practice, practice, practice.

As I'm on the road to recovery with my bum ankle, I can't wait to pound the pavement again with Nia with my DSLR in hand exploring NYC this spring!

Here are a few online guides to photography that I'll be using; I hope those of you new to photography will find this helpful too:

THIS from So I Married a Mennonite was hands-down my favorite guide to get me up and running in manual mode
With a bit more detail than above, Some Girl's Website following posts are fantastic:

I could get lost in Pioneer Woman's basic photography section, but her then and now section helps me think differently about my approach to photography
This round-up of top photography websites is very helpful and includes one of my favorite gear sites Pop Photo
Babble's quick photography guide covers all the basics