Looking through the right lens – What is next for you?

Are we looking through the right lens? Many of the online students are asking that question as we become more comfortable with our cameras and the photos that we are taking! It’s an exciting feeling when we realize that we need better equipment to accommodate our growing talent of making photos! Seriously! Who needs a better reason to spend money?!

Let’s ask the question: What is our favorite type of photography?

Do we love those portraits or do we find joy in the majestic beauty of landscape photography? Maybe we get a rush with sports photography or find it hard to keep from drooling when it comes to stunning automotive photos.
Even if we like it all – we have to realize that we cannot go after it all at once and need to focus on just one area to start with. But let’s look into these different areas and what lens would be best for us:

Portrait Lenses

It’s no secret that a 50mm prime lens is what we want. However, there is a cheap version and an expensive option. Apart from the slightly smaller f/stop number and metal body on the more pricey option – the glass is the same and will virtually take the same photo! Go with the cheaper one – we can buy two more at the cost of one.

Also – we might want to consider getting a really nice telephoto lens (70-300mm) to take those amazing portraits. The ability to be farther away from our clients can increase their comfort level because we are not right in their face. This lens can also prove to be very versatile for us!

Landscape Lenses

Getting that wide shot is very important! Look into getting a really wide lens (10-24mm) so that we can be really close be see a lot through our lens. These can be expensive, but worth the money because of our growing talent!

Sport Lenses

Feel like going pro down on the field? We need a prime 400mm lens to stop that action dead in its tracks! To be considered a sports photographer, we need to have a serious telephoto lens so that we can be close without actually being a part of the action. Depending on the big leagues we want to get in to, it is required that we have a certain lens.

Automotive Lenses

There isn’t a special lens that we would need for this type of photography. A wider lens would be nice to have on hand – but it depends on the photos we are trying to capture with a car.

Now we talk about the brand you want to buy! So many of us are on a budget when it comes to getting some new gear – then we look at the prices of some of these lenses we need and decide that we really have no budget (it kind of gives a whole new meaning to jaw-dropping prices). However, we accept that fact that Canon is going to make the best lenses for your Canon camera… the same goes for our Nikon cameras. Finding a “more affordable” lens does not mean we are going to get the same results. We might have the focal length we need but the photo will still be blurry. And no one wants a blurry photo!

As a disclaimer – there are really good alternative lenses that take really good photos. We just have to test them out before putting all our eggs in one basket!

What is the next lens we are going to get? Depends on what we love the most right now!