When I started photography I had at first a simple point & shoot. This was ok for the moment, but in fact, if you truly begin to fall in love with photography, you need more. So I got a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) from Canon (EOS 33V; or ELAN 7N in the US). With this camera I learned to enjoy black and white film photography. The camera was great for the landscape photography or city details. Looking back, it is kind of nostalgic, taking the pictures without knowing how it will look after the film is developed. But I was very satisfied with it, until digital photography came up.

With it everything changed. Photography became faster and calculable, the time of the photographic film was almost gone. I also decided to welcome the new period of digital photography and bought a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) - again a Canon camera, the 40D.

So in our ages most people will prefer digital stuff, especially for beginners it is great. You can try different settings, play around with the exposure time and aperture. One second later you see the result and can be satisfied or try again. The picture will cost you nothing. In the times of photo film, you always had to measure, whether you shoot or not, because it was expensive. Now you have got a chip and can go on and on and on.

The Canon EOS 50D, the currently available successor of the 40D, is also a good model for starters. It is semi-professional model and easy to handle. It can be used with an automatic program or you can adjust the camera settings as you need them. This is the benefit of a DSLR for a beginning photographer: it is easy to learn the relationship between exposure time, aperture setting, depth of field and so on. And you can learn much faster than I did, because you don’t have to wait for the film to be developed. Furthermore, the 50D it is not as expensive as a professional model, but delivers an excellent picture quality, and you decide what kind of lenses you buy for your kit. So you can get the equipment you need for your special needs, and invest in better equipment as your skills grow. I suggest you start with an inexpensive, but capable prime lens. With it, you can learn the basics of composing the frame without relying on a zoom lens.

There are many shops which can help you chose the camera you require, however if you are looking to save a bit of money vouchercodees.co.uk currently have an offer on at Comet.

Here is another impression of Sydney and its Harbour Bridge in the rain. It gives the surrounding a special and different feeling. Perhaps it is good to have a different view of this place. And of course it was a good cooling.

Normally the sky over Sydney in summer is blue and quite hot, but at this day it was raining cats and dogs. Anyway, the dark sky in combination with the umbrella makes the picture of the opera house much more interesting.

I found this perfect view down to the city of Sydney and its Harbour Bridge and I had to take a pictures immediately. The view was amazing and I could have spend a whole day at this hill just watching and enjoying what I saw.

This picture has to be in colour, because the famous cupcakes have to be as colourful as they can. This delicious small cakes are typicall for Australia, you can find them in every city. There look awesome and every one is a little work of art in itself. But be careful, they are very sweet and if you ever taste one, you will never get enough of them.

Sydney and the Opera House really belong together. This is an unusual view of this famous building. It was taken from a little hill near the Harbour Bridge. The trees are like a frame around the sight. I think it is an interesting perspective and could be a part of my series “hidden - discover“.