That's A Classy Problem to Have: I Got A Camera!

So as a little graduation gift to myself, and kinda from my grandparents, I bought myself my first DSLR camera. And no, I'm still not sure what DSLR means. It stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex, but I have little or no idea what it is.

I was so excited when the FedEx guy dropped it off! Then I opened the box and was thoroughly confused. I have a lot to learn, that's for sure.

But I actually did a lot of research before I purchased it. And in case you care, this was what I found out:

If you want a camera solely for photography, Nikon is the way to go
If you want a camera solely for video, Sony is the best choice
But if you want to take photos and video, Canon is the best of both worlds

So, I knew I wanted a Canon. But that was only half the battle. Once I chose the brand, there were SO many camera bodies to choose from. I mean, they have cameras that are 5, 6, $7,000. Wut. And don't even get me started on lenses. There are some lenses that are 5 times as expensive as my entire kit! I even saw one for $13,000. I can't even comprehend that!

Actually, price was kind of the reason I decided to go ahead and get it now. Regularly, the camera I chose was $750, and it was on sale for $450 until the end of May... So I went for it.

This was the biggest purchase I've made since I bought my computer 5 years ago... It made me a little nauseas actually. If I spend over $100 (or $50. The college kid in me. Ha!), it always makes me cringe a little!

I wound up getting the EOS Rebel T5 18-55 IS II Kit. I don't think it was the cheapest option, but damn close. There was another kit with only one lens, but I chose to get one that included two lenses.

Here it is! I love it!

There was another camera I was looking at because it has a touchscreen and the screen flips out, Rebel T5i, but that one was $200 more... A part of me wishes I would have gone for it, but a bigger part of me, and my bank account, thinks it was a good idea to get the the T5. But it's a good starter camera either way.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to use the thing. And I'm also bookmarking accessories and software that I need to save up for!

ONA camera bag. This one.

I got a cheaper bag on Amazon, but this one looks smaller and easier to handle

Bloom Theory camera strap. I love the scarf ones! They just look so comfortable. They also have some really cute ones on Etsy, and those are much cheaper, so maybe I will get one of those! Can't decide what I like more: scarf ones or the ones that have lens holders.... hmmmm....
Lighting gear
Final Cut Pro X
Adobe Lightroom
InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop

InDesign and Illustrator don't really have much to do with photography or videography, but I still want to know how to use them!

Glidecam

This will wait a loooong time. It looks like it works really well and just super cool in general. But when I actually start trying to make videos, I think it will be worth it to stabilize shots. I've taken enough video to know how awful moving the camera and shaking looks. It honestly makes everything look so much nicer! Until then I'll just have to work with my tripod and monopod.

But in the meantime, the stuff I have now will be just fine. This is the camera bag I got. Not what I wanted, but so much cheaper!

Now I just need to find some people willing to let me practice on them! Connor wasn't so into it... But I still got a couple decent ones of him! Maybe Ella and Alex will be little hams for me this summer! I'd love to practice my video skills on them! Video just seems so much easier and natural to me, but I would also really like to figure out the photography end of it, too.