Photography is a great hobby that is a fun and creative way to express yourself and tell a story. It's a hobby that sharpens your sense of detail and sight. As a photographer, you see things in more detail and depth than others. You will also have some great images that can fill the empty wall space in your home or office.
Getting started in photography is easy. Some people use their current smartphone camera, some use a point-and-shoot camera and some want to be freer and able to express themselves with more creativity and options, so they start with an SLR or mirrorless camera that you can swap out lenses on and adjust more setting with.
To get started on a low limited budget, I recommend buying a Canon Rebel series camera in a kit with a lens. Like the Canon T100 with the 18-55mm lens or even better the Canon T7 with the 18-55mm lens. These cameras will provide you with all the basic options you need to learn the basics of photography.
If you can afford to pay more, I would highly recommend jumping to a mirrorless camera such as the Canon RPor theCanon R8or even better jump into the professional line of cameras with the Canon R6 MKII with the 24-105mmlens. If you have money to burn and want a top-of-the-line professional camera, then I recommend the Canon R5 with the 24-105mm lens or the Canon R3.Mirrorless cameras are the newest technology and the future of digital cameras, I believe eventually all cameras will be mirrorless. So if you can afford to get in now that is the way to go.
Besides the camera body and lens, you will need to purchase a couple of memory cards, prices vary depending on the size and speed you buy. They range from $7 to $85. Two 32 GB 150Mb/s cards will be sufficient. A tripod with a ball head would also be a great purchase to get started, you would need to get one rated for the weight of your camera.
Once you have your hardware you will need some software to develop your images. There are many free options out there one of the best isRawTherapee. For a professional editor, you will have to pay a little.Luminar is a photo editing software that is only second to Lightroom but is catching up very quickly. It has much more for someone who wants to really be creative and creating art from your images. You pay a one-time price of $67.00 (at the time I am writing this) and the software is yours forever vs. Lightroom which is a monthly subscription software. With that said my recommendation is Adobe Lightroom.It is the ultimate photo editing software for someone who wants only to get the best edits of their images. Lightroom, without question, is the King when it comes to photography editing.
Now you are all set to learn the basics of photography. To do this, YouTube is your friend. There is so much great information on YouTube. Search YouTube for things like “beginner photography”, “Photography basics”, and “learning photography” You get the idea. After watching a few of those videos get out there and start to practice those things you learned by taking a bunch of photos. Then take a bunch more. Truly the best way to get better is to practice the basic rules of photography and take pictures. Then learn more and practice what you learned. Attending seminars or workshops on photography is a practical and enjoyable way to hone your skills and learn.