The Journey of Parenthood…

Entering the SLR World…

I have resisted the whole SLR thing for a long, long time. You see it constantly. These moms carrying around massive, heavy, expensive cameras yet they have them set on “auto.” What is the point in that? I couldn’t justify the cost of one when I felt like the images I was getting with my “point and shoot” were just as good, if not better, than a lot of the “mommy shots” I’d see from their auto set slrs. My camera was cheaper, lighter, and easier to use. Why upgrade???

It got to the point where my shutter speed simply wasn’t quick enough. With two kids (one being active enough to count for FIVE children) it was getting trickier and tricker to capture cute shots. They’d move and it’d be blurry. They’d smile and my camera was too slow to catch the moment. I also go to a point where I started blogging so often that I spent toooooo much time editing. Yes, may camera took GREAT shots but in order for my images to have that “slr” look to them it required me to do a LOT of editing. 

I have been loosly researching slr cameras for the past year. Casually contemplating the switch but it overwhelmed me. SO many options that I knew NOTHING about. I knew I wanted something that had a “live view” option as the little view finder thing can be tricky at times. I knew I wanted something that wasn’t going to be too huge to carry with me places. I knew I needed a video option build into the camera. I knew I needed something MEGA user friendly. 

I threw out a TON of questions on Facebook but in my heart I already knew what I was going to do. During my time of casual research I’d look at other blogs and see how I liked their images. I know people are either Canon or Nikon people…and I personally preferred the photos I saw that were taken with Nikon. A lot of the Canon mommy blogs I saw tended to have darker looking images? I know it’s probably more user issue than camera issue but the blog that REALLY made up my mind for me was my friend Melissa’s. Melissa is a new mom and a new SLR user…and her photos are FANTASTIC. She was my main inspiration behind my decision to go with the Nikon D3200. 

Britt and I went into our local Best Buy to see it in person before I bought it online…I wanted to see how big and heavy it would be and I was happy with the comparison of the camera with my old one. A little heavier, but not too bad. Also a bit larger, but could still fit into my large “mommy” purses with no issue. Britt gave her baby doll a lesson in cameras as well 🙂

I know many friends who own an SLR and only use the lens that comes in the package with the camera (18-55 mm) and I decided that if I’m going to have to completely relearn how to take photos…why not go ahead and go ALL the way. Right? Go big or go home! So I asked around for advice and majority of people said that it’s more about having a good lens than it is having a top camera. Sidenote: I totally went into Best Buy and kept saying milliliter lens and the guy finally told me “ma’am milliliters measures liquid…” hahahaha Anyways…I decided to buy the camera and also add on two lenses. Melissa LOVES her 50 mm lens so I got that and also invested in a 55-200 mm lens so I’d be able to shoot far away images. I decided to go for the red camera b/c I love having something different than the norm 😉 And it was the same price! I was SUPER pumped when it all arrived but the memory card took another two weeks to get to me. I was DYING!!!!!

The first time I got to use the new camera was at the Blazer football game (post to come). I assumed I should use the 55-200 lens since I’d want to take far away pictures. Um. There is a problem with that logic! The 55-200 lens means you can take far away pics, but not close up ones. So, sure, I could see the football field GREAT but I couldn’t take a shot of my cute kids sitting beside me! I am a very, very practical person. I know my phase of life right now and I know that there is NO WAY I can be changing out lenses all the time when we are out and about. At the beach? One lens. At Disney? One lens. I can’t fathom switching them out all the time to get shots of my kids up close then changing it again to get far away pics. It just isn’t feasible for me.

So I did more research. And I decided to return the 55-200 lens. Thankfully it was still in the return window! I am for sure keeping my 50 mm lens. It pretty much lives on my camera and is A-MAZING. But I needed a lens that would allow me to do close up and far away stuff. An “all in one” lens if you will. The 50 is awesome, but it’s stationary. No zoom. You have to physically move backwards or forwards to get closer or further away. I use it all the time around the house etc but at Disney? On other trips? When the kids someday play sports and stuff? I knew I’d need the ability to zoom. I decided to make my biggest personal purchase ever and go for an 18-200 lens. Zach and I love the episode of Parks and Rec where they have “treat yo self” day and let’s just say this camera was DEF my treat yo self time (thank you Advocare for the awesome extra income!!!)

I’ve had the camera for about two months now and really do love it. I’m excited to start blogging the images and think it’ll be WAY quicker for me b/c I won’t need to edit as many. There is a HUGE learning curve and I’m so thankful for Melissa who has been such a big help in this process. She told me to stick with the presets for now on the camera until I get comfortable and then start exploring manual settings. I have to say…I used to “hate on” those SLR Auto Setting Moms…but the quality difference, even just in “auto” setting, is phenomenal. I have a lot of stuff pinned on my personal photography board for when I’m ready to learn more!

While I have ALWAYS loved to take pictures (hello, I have been carrying a camera with me everywhere I go since Middle School!!!) and I LOVE having this awesome camera…I do NOT have ANY plans to become a photographer. I took a few photography courses, enough to know it’s not something I ever want as a career. It’s so much pressure! I cannot imagine the stress of shooting someones wedding! You screw that up and you can’t get a re-do ya know?!?!? I don’t like people hardcore critiquing my images and I’m not creative enough to be very talented at it. I know everyone who owns a nice camera now-a-days seems to run their own photography business. But I’m not one of them! Photographers often get offended when they take a great shot and someone says “wow you must have a nice camera.” TRUE photography takes a lot more than just a “nice camera” it takes passion, a good eye, creative talent, and skill. I don’t have any of these haha. So when you see a good shot that I took you will not offend me at ALL by saying “nice camera” b/c that really is the reason why my photos are improving haha

Maybe as I learn more and practice more I might change my mind but for now I def don’t mind taking pics for family and friends as needed. But I won’t be charging them for the sessions for sure! Once you start making money that’s when the pressure comes!!! No thanks! I have enough “side jobs” right now haha. If you see something on Pinterest you want to copy, I can def do that! I am GREAT at copying other peoples creative ideas, I just can’t come up with them on my own hahahahaha. 

I am SO happy with exactly what I have now with my camera and I know this is a LONG term investment for our family. I don’t see me needing another camera upgrade for a lonnnnnng time. I feel very comfortable with my 50 lens and 18-200 lens and have decided to sell my 18-55 mm lens. I know I won’t use it and it is, literally, brand new. I think I had it on my camera maybe once? This is the exact lens here for sale as well as the following images of the lens too. It’s $200 brand new and I’m asking $150 for it. I also have a few other things for sale too so keep scrolling!

This SanDisk Exteme 32 GB Memory Card retails for $44 on Amazon. It’s new in the box and I’m looking to sell it for $38.

This is the strap that came with my camera. Zach bought me a camera strap for my birthday so this was only on my camera for a couple weeks. If someone is interested I’m selling it for $10.

I also have this camera bag that is brand new, never used at all. I’m also asking $15 for it! I have two of them and use the other for myself and it’s a great bag so far. Plenty of spots to store things and the perfect size for my camera and two lenses!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the items please contact me at deliasgoddess33@aol.com. I’ll accept Paypal as payment method and we can work out shipping costs! 

I’m very thankful to EVERYONE who helped me in this big decision! I am so glad I finally took the leap to the SLR world 🙂 I don’t regret keeping my other camera as long as I did either though. I think it was a great transition camera and it helped prepare me for the “treat yo self” camera 😉

Do you have an SLR? Got any tips for me? Any good resources I should check out???

Emily Parker
Latest posts by Emily Parker (see all)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *