Victoria Johnson Photography: How I started out & what's in my camera bag!

I'll be sharing how I started out with photography in this blog post so if you are a beginner here's what I did and has worked well so far! If you are experienced and have any tips please feel free to share!

I would consider myself a self-taught photographer. I started with a Nikon D3000 which was the perfect SLR camera to start out with! Without knowing it, I had purchased one of the best investments of my life. If you are thinking about purchasing an SLR camera I would definitely recommend starting out with either the D3000 or D3100, that's in Nikon terms and it's the easiest to figure out in Manual Mode and on the cheaper end of SLR cameras! And I'm pretty sure if you're looking at Canon cameras it's the Rebel you want to look at? Someone comment to correct me if I'm wrong please! I'm not familiar with Canon although, I've toyed with the idea of switching from Nikon… anyone have thoughts on that?

ANYWAYS, unfortunately this time last year we lost our house to a fire and what was sitting in the corner where the fire started? You guessed it, my camera AND both of our laptops. Awesome. With our insurance policy money I stepped up in the world and bought a Nikon D90 (which I love) and a brand new Macbook Pro (which I also love)! To figure out both of my cameras I used my resources, I read the manuals, watched Youtube tutorials, and played with every setting I could find on my camera. The other resource I used was the outdoors, landscape photography is the easiest (in my opinion) tool to use when trying to figure out your camera in manual mode. You have one scene in front of you which is what makes it easy, but the light is constantly changing so it's challenging at the same time.

I also went to a couple of photography workshops. One was in the Smoky Mountain National Park with Richard Bernabe, a professional landscape photographer. I was the only person that went alone, everyone else brought a friend/family member, and I didn't have car so I got to carpool all around the National Park for 4 days with Richard Bernabe, talk about getting your moneys worth! I completely picked his brain apart and learned a tremendous amount of information. The second photography workshop I attended was Introduction to Digital Photography at Maine Media College in Rockport, Maine which was a week long. Although I already knew how to run my camera in Manual Mode, which they touch on in the beginning of the days, I didn't know a thing about Lightroom and was ecstatic to learn the in's and out's of it. My instructor, Tom Griscom, was super cool. He kept the class lively and even had us all go to Monhegan Island for an entire day.

The Maine Media Workshop is also where I met Molly Breton, of Molly Breton Photography. We got to know each other during the time of the workshop and kept in touch during the next year. In early August of 2013 I received a message from Molly, I was currently living in Fredericksburg, VA, and she was inquiring about hiring ME as a second shooter for the weddings she does in Virginia. Molly Breton is based out of Maine but often travels to Virginia for weddings and it just so happened that I was living where she grew up! I quickly and very eagerly accepted her offer. I can't say enough how thankful I am for Molly! She has been so helpful when it comes to starting out as a small business.

So what's in my bag?

I will warn you people, photography is an expensive business and hobby to get into so take your time. Do your research, rent equipment, and ask questions. It's truly the best way to do it. I purchase all of my equipment from B&H Photo online. It's a store based out of NYC and I love their quality of products and the fact that if you purchase a USA made product they give you a percentage back in store rewards!

(Please forgive me for some of the poor quality photos, I only have one SLR camera so I had to use an older point & shoot camera to take pictures of my camera)

Camera: Nikon D90.

Lenses:

AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8G - this is my baby & absolute favorite lens. It is perfect for portraits but I've found that I only like using it for 1 to 2 people in the shot and no more than that. So no family portraits!

AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm 1:3.5-5.6G - this is the standard lens that I use and also the lens that came with my camera.

AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4.5-5.6G - this is my zoom lens for now. It's great for beginners but hopefully I will be stepping up to a higher quality zoom lens in the future!

Tripod: Manfrotto is the brand. A tripod is an absolute must in my opinion if you want to get clear shots and have longer exposure times. If you want night shots you must have a tripod because as still as you think you can hold your camera it's never still enough with how delicate and sensitive it is!

External Flash: Nikon Speedlight SB-700 - besides for my lenses this external flash was one of my biggest investments. When it comes to lenses & external flashes I always feel that you should get the high quality one which is where you need to save your pennies! An external flash is a must if you are getting into wedding photography.

Laptop: Newest Macbook Pro - Although I love my computer, beware! These laptop do not have CD drives, you will have to purchase one if you are still putting photos on discs.

Extra equipment I always have on me:

Extra AA batteries for my external flash, 2-16GB PNY Pro-Elite Scards, camera charger with an extra charged battery, business cards, and an external hard drive because you can't trust to put your photos on just your computer!

And last but certainly not least, my beautiful genuine leather camera bag that my husband bought me for my 22nd birthday and had embossed with real gold! He did good huh? I am in love with it!