I know you have to have been told this before, so why am I preaching it here? Well, because it is advice that is so often ignored. Everyday I read about someone upgrading their camera or editing software because their old ones did not give them the pictures they wanted. I am here to tell you, that it probably was not the camera or the editing program, it was probably the user.
For example, take Ruthanne from Eclectic Whatnot, who made me stop short when I saw her pictures. I first found her blog, via My3Boybarian’s Sweet Shot Tuesday link party, and immediately looked at her About page to see what camera she uses. Boy was I surprised when I saw she uses a Nikon D60! I used to have a D60 and MY pictures never looked like that! I sold my D60 to my sister and upgraded to the D90 and now realize I did not use it nearly like I should have. It was the user, not the camera, who had limitations.
To prove my point, below are a couple of Ruthanne’s gorgeous pictures. I know some photographers who have higher grade Nikon and Canon bodies who do not have pictures nearly as good as these.
There are several others I know who really rock the cameras they have, which others have left behind for cameras in greener fields. Two of those are Cheryl from TidyMom, and Morgan from Morgan Kervin Photography, both whom use D40’s, a Nikon “entry level” camera. Morgan has a professional photography business, taking amazing pictures with that camera! She blows me away with what she can do using a D40x! Cheryl take incredible food shots with no external flash and only one prime lens!
What do these ladies have in common? They have learned enough about photography and their cameras to do some serious picture taking! They understand exposure, aperture and shutter speed and how the three work together. They understand about composition and perspective and capture shots that grab the viewers eye and hold them there.
Now, a little quip about editing programs and I’ll get off my soapbox. You do NOT need the big dog CS5 to be able to properly edit your pictures. I promise, you don’t! To prove my point, head over the I Heart Faces and find their most recent Fix It Friday post. Look at a few who edited with CS5, 4 or other PS versions, then look at a few who used PSE8, 7 or older versions. I guarantee you that most who used a full Photoshop version didn’t do any better than those who used PSE. And, I love that usually one or two of the contributors will have edited the image with PSE, and their edits will be fantastic!
Photoshop Elements is a powerful, highly useful editing program and 95% of people who get it never use it to it’s full potential. Instead, they see all the professional photogs using CS5 and think that to get pictures like the pros, they need the Big Daddy of Photoshop. Not true! What you really need in order to get shots like the pros are better pictures coming out of the camera! Sorry, but it’s true. No amount of editing is going to make a so-so picture amazing.
Alright, here is what I recommend: Before buying a bigger and better camera, or a bigger, more expensive editing program, learn to really use what you have. If you have money you are itching to spend, take a photography workshop so that you are taking better pictures. Or, maybe get a new lens that will help you capture shots you couldn’t get before (primes, macro, wide angle, zoom). Investments in lenses are always more lasting than investments in camera bodies. After doing those things, if you have Photoshop Elements, take a workshop to learn to make the most of it.
Photography is an expensive hobby to start with, don’t make it worse by getting things you do not really have to have. That is it, climbing down now. 
Editing to add that there are times to upgrade, and Robin brought that up in a comment. Some cameras have limitations in mega pixels which can limit the size you can print. Some have limitations in ISO, which limits the lighting conditions you can shoot in. I’m not saying don’t ever upgrade, just make sure you’ve pushed your current body as far as you can first.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Amanda your timing couldn’t be better. For the past week or so I’ve been seriously debating a new lens and upgrading my Rebel Xti. Maybe I will start with a new lens
Now I’m off to visit the links you shared. Have a great day!
I completely agree with you on PS – I’m using PSE 7 and in all honesty it’s great, plenty even. My only complaint is that not all action sets (now that I’ve finally figured them out – yay me!) are available for PSE.
I’m not sure though about the camera. In general, yes, I do agree, and I’ll be the first to admit that my D40 is doing great things for me. Where it fails though is in the area of megapixels. When I bought it I was told (by a professional photographer friend) that more than the 6 it offered were unnecessary, especially since I wasn’t a pro. Fast forward 2 years though and I *am* selling my photography professionally and find that the lack of megapixels means I can’t blow my images up as large as some clients would like. It’s becoming a real handicap and I’m starting to think dream seriously about upgrading simply for that reason. For the photos themselves? No, there’s no need, but it would give me the ability to do much larger scale work.
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My photography is available for purchase – visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!
Excellent post!!
Amanda, thank you again for this post. I took your advice a couple of months ago, and instead of buying PS, I bought PSE8 and I know it is all I need to do what I want and I have a whole lot of learning to do. But I am excited for the challenge, not intimidated. Besides that, with my amazon sale, and 20 rebate from adobe I got the program for $35.00. Can’t beat that!!! I also now have three lens and I love what they can do. I have a rebel xs and sometimes I think I should upgrade at somepoint, and I most likely will in a few years, but it isn’t my top prioroty. Right now it is about learning what it can do, and learning what I can do with it. I am so loving photography and I used to hate it because I couldn’t take a decent photo. Even better, I can shop for a point and shoot for my daughter and *know* what all those numbers mean!
What a great, encouraging post! Thank you!
Love this post –
wanted to comment that there are “famous” photographers who work only in Polaroid, and still others who have published images taken with their iPhones.
Chase Jarvis is known for saying, “The best camera is the one you’ve got with you.”
Scott Kelby once left his camera in a hotel room on a trip to Italy, and shot the whole trip with a d90 and a d5000. Both mid-level Nikons. His work is in a book.
As for Ruthanne – she is one of my most favorite photographers in the blogosphere. She has the talent and the eye for unique composition. Her food shots are amazing. Another great one?
Bakerella. She shoots totally on auto!
Yes, there are times to upgrade. But very few just-for-fun shooters would outgrow something like a d90 or mid-level Rebel. That’s just a whole LOT of camera!
Well, daggum. That settles it. I’m only shooting in auto from now on. I wanna be like Bakerella.
Great reminder for everyone! I often envy bigger cameras but at the end of the day, I’m really content with what I’ve got. In fact, my whole blog hopes to inspire other hobbyists to rock out their entry level DSLRs and PSE.
she’s awesome! ruthanne’s pictures got me from the start.
But what would you tell someone who wants to upgrade to a DSLR from a point-n-shoot? I’ve pretty much settled on a Nikon, but which one? D40? D3000? D5000? D60? I’d like to stick in the $600 range. I’ve been reading reviews for weeks and am no closer to a decision.
I completely agree with you.
I find it people ask me, when they like one of my pictures: What camera do you use? or with which editing program? It is not the camera, not the program!
- If you do not know how to use, sorry … But you can always learn, which is the best of everything! Investigate, read the manual of your camera before buying more expensive one thinking that this is much better. And above all, PRACTICE A LOT!!!, because mistakes are learning so much when taking pictures and editing.
(To Karen: The difference, at least the first between a camera point-n-shoot and a DSLR is the size of the sensor, which is what the picture quality difference between a camera and another. If you´re learning, I recommend a Nikon D40, which still are available at amazon at a good price. Forget the megapixel, these matters only when you are printing a large scale. So with a 6MP camera on, it is a good start. I prefer Nikon, the quality of their optics, but Canon has good prices.)
Excellent Post!!
Pd: Excuse me if I have any mistakes in my English, I´m still learning
I am only DREAMING of a D-SLR and a D60 is a $1000.00 camera!!!!!
Way out of my range right now! I mean “only” a D60?? I would LOVE to have one.
Right now I shoot with a camera (my first digital) that was a birthday gift that my family all went in together to get for me a few years ago. . a Panasonic DMC-FZ18 and I am loving it buuuuuuuut a D-SLR would be a dream come true. I can’t change lenses which is a huge drawback so I have to “create” with what I have. . . and I do get amazing shots!
AND I have seen on other blogs what some folks can do with the most inexpensive point and shoot pocket cameras! So bottom line TALENT and an eye for a good shot far outweighs the “biggest and bestest” camera and equipment . . .but it sure don’t hurt!
I have been dreaming of upgrading my camera even though it is still fairly new! I think it is easy (for me, at least) to get swept up in the “if I only had ____” or “so-and-so has _____ so maybe i need it too”. And reading this is just a conformation of what I already know. There is so much that I still have to learn about the camera & equipment that I already own, And if I push myself harder maybe I can get the “oooh & ahhh” shots that other people are getting. When I get “I-need-it-itis” I try to remind myself that I still have so much to learn & that if I think outside of the box just a bit that I might stumble onto something great with what I already have in my hands.
Amanda-
This could not have been a better timed post. I also own a D40 & have the 50mm f/1.4. I was thinking of upgrading to a used D200 for the megapixels, buttons on the back of the camera (for BBF) and the 100 ISO. Now I am thinking I’d rather apply that money for another lens or a few workshops. I have only taken photography workshops at Jessica Sprague and was not really thrilled with them. I have seen how you and the others at Clickin Moms rave about the CM workshops. Thanks again for the encouragement.
Oh, and Ruthanne had me at hello!
Love this post. I read it when you first posted it, but didn’t comment. And I heard your name at Savvy Blogging Summit in reference to this post. You would have loved the photography session!
Trying to rock my Nikon d40 and PS5.
Great post! I took my most popular shot – “Tiny Footprints at the Beach” – back in my Canon Rebel XT days and with the kit lens too
I agree that creativity, light and post-processing are more important than equipment. I’ve seen photographers take brilliant shots with their cellphone camera – it’s all possible!
Thank you for this post. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I LOVE my D90. It’s my first DSLR and I am fully aware that I am not maxing it or PSE8 out to their fullest potential. While the ff D700 is on the wish list. I can’t justify ever purchasing it given the amazing work being done on D40s and D60s. Thanks again!
Just stumbled across your blog – and man, do I LOVE this post! I shoot with a Rebel XSi and edit in PSE 8 and am determined not to upgrade either until I can name at LEAST five really, really good reasons why my current setup is holding me back. I think I will be waiting a long time