Newbie here!

[Kingsley1991]

Hello to everyone firstly!

I'm a keen motorsport fan and I'm thinking of becoming a photographer. I hope to mix the two together and become a motorsport photographer (funny that..) but I have no idea where to start, or how to make it as a photographer.

I am only 19, so I suppose doing a couple of photography courses would help, but camera wise - I have no idea.

I'll probably ebay something for christmas. but I dont know what is good and what isnt, what lens (mm's etc) to use or anything.

Basically, I know nothing about photography, but I love it. I was at my first BTCC meeting and I took some cruddy pictures with my old digital camera, so want ot upgrade and produce some decent shots. Then maybe one day get them published somehwere!

So yeah, any advice or help you can offer to a newbie I would really appreciate it.

Ta in advacne
Kingsley

 

[driver_wedge]

You'd probably be best advised to buy a second hand setup to begin with as you should be able to get something fairly suitable at the right money just get you started. cThen, sell them as your desire for protography (and budget) grows.

I'd recommend a Canon 400D/450D and 55-250mm IS lens to get you going. Also, read as much as you can and experiment with your gear. It's a steep but enjoyable learning curve.

 

[littlemonster]

1st thing 1st: Budget?
2nd thing: Anthing else you particularly want to shoot?

A few options - nikon based simply as it's all I know;

I'll start with the D90 just as it's popular - new about £800 with a reasonably nice kit lens, used body only about £450 or so.
A D300 is about £1100ish new, £800 used, next body up basically.
There's also plenty of older used bodies too that will do a good job, such as the D80.
If you have the money a D700 is a lovely camera but it does cost about £1700 new, that's a fullframe sensor as opposed to crop.


Lenses:
Nikon 70-300 seems an obvious choice - new around £350 I believe, used I think about £260. Downside being it's fairly slow, only f/5.6 at the lower end which may be a bit of a pain in low light.
A fixed 300mm f/4 I think will come in at around £800..


Or if you were given a huge amount for your 18th, spend £4000 or whatever the latest D3? model is and aanother £4.5kish on a 200-400mm f/2.8


Edit: Just realised this may all be very technical.. but basically it's hard to advise without a budget!

And the old Nikon vs Canon thing you'll see.. either are great cameras, hold one or 2 of each and see which you prefer. If any mates have 1 and will lend you lenses, that may be worth a thought!

 

[littlemonster]

Oh and a word as it looks like you're thinking of becoming in a professional sense.. it's something for now you need to do for the love, IF you get good enough then you can look at careers but they're not easy, it's just too early to worry about really.