williejoha

Hello Marty and welcome. If you follow Paul Sagers advice you will learn quite a lot without spending tons of money. You can always spend your money later when you are able to make sound decisions with the knowledge gained. Good luck
WJH

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Looking to others is fine if you're looking for constructive critique of your images. That's one reason I joined a camera club, to get better peer review and enter competitions for even more critical review. It's great having friends and family that gush over your work, but it doesn't help you get better.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

My advice to most new photographers starting out is to disabuse yourself of using the scene mode dials on the entry level cameras and get an advanced camera (not necessarily 'professional') that has a menu, dials, operations, and an LCD readout that matches professional cameras.

KWK Loc: Southeast Mich

There has been some good advise given....one thing that that I haven't seen is that the camera should also be set up to shoot images in the "RAW" format along with JPG as later as skill grows there will be more post editing available. Sure it will some space on the card but SD cards are inexpensive.

StaneeRae Loc: Lincroft, NJ USA

This class is on sale for $10 today.
https://www.creativelive.com/photography/camera-fast-starts/canon-t7i-fast-start-john-greengo

photoman43

Taking a good to great picture requires that your brain and eyes have been properly trained to see what can make a great picture and how to then capture it. It does not necessarily require expensive cameras and lenses.

You need to fully understand:

Exposure and the exposure triangle: how lens aperture, ISO and shutter speed are all interrelated.

Composition--simplify is usually better than having multiple images within one image.

Light--and all of its elements like color, direction, strength, etc.

If you like to read books read lots of them. Especially those by Bryan Peterson, Michael Freeman, John Shaw, George Lepp. Used books are a way to keep costs down.

Visit photo blog sites like photo.net and learn from looking at posted images. If you like nature photography, go to naturescapes.net.

Join a local camera club and local photo Meet Up groups.

Practice, practice, practice.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

In the long run you will probably get to the point where manual mode is what you will prefer. But, until you get there, the automated modes are useful. Use them. Take the ones you like and look at the settings the camera chose. Take the ones you do not like and look at the settings the camera chose. Eventually you will understand the impact the setting have. Then you will be able to use manual wiht some refinement.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Not necessarily what he have to buy a new lenses if he went to a FX. in Nikon the FX would select the DX mode if a DX lens was attached. This would allow him to use his existing lenses well he took his time and and bought fx lenses.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/products-and-innovation/the-dx-and-fx-formats.html

Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

There were many good books written for film photographers and they are out of print. Almost none were converted to digital methods.
Search old book stores for books on photography and you may find just about every subject you might want for pennies on the dollar. The best part about a book is that you can go back easily and re-read, and then contemplate what you just read. Film or digital, the numbers are the same.
Best of luck, you will either get there or enjoy the journey.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Something I haven't seen mentioned is that all but distant action shots are usually made better with a full frame camera as opposed to a "crop sensor" body like the t7i, certainly more true with real estate photography most especially where you need to expand what the camera sees as opposed to shrinking it down - starting with where the money is in this case and then learning other genres within the photography world as you desire.

Also not mentioned is that a mirrorless camera can hasten the educational process in that you don't have to try and remember all the scads of possible combinations of aperture, shutter speed, and iso when shooting in manual mode with a dslr like the t7i as opposed to what is required when using a mirrorless camera where you can instantly see the effect on an image that changing a setting will give you. It facilitates learning about the exposure triangle when you can see it in action in real time and don't have to wait 'til after a shot to analyze your settings because you can see the outcome in advance. I would add a good used full frame mirrorless and a good wide angle zoom lens to my kit in this case, an early model Sony full frame body. If you have a good wide angle Canon lens designed for full frame Canon Cameras, adding the Sigma mc-11 adapter will let you use your lens on a Sony full frame mirrorless body and there are a slew of them around used that could be added to your kit.

I agree with dsmeltz about learning about different areas or subjects one at a time according to your prioritized list of interests from a breakdown of the general areas of interest within photography. Look over a list of the photographic areas within the craft and make a list according to what your interest level is and after you feel you have your bread winner perfected, move on down the list, reading and watching youtube.com videos on the next subject of interest from your prioritized list with a clear understanding of the relationship of the depth of field and the aperture setting.

As mtshooter said, you can get it all together without spending a lot of money but you'll spend a lot of time. I would add that you can spend a lot less time learning the key ingredients of exposure if you spend a little money on a full frame, 24.3 megapixel, mirrorless Sony A7 body for under $500, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Alpha-A7-II-24-3MP-Digital-Camera-Black-Body-Only-READ/233421440889?epid=16027883901&hash=item3659008779%3Ag%3A4pkAAOSwg7Zd5SUv&LH_BIN=1 and a Sigma mc-11 adapter for $125.00, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-MC-11-EF-E-Mount-Converter-For-Canon/193239717588?epid=11021688741&hash=item2cfdfc16d4%3Ag%3AQ-oAAOSwGThd5nm2&LH_BIN=1 plus whatever wide angle lens you choose to buy, or buy a wide Sony lens and forget the adapter. Since it's a business deduction the total ultimately out-of-pocket shrinks drastically as does your learning curve as your photographic capability increases immensely. In lieu of an expensive wide angle lens, using a 50mm f/1.8, shooting multiple shots and blending them into a pano will very often preclude the necessity for a wide angle lens for interior real estate work. You could sell your t7i and lens to raise cash to help with the change-over. The camera you have is a nice rig but it's not the best tool for the job you're doing and expansion into other areas of photography.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Typical Sony Fanboy response. The answer is always but a Sony. #1 the idea that shooting full frame is substantially better for everything except for distant action shots just shows you’re not keeping up. #2 he has a very nice and capable camera already he says he doesn’t want to spend money, and the first thing you’re telling him he should do is buy a new camera. I say shoot with what you’ve got. As you learn and your capabilities and interests grow, then decide when and if you need a new camera and what camera would best fill your needs. It might be the camera you already have, it might be another Canon, maybe a Nikon, or Fuji, or Olympus or Panasonic. Heck, it might even be a Sony, or maybe just a cell phone. No need to run out and buy a new camera now.

And how the heck does having a full frame negate the need to understand exposure?

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Buy Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", $18 last time I looked on Amazon. Might be the best money you ever spend on your photography! This book is a great overview of "how cameras and lenses work and how to use them". It applies to pretty much all modern digital cameras, is a quick read and should be mandatory reading for all photographers before they're allowed to ask questions on blogs. [sm01]

Another thing to look for on Amazon, if you don't already have one I also recommend getting a guide book specific to your camera. There are a number of them, I'm sure.... I'm most familiar with guide books by David Busch, Charlotte Lowry and David Taylor... but I imagine there are some other very good ones. (I don't care for the "Dummies" series camera guides.... Though I have found them useful for other subjects.)
A guide book such as this is sort of an expansion on the manufacturer supplied user manual, picking up where the manual left off, often with a lot more "real world" examples and plain English description and providing more detail about possibly helpful accessories. Even though I've been using a wide variety of cameras for around 50 years, I still always buy a guide book whenever I get a new camera because it helps shorten my learning curve and often points out things I might otherwise have overlooked.

There also are many subject-specific photograph books... How to shoot weddings... how to photograph architecture.... macro and close-ups.... yada, yada, yada!

Another thing I've done over the years is studied the work of other photographers, through books, exhibitions and more recently by visiting their websites.... I look for work I admire and think "I wish I'd done that"... try to figure out "how did they do that?" and get inspiration and ideas from them.

Don't look for instant answers or expect things to happen fast. Photography is a huge subject with myriad different ways of approaching it as a professional or as a serous amateur. It's an accumulation of knowledge from reading, discussion... but mostly from experience. Many people (me included!) tend to get bogged down in the details about and acquisition of the equipment we use for photography. Take a class, join a photography club if you need a nudge to get moving. Actually getting out and shooting with the gear you've got, keeping it simple, making mistakes and learning from them, and getting encouragement from your successes are all likely to be much more valuable steps along a path into the future.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

martykovacs

WOW! A lot of fabulous information. I think I can swing it. How safe is buying used on ebay. I promise not to hold you to anything. I've never bought anything on ebay. Also, I was looking at selling my stuff & going with Nikon, as that seems to be the way to go, albeit $$$$.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Except that he has a Canon camera and lenses to fit it.... which will NOT fit or work on a Nikon camera!

Bad advice.



I've bought and sold on eBay for around 20 years.... several thousand transactions. Generally it's "safe".

However, I NEVER buy my day-to-day, "work" cameras off eBay. I buy that new, used from a reputable retailer or refurbished... I have bought a few things used from individuals locally, when I could first check out the item in person, before handing over any money. I buy and sell mostly vintage collectible camera gear on the auction website. Not the stuff I shoot with regularly... Definitely not most of photo gear I make money with! The problem is not that sellers on eBay aren't generally honest... It's that they usually aren't all that knowledgeable. Stuff is often described incorrectly, so it's on you to know exactly what you're looking at and then take the risk that it's working properly, since the seller probably doesn't know how and/or has no means of testing it for correct function.

One exception I made was buying a couple used tripods off eBay. However, I already had a good, regular user tripod.... The two I bought through the auction site were additional and served somewhat specialized purposes. They also were both items that I was quite familiar with, so I knew a lot about them and wasn't dependent upon what the seller was able to tell me. Besides, a tripod is a tripod... pretty basic, simple and good ones are durable. It's not like a DSLR... a highly complex device full of delicate electronics... Or a lens with even more electronics, plus optics. Those I'm not inclined to buy sight unseen or without full right of return and/or at least some warranty until I can confirm everything is working as it should.



Who told you to sell your stuff, buy Nikon gear and start the learning process all over? (Hint: If you click "Quote Reply" instead of just "Reply", it would be helpful.)

That's a terrible idea! Not that Canon is better than Nikon. But Nikon also isn't better than Canon... or Sony... or Olympus... or Fuji... or, well you get the idea.

They ALL make good and highly capable gear. There are some differences when you look into the details of the various systems. Just for example, Canon and Nikon offer Tilt-Shift/Perspective Control lenses... which can be quite useful for architectural photography. Canon offers five "TS-E" lenses (17mm, 24mm, 50mm, 90mm and 135mm). Nikon offers four "PC" lenses (19mm, 24mm, 45mm and 85mm). These are expensive, big, heavy, manual focus only and require some fairly advanced knowledge to use them properly. The Nikkor lenses are a little to a lot more expensive than the Canon lenses... but they do the same thing. The only other tilt-shift lenses for use on DSLRs (or mirrorless) that I'm aware of right now are being made by Schneider, to fit Canon, Nikon and Sony. Those are extremely expensive... even more than the Nikkors. All good lenses, but they do the same thing and you'll have a heck of a time telling apart the resulting images!

NOT that I am suggesting you run out and buy some Tilt Shift lenses. Use what you've got now and only consider adding something if and when your current gear simply cannot handle the job. There are other ways to correct perspective, for example. Many post-processing software programs provide means of doing so, to some extent. Learn that first... then later you might find a reason to also use a lens too, in order to do even more.

You also don't need a full frame camera. Learn to do panoramas... assembling two or more shots into a single finished image. Doing that well, you can match or exceed the capabilities of any currently available full frame camera with your 24MP crop sensor T7i. It's just a little more work.

If your main concern is architectural photography, then other things will be more useful. Learn to use multiple shots to handle the different lighting indoors and outdoors, for interior shots where there are windows. Learn to use custom white balance, to get color-correct images under virtually any type of artificial lighting. You might find some sort of supplemental lighting helpful, but try to keep it simple... at least initially.

Software used for post-processing and calibrating their computer monitor are two other things that most photographers should pay more attention to... and usually don't involve a lot of expense.

Keep the camera and lenses you've got and use them while you learn. You're already some steps ahead in terms of familiarity, simply having used the T7i and some lenses for a while. Do you really want to start the learning process all over with a different brand that, in the end, basically does the same thing?