Landscaping & PotteryAll You Want To Know About Landscaping

What are the best canon lenses for portrait and landscape photography?

I have a canon digital rebel xt that i received as a Christmas present. I’d like to take professional looking portraits of my baby and family, whats the best lens for this? I’d also like to buy a good lens for landscape photography. Any suggestions?

If you understand the fundamentals of photography you will know the lens that best fits your needs. The fundamentals are not really rocket science, to really really use an SLR/DSLR like the XT you need to know how to get the max out of it.

For example: If by landscape you mean like a sunset or a sort of mountain/lake scenery you will need a deep depth of field (DOF) and you need to know what DOF means and how you can very easily change that on your XT (you do this by changing the aperture of your lens in the the Aperture Priority (Av) or Manual mode (M) mode). Similarly for babies you want a shallow DOF and you do this since the baby is the focus of your pic and you want the background blurred.

But by changing the aperture you also mess with the amount of light thats entering the camera and that affects the shutter speed etc.

Its not that hard, once you understand the fundamentals you will know EXACTLY what kind of lens you need. For starter I suggest:

1) Get a good photography teacher or a good easy to read photography book. I recommend “Understanding Exposure” it has lots of pics that explains what the terms means visually. IMO its the BEST $15 you will ever spend in your photography hobby. You will understanding what makes up an Exposure-Aperture, Shutter and ISO.

2) Once you know that, when you read your Camera manual it will make a lot of sense.

3) For beginner portraits the best lens is the $75 EF 50mm f/1.8. This is a prime lens (it does not zoom you zoom in and out with your feet) and it a fast lens (any lens with an aperture more than f/2.8 is called fast, since it usually yields fast shutter speeds) and bigger the aperture f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8 even f/4 the shallower the DOF and the more blurred the background is.

Note: In photography f/2.8 is smaller than f/2, which is smaller than f/1.8. This is because it is a ratio, so f/1.8 is large coz it lets in MORE light than say f/2.8. It’s confusing now but will make a lot of sense once you get the fundamentals.

I am assuming your camera came with a EF-S 18-55mm kit lens. This is a moderately Wide Angle Zoom lens and its really good for landscapes and close people shots. If you do 1-3 as listed above you will figure out what your favorite focal length is for shooting and what you really need.

I could easily tell you to get a $640 EF-S 10-22 mm lens for wide angle landscapes or a $300 EF 50mm f/1.4 for portraits but you need to know WHY they cost that much and how to use them first to justify the cost. There is a reason why good lens cost a LOT of money and you need to understand photography to understand their cost and how to get the most from them.

Landscape – Einstein A Go Go

Black & Decker LE750 Edge Hog 2-1/4 HP Electric Landscape Edger $87.54 You’ll get great results with this Black & Decker heavy-duty Edge Hog landscape edger, one of the easiest-to-use pieces of equipment we’ve come across. You’ll be thrilled with how quickly you can get to work, as assembly takes only a few minutes. This is an electric model, so you’ll need an extension cord and an electric outlet handy, but you won’t have to deal with gas or oil. And it’s so quiet y…

Intermatic ML300RTW Malibu 300-Watt Power Pack with Timer and Ground Shield $63.88 The Malibu 300-watt power pack with timer and ground shield comes with 2 sets of trippers and a ground shield to help you program your lighting system. It converts 120-volt AC to 12-volt AC power and has an automatic multiple on/off timer with manual override switch. Control wattage outputs for your Malibu low-voltage lighting with this pack, which is protected by weather-resistant housing and is …

Wild Grass Solar Garden Lights. $19.95 3 pcs of beautiful Wild Grass LED Lights are connected with a solar panel. Great product for your garden, patio and pavement illumination and decoration. *** Fiber optical grass can be easily arranged into different shapes. People even make bouquet out of it when they twist those grass wires. ***No A/C wire or outlet needed when using these solar lights. Self sustained for years to come. *** Good…

Waking Hour $9.82 …

Living Landscapes: The World’s Most Beautiful Places [HD DVD] $4.95 The World s Most Beautiful PlacesThis sampler program features naturally recorded surround-sound for a true nature experience, and relaxing music by Emmy Award winning composer Gary Malkin and others. An inter-active playback feature allows you to select any one of 9 HD environments for continuous repeated playback. Experience the peace and tranquility of the Grand Tetons reflected in pristine mou…

One Cello X 16: Natoma $15.00 Zoe Keating, One Cello X 16: Natoma…

Max Headroom: The Original Story $69.29 In the post-apocalyptic future where television sets are more important than food, TV ratings are the all important currency of the nation. A new technique of preventing viewers from channel surfing proves somewhat detrimental to particularly sedentary couch potatoes. The top studio becomes concerned: dead viewers make for low ratings. Edison Carter, top news reporter, is sent to find out more. Af…

The Clinic: A comprehensive live demonstration of how to do terrain and landscape modeling [VHS] $14.99 Watch Master Model Railroader Miles Hale and Fran Hale demonstrate scenery techniques to a standing-room only crowd, at a National Model Railroad Association convention. In this video, you’ll see first-hand just how easy it is to create the layout of your dreams. Approximately 75 minutes. US/Canada NTSC Format….

Drawing II Drawing Landscapes, Seascapes with Gail Price …

Moonrays Glass Ball Fixture …