elsie's camera list....

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies in the world! I receive questions about my equipment, toy cameras and photoshop techniques almost daily. I thought it would be lots of fun to create a gigantic informational post for you about my favorite cameras, some tips and tricks and lots of links.... This post may be a tiny bit nerdy, but hopefully super helpful to my camera shopping pals. Enjoy! 

My 'Real Camera'... I currently own a Canon EOS 40D. This is what I use to take most of the photos seen here on my blog. It's a great mid-level slr. I've been using it for a few years. The next upgrade I have planned is this beautiful camera. Super excited that the newest Canons have video capabilities. 

I, primarily, use two lenses with my slr camera. I like to keep my camera bag extremely simple. First, this wide angle lens. Here are a couple example photos taken with this lens...

I love my wide angle lens for interior decor shots (it's hard to get everything in the frame with most other lenses I own), outdoor photos (buildings, sky etc...) and 'arm's length' self portraits.

Any photo where i am holding the camera myself for the photo (excluding mirror photos, of course) is taken with this lens. It's very useful! 

Next, I use a 50mm f/1.8 lens for portrait and product photos. Here are a few examples...

This lens is better for photos of people and it works great in lower light.   

Another huge part of photography is PhotoShop. I use actions on lots of my photos to speed up the editing process and keep things consistent. The only actions I use are Totally Rad Actions. The set I own is "The Revenge". Here are some examples... 

The first photo has Brooklyn (B&W) on it and the second photo has Lux and Punch-Out! If you've never used actions you can learn how through tutorials on their site. They're really helpful and can also be a great tool for anyone not super familiar with photoshop. 

Next up.... my absolute favorite 'toy' camera. The Fuji Instax Mini! I have the chocolate one. It's probably the best thing I bought last year. I've already taken over 200 photos. It also comes in white, pink and blue. I take this with me almost every day! The photos look like business card sized polaroids....

SO adorable. 

Polaroids are so much fun. All throughout high school until recent years I used this camera so much. Film isn't as inexpensive as it used to be, but it's cool that it's available again! You can read about it at The Impossible Project. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing a peek at my favorite cameras! I had fun writing this post..... XO. elsie

Comments

[Amber wick]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I have always wondered what type of gear you use and I especially wanted to know about how you edited your photos. They always look so wonderful. :)

[cb]

oh photography is great hobby of mine too! i love using my minolta film camera, love the pictures we get developed and we have tons of over vintage cameras that take gorgeous pictures too. most recent is ciro-flex which as been really fun to play with! but still need a good digital camera too! one day!

xo,
cb

[Melanie]

Yay, Elsie! I have been hoping for a photography post from you. Your pictures are amazingly creative! Thanks for sharing.

[MayDae]

Your brown camera looks fun! And I love it's vintage color and chunky look - so cute:)

[eLousions]

We share lots of cam love , I own the mini instax in Blue and I luv everything about it. Polaroids are fun fun fun I own a green 600 and then my canon is not as powerful as the one you have, but I sure love my boyfriends one he owns a 7D and the 50mm f/1.8 lens is definetl one of the faves in my case too. Fun fun post!!!

[Kerry]

Awesome and helpful! I'm a camera-holic too and have many of the same cameras! That wide angle lens is my next buy!

[Miki]

Elsie, this is great! Thank you so much for sharing all this info! =)

Have fun taking more pics!

Miki.

[angela]

wheeeeeee! love this!!
perfect timing as i found a polaroid 600 for 2$ todays...and took a photo to see if it worked...and there was FILM IN IT!!!!!!! messed up, old, weird film, but i got a totally funny stunned selfie out of it:).
cameralove is a beautiful thing:)

[Diana]

I love my 50mm! I have a cheapie version and a nicer version.

I love your photos and yes, one of the best hobbies to invest in :))))

[Anne R.]

You're aWeSoMe! Loved reading this post, Elsie! XO

[Andrea!!!]

This is great - I LOVE these types of posts :) I hope you do more with tips/tricks because you certainly are talented. I may have to ask for a digital SLR for Xmas (eep!) I have been looking into Photoshop, but I'm not sure which version to get? Which one do you use??

Thanks Elsie, and I'll see you (meet you - ha) this weekend at Renegade - yipee!!!

[Steph]

This was a really informative post, thanks so much :) I'm hopefully getting an SLR for my 21st so this has been really useful!! x

[coley]

oh thank you elsie!

what about iphone camera apps?? do you have a fav? hipstamatic?

happy thursday.

[Sera]

How am I just discovering this blog?

Love this post! I can't wait to get an SLR.

[Marina Garcia]

ohhh gracias, me encanta la instantanea, alomejor me cojo una, gracias por los consejos, muy utiles para las que estamos aprendiendo fotografia
un saludo

[silvita]

I love this post Elsie! I still have a print of a long Q&A post about photography that you've blogged years ago. It helped me very much.

What kind of camera bag do you use??

xxx from Hilversum (NL)

[Ingrid]

Thank you soo much for this! I'm searching for a new camera, and this helps me narrow down what lenses to buy. :D

[julie]

This is sooo great. I can't wait to sit down and read this more closely. I LOVE your photos, and thanks for sharing your secrets! Keep up the awesome work.

Julie @ shortsandlongs.net

[miranda]

I've always wanted to know what effects you've used on your photos. I love the revenge action set.

[Becky Farley]

That's so crazy I just made a flickr set of all my camera last night! -great minds! ;) I have a Canon E0S 40D too and I love it so much! Your photos are so beautiful!