Newbie here...suggestions appreciated!

[sobo1]

Hey all!

So after years of a point and shoot and after realizing that the cameras on our phones have come a long way but still are very much lacking in terms of quality, I decided to buy my first DSLR.

We have 2 kids and have seen them in photos taken by others using a DSLR camera- I figured it was was time to suck it up and buy one.

I'm pretty excited about the package I put together and we used it for the first time yesterday.. I bought it from Amazon.

At this point I'm just looking for any hints or comments to help me best utilize this great camera. I've been slowly reading through the info that came with the camera as well...

So here's a quick snapshot of what I got....

1- Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging- Body + 18-55mm lens

2-Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

3-Canon 40mm EF f/2.8 STM Lens (This lens confuses me a little- the first 2 I think I have a basic understanding of- I bought this one based on the great reviews....)

4- Neewer Battery Grip for Canon EOS 550D 600D / Rebel T2i T3i SLR (My wife wasn't sold on this- but we did see someone using the exact same thing yesterday. on their camera....)

5- Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon

And then just a bag for everything along with an SD card-

My wife has watched a 3 hour video made by a photographer specifically for teh T3i, but I'm not sure she feels any more confident on how to use this than she did before.

One thing I would like to be able to master is how to blur- can anyone tell me which of my lens would be best to do that and then what settings I would use?

Also, any tips or tricks to help learn how to use this and all the accessories would be appreciated- there's so much to learn it's very easy to get overwhelmed.


Thanks!

SWB

 

[Luke345678]

I have the camera and I would like to say I have "mastered" it. If you have any specific questions just shoot me a message.

 

[liquidxt]

I am a bit of a newbie myself, but I get obsessive about my new hobbies, so in the last few weeks I have learned a lot. My recommendation based on your list of lenses would be your 40mm, the wider aperture of that lens should allow for the blur effects you want, and then take the focal point out of auto and select which point your subject is on as the single focus area. At least in my learning this is how I have figured out how to do it. Even the kit lens will work, but the blur effect won't be as strong. Absolutely anyone feel free to correct me. But this is how I have been taking those types of pictures.

The number one thing I have seen as a constant through all the tutorials is take pictures, and lots of them.