As I walked out of Best Buy, with my first camera, my high school graduation gift, in hand, I was overwhelmed with the thought of how much equipment I needed to buy. The thought of off-camera flash gear, external hard drives, and macro photography lenses took me by storm; but, the truth is, when you are just getting started with this dream of yours, you do not need all of that. 

Today, on the blog for Photog Thursday, I am going to share the five pieces of equipment a beginner photographer needs to start out, besides the actual camera of course. Just because you have more gear, does not mean you will be a better photographer; you just need gear that will help you grow your business, while having a fun time doing it. 

1) The Nifty Fifty

Even though I think the 85mm is the best portrait lens on the market, I think the 50mm is the most versatile lens. The 50mm 1.8 lens by Nikon or Canon will not disappoint; and, you can get one for around two hundred dollars (see Nikon one here). Not only can you shoot amazing portraits with the 50mm because of the shallow aperture; but, it is great for getting wide ceremony shots and bridal party images.

2) A Good Memory Card

When I first started photography, I tried to save as much money as possible, including my gear; in fact, there was no way I was going to buy a memory card over fifty dollars. But, as a photographer, a card is a card right? No! Cheap memory cards (less than 90MBs/Sec) make your camera function not only slower, but less effective as a whole. Get my recommended memory card here. 

3) An External Hard Drive

Y’all, I cannot stress this fact enough! I mean, what if your computer or laptop crashes, what if you need to delete items to have more storage…I cannot recommend an external hard drive enough, especially this portable one here. 

4) A Camera Bag

So how in the world are you going to store your camera gear? Well, you need a bag. During my first year of photography, I did not need my huge ThinkTank bag like I do now. In fact, this backpack here did wonders. 

5) A Good Manual Flash

So, what about getting those amazing photographs inside? Every photographer, new and experienced, needs a flash to do that. I do not recommend a new photographer getting a complicated off-camera flash set, but, instead, a simple manual flash like you see here. You want to practice using manual mode on your flash, instead of TTL, so you have more control of what your camera is doing. 

xoxo, rebecca