I've been on a mission to become a better photographer on our travels. I spend at least 15 minutes a day practicing and taking pictures. 

Check out photos from our recent adventures here. 

The progression

When we first started, I used my Samsung phone for all of our pictures. I used this for a year and a half for our travels.

Then, I took the leap and got a DSLR without knowing what I was doing or even if I'd enjoy it. 

I talked to a Canon rep on the phone and she led me to a Canon EOS Rebel SL1. It's the smallest DSLR out right now and she said it was for smaller folks (Perfect! I come in at a whopping 5'0). I got a refurbished one that came with two lenses.

I've slowly learned from practicing every day, chatting with other photographers and looking around online. 

Here's what I use right now.

Camera 

Lenses

Tripod & REmote

Now I'm on a mission to make my pictures sharper. Having a tripod is key! A remote helps, too!

Tripod: I started out with a Manfrotto tripod but lost the tiny piece that connects your camera to the tripod. I never heard back from customer service for help, so my dad's lent me his Dynex tripod. Thanks padre!

I like this one a lot more because I can boost the camera higher for a higher angle.

Remote: I use the remote a lot to keep the camera and tripod still. It's also awesome to capture photos of you, your family and friends without having to ask anyone!

SD Card Storing Pictures

This is the card that fits into the camera. When I want to share or edit pictures, I pull it out of the camera and insert it into my computer. 

Editing Pictures

I use Adobe Lightroom and it's made an enormous difference! Of course, the goal is to make the best picture you can with the camera. However, I'm still learning so Lightroom has been so helpful! It's only $9.99 per month. Totally worth it even to a frugal gal like me!

Photo Storage

This has been the biggest issue on our travels: Storing photos!

Make sure to store your photos in two (make it three) places. I had two hard drives fail on me in one week! Thankfully, most of the pictures were in the cloud. But, a client of mine lost all of her pictures in the cloud. 

I feel like there's not one sure-fire way, so I've decided to store all of my pictures in three places. I plan to replace the flash drive and hard drive every two years. 

My three choices:

1. The cloud (Microsoft One Drive)
2. Flash Drive
3. External Hard Drive

We bought military grade flash drives and hard drives that can handle being moved around a lot on our travels.

Check out photos from our recent #nuventures here.

Please connect with me if you have any questions on photography! Flick me a message here.