Making the decision to develop, expand, or enhance your artistic horizon can be difficult choices by themselves. Then, once you make the decision, you realize there are expenses that need to be considered: Instructional material, artistic mediums, support materials, and usually the most important and expensive - equipment.

When you were learning to ride a bicycle, you encountered these same prerequisites; someone had to teach you, because you probably found it as difficult as I did to try to read the instruction manual while trying to keep my balance going down that first steep hill, approaching the highway intersection with the flashing red light. My, my; a pretty red light. But I digress. You probably started by learning to ride while inflicting scratches and scrapes (on both you and the bicycle) until you (or your parents) felt comfortable enough with your abilities to invest in a bigger, better, or at least another bicycle with fewer obvious abrasions. Maybe you even found one with functioning brakes to help slow you as you ride down the hill toward the pretty blinking red light.

Well, the same "learning to ride a bicycle" principle works when you begin learning to take pictures; someone needs to be there to answer your questions and provide guidance in order for you to learn to master the task at hand in the shortest amount of time so that the energy you spend here will last throughout your lifetime. TPC is here to help with our lifetime Email support. Now on to camera requirements...

Almost every new student to TPC asks the same question, "What camera should I buy?" Although TPC does not endorse particular products, we will relate the success and horror stories provided by our years of students' comments, and we will gladl tell you what equipment we use for different types of work including you, the student, work, client demands, and, well, we'll answer your questions if we can help. If your desire is to go out and spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars on photo equipment before you even know if you are going to dedicate the time and energy to learning how to take great pictures, then we cannot stop you; it is your money. However, if you want to learn using a monetary budget of a logical level, TPC will accommodate you in an equal fashion. Just remember - it's the quality of the lens, not the name on the camera body, that determines the start of an exceptionally captured memory.

First, we want to explain that "photographic technique" is simply that: The techniques you learn and use to best capture the scene in your mind's eye. It is not brain surgery, although I am constantly reminded to consider having it performed. "Photographic technique, basically put, is how you apply your body and your camera to the time of day in relation to your subject." Of course, there are many different aspects to each of these four components; aspects you will learn through TPC's instruction and support. But, the "camera" part of the learning curve should not necessarily be the hardest decision you must make. Watch-out for that lens! Ouch!!

TPC's Photographic Techniques, Book I teaches you with friendly and in-depth coverage of 14 areas of fundamental and intuitive instruction. Take a look at the list of chapters in Book I (clicking on this link will open a new window; you will not lose your place on this page). Almost every chapter's purpose can be achieved using cameras costing less than $30US, and most of those chapters can be mastered using the $10 disposable camera types available most anywhere. Many of the inexpensive digital, 35mm, and APS film cameras are available with and without a flash, some come with built-in wide-angle, normal, or panoramic lenses, and all usually come pre-loaded with ISO200 to ISO400 film or with flash memory and a means to have the digital images you've recorded converted into photos; view some inexpensive examples from the "Tom's Recent Photos Tab" on our Homepage. And, if you want to get a little fancier, you can spend as little as $25 Online for a reusable 35mm film or older digital camera complete with a short zoom lens. If none of these are fancy enough try spending a little more on a reloadable or reusable camera complete with a multiple image recording! Make noise while saving your thumb for more important things like, "Welcome to Florida." Of course you can also invest in camera "starter" kits for under $300US.

As a matter of fact, even if you own more sophisticated photographic equipment than the $5-$30 variety, you will find that carrying a disposable camera with you might save the day in case your favorite camera decides to take a "break". Also, you will find that by having a disposable with you during several of TPC's Assignments will not only make the Assignment easier for you to shoot, but also easier to understand. Who said, "Don't back up!" I know, but do you?

And for you digital camera fans, TPC is perfect for you, as well. Shooting with a digital camera is much like using slide film in a film-based camera; you still need to know all the same techniques, applied the same way, use your flash for the same reasons and under the same conditions, and learn how to compose a prizewinner instead of a bull's-eyed snapshot. Again; technique is technique whether you are shooting billiards or shooting film. A 2-Megapixel digital camera will fill the needs of most any student or serious amateur (makes great 4x6-inch images). If you want to become more involved and work towards enlarging your digital images past the 4x6 size, or you want more features than those offered by lesser digital cameras, you will probably want to advance upwards in Megapixels to the 3MP-8MP or higher range. However, if you currently own a digicam of less than 2-Megapixels, you should not feel "abandoned", as TPC personally caters to all students of all ages using any type/size/format of camera; we even show you how to use a 0.3MP (that's a 640x480 pixel sized image in case you are already familiar with these terms) camera to capture beautiful panoramas suitable for enlarging to wall-sized murals. Really, we do it all the time. Do you think we own only one camera system? Ha! We must not only keep up with technology, but we must also be able to identify with the newbies we are turning into professionals.

See how nice we are?

But please, don't misunderstand us; we do not mean to imply that our chapters are based solely on the use of $5-$30 cameras; the information in our Books can take you to whatever level of photographic expertise your heart desires. However, if you want to start out small, discover your particular area of photographic interest or style, and THEN invest in equipment more suitable to your needs, you will not have invested in a $5000 home portrait studio when all you really needed was a simple manual camera and a close-up lens for your masterful enlargements of abstract scratches from rusty bicycle parts or butterflies on petunias. I think I'm digressing again. Take a look at our Beginner's Books if you want fast, affordable, and easy-to-apply instructions on how to capture your greatest moments on film or digital recording media.

One last answer asked by so many of our beginning students: "Which brand of camera should I buy?" Our answer is if you want the best picture possible in regard to detail, quality, and investment, you should be shopping for the best lens, not the best camera. Remember, it is the lens, your brain, and your eye that properly composes the scene at hand; the camera body merely holds the flash drive card or the roll of film. In other words, don't buy an expensive camera and then add an inexpensive lens; spend your money on the lens, then find a camera body the lens will fit with the camera features you want or need. So many times we have been judges at photo competitions where the photographer has expressed the brand of camera used for the capturing his or her image; judges could not care less about the camera body, we care about the lens used, and why the image is so clear or so, well, I'll say, "soft", to put it nicely.