Photog.

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I made a little promise to myself this year to be better about using my camera. Taking it with me, and actually taking pictures. It’s like I get stage fright or something. Unless I’m downtown looking like a tourist, I assume that people will think I’m weird for taking pictures of things. I realize that this is totally internal, but the feeling remains.

Surprisingly, I’ve actually followed through, well sort of. I’ve brought my camera more places and actually taken plenty of pics! Yeah, feeling so very proud over here, facing my fears and all. The one question I still struggle with before leaving the house is which lens to bring. I typically carry a small cross-body Kate Spade bag that holds my camera, but not any extra lenses.

If I had a cool camera bag and didn’t have photo-anxiety, I’d bring my collection of all three lens and change them out depending on what I needed:

1. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, affordable
2. Canon 50mm Compact Macro-Lens f/2.5, more expensive
3. Sigma 18-50mm lens that came with the camera, unimpressed

I typically end up bringing number one or three. One is great if I can move back and forth to get the right composition and the pics are always crisp and clear, but number three is simply just more convenient sometimes. Convenience aside, it’s also sorta crappy. Yes, it zooms in and out, but the photos always come out fuzzy and the light never looks as good.

This May I’m headed to Europe with my sisters for two whole weeks. I seriously cannot wait. My sisters are my two very best friends in the whole world and getting to spend two weeks exploring, eating, drinking, dancing in a night club or two(?) with just us three is going to be awesome. Europe is also prime time for taking pics. I don’t have so much photo-anxiety when I’m there because I simply don’t know a soul and don’t care if they think it’s dumb that I’m taking a picture of the 11th beer I’m drinking. Okay, maybe not eleven…

But I also want to make sure my pictures are stellar and I’m thinking it’s time to invest in another, versatile, lens that’s of better quality. So this is when I hand it over to you guys. Which lenses do you use, what’s your favorite? And do you have any camera accessories that I need? Right now this and/or this are high on my list!