I would like advice about cameras and software?

Question

I am interested in photography and have been taking friends and families pictures for about a year now, I am very creative and do a nice job. I have a very simple camera right now, I would like to buy a camera where I can get some better shots and quality, I am not looking to spend too much money (over 1500), I have been considering getting a Nikon D series and photoshop elements? What would you recommend and why? This is not going to be a fulltime job or anything, just a hobby to do for friends and families.

Answer 1

The Nikon D-series is a good place to start. Alternatively, you can check out Canon's Digital Rebel-series, Olympus' E-series, Pentax's K-series, and Sony's Alpha-series of DSLRs.

Check the following websites to come to your own conclusion:

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.dcresource.com/

http://www.cameralabs.com/

Every camera has pros and cons. You should really evaluate these on your own before making an expensive purchase. It's going to be hard to give you a run-down of all your options without bias. You'll get better answers if you have specific questions about a specific camera. Just be sure to check them out in person because that'll be the deal breaker 90% of the time.

Before you spend money on Adobe Photoshop Elements, however, you should try a free image manipulation program called The GIMP. It's pretty powerful and it can be modified to look and operate like PS.

http://www.gimp.org/