The market is heavily saturated with compact cameras (point and click) which do the job perfectly for what they are built for but when you need pictures that have that something extra special, you may need to look at investing in what they call a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera) BUT steady on there tiger! Don’t jump straight in and spend a small fortune on a camera you’ll barely be able to use.

If you want to start to learn photography, and I mean really learn photography, I would strongly suggest you start at the very bottom and work up, start with a standard SLR.

Even with the digital revolution, there are still 1000′s of good quality old SLR cameras free to buy that offer stunning picture quality and are a great building-block on which to learn on, and progress from.
Have a look at your local second hand camera shop, charity shops and car-boot sales or even have a look on EBay (Caution to buying on EBay!). If you are just starting out, and you’ve to the patience to start from the beginning (instead of jumping in and buying an £800 DSLR) then I would recommend you look at spending anywhere from £20 to £50 for a good quality Canon, Minolt or Pentax (or any other brand) camera.

1. When buying your SLR camera, inspect the item thoroughly. Listen for squeaks, tapping or knocking. Obviously, with this being a bog-standard SLR, when you release the shutter, you’re going to hear clunks and knocks and other little sounds so read up about the particular brand you plan on buying; see what the common problems are with a camera that age.
   • If it comes with a lens, take it off. Inspect the lens – check for scratches, marks, clouding and mould. If you spot anything that looks like the for-mentioned, leave it. The last thing you want to do is buy a nice camera, only to find the lens has dust or mould between the glass elements.
   • Open the back of the camera – does it look to be in a good condition? Check the seal on the door for any damages – ‘light leak’ will render the camera and your pictures useless until you fix it.

   I guess what I’m trying to say here is, have a good look at it, play with it… take it to bits – make sure you’re not buying a dead camera!

2. Prepare the camera. Make sure any batteries are new, the lens and viewfinder are clean… oh, and make sure the film compartment if free from dust, fluff and anything else that may hamper the film.
3. Choosing the 35mm film – this is crucial! My personal recommendation is to use Ilford 35mm film. Ilford have been around for over 100 years and their film is second to none. I’m sure you meet and speak to other film enthusiasts that say differently but at the end of they day, it’s your choice – buy a few different brands – experiment!
   Pop on over to Ilford’s website and read up on their handy tips – http://www.ilfordphoto.com/applications/
4. Once you’ve chosen your film the only thing left to do is to get out there and shoot!

As a beginner, it’s all about having fun and learning fundamentals – shoot, shoot and shoot some more!

In part two, I’ll look to explain the workings of aperture, shutters speeds and other critical topics to enable you to capture stunning photography.

Here are some photographs taken on a Canon AE-1 using various Ilford films.