OK, so I'm new to this too (sort of, anyway) and what everyone has said so far is good. Don't worry too much about your kit until you learn more about what you want to and enjoy shooting.
I would summarize as follows:
- learn the basics - exposure, light, dof, etc etc. Just learning each term and then playing with your gear to see if you can manipulate it (for instance, you can take lots of shots of rows of individual items, like dominoes or pencils to learn depth of field).
- carry your camera as much as possible and shoot as much as you can. Learn to look at the light - how it affects the things you're seeing.
- the project idea is a good one - I'd suggest looking at the monthly assignment forum here and going out to and trying to shoot things that meet it. The weekly one is good too, but might move a bit fast (it does for me, anyway).
- one thing I haven't seen so far: you admitted you feel you lack an artistic eye.....so learn it. forget just photography - look at art books, go to art galleries, study famous painters, etc. Look at the composition, how they focused on objects, how they expressed things. Art is about presenting something in a new or different or personal way...giving meaning to what would otherwise be a simple representation of reality. If you have any artist friends, enlist them to help you. Do a shoot, show them your work, or just go out with them to learn how they "see" things...get that artidtic point of view.
There are a lot of good books out there - Understanding Exposure (get the newest update which includes digital) by Peterson is great, as well as any of the John Shaw books on nature, landscape are good too, Rick Sammon's guide to Digital Photography is another one that is good for beginners - but my suggestion is GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. Nobody ever suggests this. Our library has a fabulous photography section. Take them out, learn and then see what you would like to have at home for reference, I also like to sit at the book store (my own personal library and read through the newest books. Good luck and happy shooting!
danmitchell wrote:
A very inexpensive option is to get a used copy of the 18-55mm kit lens.
Unfortunatelly that will not fit his 10D.
Skip the 50mm prime at this point unless your main interest is short telephoto or portrait photography. On our camera it is not a traditional "normal" focal length. Yes, it is optically quite decent. Yes, it is inexpensive. NO, it is the wrong lens for most people in your situation.
I don't know why the 50 is the wrong lens, I really like 50mm, much better than 28mm. Plus the 50mm has a rather nice property too on a crop body: it makes a nice and cheap astrophotography lens. Which is what the OP originally got the 10D for.
A couple of previous posters have mentioned the EFs 18-55 "kit "lens. As they stated this lens will not fit the 10D in its stock configuration. However the lens can be modified to work with the 1.6 crop non-EFs bodies, like the 10D. From time to time these modified lenses are available in the Buy & Sell forum. Look for a listing for a modified, or "mod" 18-55.
and read through the newest books. Good luck and happy shooting!