i want to prove to my friend that my picture can be as nice as him although his dslr is 1k more than me. =)
This is exactly the reason why I say you shouldn't go further with photography and concentrate on your study instead. This is what I saw in one of your post about why you need to upgrade your gear because you see one of your friend is using a Canon gear and yours being Sony Alpha cannot deliver nice pictures. Someone show you what can be done even for a Iphone 4G camera and I see it myself, it is indeed an art.
I said all these is not to embarrass you, but from my standpoint, you are not mature enough to go into such a hobby which is expensive. Go and study, don't even bother to take a part time job to facilitate this hobby, you will only learn things the hard way if you continue to venture this route. When you have develop further and understand what is art, then re-visit this hobby.
Art is not about proving your point or proving that your gear being entry level makes better images than pro cameras. Art is far more than just making photos that others like. It is an expression that you need to understand. Some people learn through the process of trying out. Some end up not appreciating art and make it a competitive process of trying to show off who is better. What's the point ? You are good, someone is better. It's an endless cycle. Before you start, learn how to appreciate yourself and what you can do. You ought to be happy and interested in what you do first, then you will learn something good out of it.
Let me tell you a bit about myself.
I have always love art since I'm young, but unfortunately somehow no matter how I drew on papers, my art teacher always give me a C. I don't understand why. There are a few students in my class just can draw much better and deliver like an artist. If I am like you just keep on wanna compete, I will end up being a loser because I totally defeat the purpose of why I like art in the first place. But of course, given I have lack of talent in art, I can't possibly be better than him no matter how hard I try.
On the other hand, photography though largely on art, also consist of heavy monetary investment that is not art related. I don't hope to see that you go into the wrong route and end up in debts or face any financial problems in your future. Or perhaps you decided to go astray just to facilitate your so called "photography".
For me, I have chosen technologies as my studies, career and also my hobby. In your growing stage, your preferences will change as you grow and expose to more stuffs in the future. What I am telling you now is just suspend what you think is the best for you and try something else instead. When you found something you like and you can make a living out of it, you will enjoy the process more and reap more from it.
Now that I are doing sufficiently well in my career, I have the purchasing power to re-visit art which is also giving me a channel to express my notion of art. Moreover now that photography has gone digital, it becomes more coherent with what I do for life.
Do yourself a favor. Go and re-think what you need in life and what you want to achieve in life. Photography doesn't has to be your first choice. If you really like it so much, revisit it when you grow up and understand more.
Meanwhile concentrate on your studies and get good results so that you can aim further in your life. The society is very harsh and demanding on your qualification. If you don't have a good cert, you probably can't go further or at least makes it a lot harder. If not, why do you think so many parents invested so much of their time and money into their children's education ? Education is everything, cert is not everything, but having a cert is like a ticket to give you that extra push so that your starting point is in front of others. That doesn't' mean you don't need to work hard. Heard of the "The tortoise and the Hare" story ?
All the best to you.
