I recently came across, in an online forum, a question from someone that is obviously new to photography and wanted to buy a “portrait lens”. That person has a 18-200mm lens, a type of lens that has been much in use these days, as a “do everything” solution. The replies to his plea were, in a large part, a sign of the times: people care more about gear than about education.

I do not personally favour the 18-200mm lens, and would rather point people in other directions: a kit with two zooms, covering from 18 to 300mm, is more interesting, in my opinion, but I do agree that some new 18-200mm lenses are a good compromise for people that do not want to carry many lenses, and also for travelling.

This said, I replied to the young photographer that he already had a good lens for portraits, what he needed to do was to understand it fully. On my post I also linked to an article from a photographer doing weddings professionally with a 18-200mm from Nikon as a good example of what I was telling him.

What I felt was that the general tone of the replies was not helping a young photographer to become better. Most people was telling him to “buy this”, “buy that”, “this is the best”, “that is the worst”, a lot of replies – some completely wrong – that were generating more noise than signal, in fact. One could see that the person asking needed some real guidance and not replies from people that seemed more like vendors than photographers. It's real frightening what is happening on social networks these days. Some of the “vendors” even started their replies stating that they had BFA and MFA degrees so their suggestion should be taken into account. Strange people, strange world…

Well, on my reply I also suggested the budding photographer should invest in education instead of believing a new lens would let him do better portraits. This leads me to this article published today.  It points you, reader, to an education package that might interest not only those starting to explore photography, but a lot of other people, even seasoned professionals, that need to browse their knowledge of photography in general, use of flash and lighting, and even portraiture.

Ed Verosky collection of eBooks is now, and for a limited time, on sale. It's a selection of 9 eBooks covering different subjects, all this for $99, a special price, considering that each eBook costs, individually, $15, so the total would be $135. Bur there's more. This offer also includes 1 year bonus content from Ed Verosky website. This means Exclusive Video Tutorials and other information only available to subscribers.

This is a good investment in education. Even if you only get the eBooks, there's enough in theory and practical projects to keep you busy for a long time. For someone just starting, the “DSLR The Basics” eBook is a good suggestion, while the more advanced 100% Reliable Flash Photography and  Take Your Portraiture to the Next Level aim at readers already eager to explore new horizons in their photography.

Now, tell, me, what is better for someone to do when they  are starting in photography, already have a 18-200mm lens and want to do general portrait with friends and family: buy a new portrait lens as some “specialists” seem to suggest, or invest in education? I guess – and hope – your opinion is the same as mine. So, the entire Ed Verosky eBook Library available now is the solution.