Take me a picture. Tell me a story with that picture. But before you take that picture tell what kind camera you like to you. Are you a professional photographer that likes to use a single lens reflex camera with exchangeable lenses. Or are you the type of person who just uses the camera on their phone.

I am more into the message of the picture as to how to take it. The camera I use the camera that is attached to my phone. It is 5 mega pixel. However, I would like to some day get a small handheld video camera to take videos and  still pictures.

Before I recommend what type of camera you should get along with the best price, you are going to have to tell me a few things.

• Do you like taking still pictures or video? Since dawn of modern computers it is easy for almost anyone to edit video as easy as still picture. Putting video on YouTube or putting a still picture on Flicker can be done with a good computer and high speed internet connection.
• What type of pictures will you be taking? Do you like to take portraits of people posed? Do you like to pictures of  landscapes? Is it candid shots of family and friends get your blood flowing? Could it be taking a picture of your son shoot a three point basket, be the only reason you have a camera?
• What conditions will you be largely photographing? Indoors, outdoors, low light, bright light, with or without flash makes a big difference. The are many digital cameras that do not have any way of inducing extra light into the picture.
• Will you point and shoot or do you like to be artistic? Are you like me who just likes to point and shoot? Or are you technical enough and want the ability to change you exposure and aperture settings?
• What experience level do you have with cameras? I will not tell you to get a $1,000 camera if the only time you use a camera is at Christmas and family gatherings.
• What type of features do you want? Long zoom, wide angle, red eye removal, image correction, and size will narrow the choices to what cameras are available to you.
• What is your budget? If you want a fancy camera for $50, it is not going to happen. If you do find one it will be either stolen or junk. Now if you want a nice family camera for about $200, that I can point you toward.

There are hundreds of photography and camera review websites on the internet. In the coming weeks we will look as some cameras and software for taking good pictures. We are going to keep it simple and give you good information for when it comes time to buy you next camera.

Tags: Camera, Picture, still picture, video, You Tube. Flicker