Get me some lens

To the very small population of people that actually read this thing, I have another post for y'all!
I promised (I think) that I'd write about lenses and which one would suit you best.

For the record, if you're strating out, kind of like me, you'll just want to be looking at 3 types of lenses. If you just bought your camera and it came with a lens or the people at the store suggested a basic lens for you, they probably gave you a lens with a focal length of 18-70mm. This is a very good length for beginners and I will explain why in a moment.

Focal Length
The focal length of a lens simply means the distance between the first glass element and the object in focus. So, if the distance is bigger between the lens and the object, then you will be able to take pictures from farther away because the magnification will be bigger. Choosing the right lens for what kind of pictures you want to take mostly depends on the focal lenght. Yes, there are other factors like aperture which is the f-stops, but without the proper zoom, your ideal photo may be in the ruins.


Zoom, ZOOM!
Okay, so this may sound a little repetative, but let's say you have this fond love for animals, but you can never get close enough to them without scaring them, which sucks because that just ruins everything. So you go stumbling on the internet in a rage for tips on photography and how to get those really sick National Geographic quality close-up photos and you find yourself looking at this blog. You read the headline and you're like, "Wtf? What loser would write a whole blog about photography?" You almost click the back button to keep searching, when this post catches your eye and you think, "Hold on a second..."
So you start reading and you find out that a Zoom  lens is the lens you need to achieve those much sought after photos that you drool over when you flip through your monthly volume of National Geographic. But you're still curious and think, "Okay, this girl might have the information that I need." So you keep reading.
Turns out that your basic crappy lens that you've been trying to take pictures of squirrels with is getting you nowhere (but I'm sure you've already figured that out) and you're wasting time by not going and getting yourself a Zoom lens, which clearly, is what you need.
Now, with that being said, you need to decided how far you want your lens to zoom. Of course there are lenses that go up to 300mm and more, but if you know you're only going to be in the park, or going to the Zoo, then you might not want to carry around a hunking piece of glass and plastic and such, which means maybe only a 200mm or 150mm lens. I mean, maybe if you go to the gym 3 times a day and all you obssese over is your back and neck muscles, yeah that won't be a problem, but your average Joe neck and back may not be all lovey-dovey at the end of the day. So, you must consider how much zoom you want.
For really close-up stuff, like insects, you won't need that much because you will most likely be able to get right up in their crib, but let's say you do go to the Zoo and the polar bears are on the other side of theircage chillin', then you might want a little more to get that cute furry face of theirs.
Either way, when you get this zoom lens, really think about what pictures you want out of it, how close you'll be standing to your object in focus and most importantly, whether or not you want to do your neck and back a favour.

Hey! I can see the whole mountain side!
Okay, next up, the wide angle lens!
So, now you're a backpacker and you have this sick zoom lens that lets you take some cool pictures of caribou roaming Nunavut on one of your crazy 30 days canoe trips (not that I would know about those). It's great 'cause with this new lens you can take pictures of them from far away and not disturb them, so the turn out is great. But then on one of your chill days, you decide that you're going to climb this really intense canyon to see the rapids and such down below. So you get to the top and you try to get a sweet picture of the canyon, the rapids and the river that you just paddled, but your zoom lens is too strong and you can only get half of the picture that you wanted. So the whole experince is ruined and you get back from your trip in a bad mood.
You end up flipping open you computer and madly typing in more information about how to get the picture that you wanted, when you remember this blog and you think, "Hey, I wonder if that girl has a post about this." There you are typing in the blog adress and you scroll down, hoping that whoever wrote this silly post was smart enough to know that there are people out there like you wondering how in the world to get that canyon picture.
Sure enough, there's a post that's right after the one you read a while ago, this post actually, that talks about the wide angle lens. You sigh with relief and settle down for some good reading. Turns out (again) that you haven't been wasting your time with a stupid zoom lens, you've actually been taking some pretty cool pictures that all your friends gap about on Facebook, but you need more than just that zoom lens for you stupidly long canoe trips. You need a wide angle lens that doesn't have large amounts of distance inbetween the first glass element and the object in focus. Yes, you're shooting from across a canyon, but you don't want zoom, you want a lens that can take in a vast area in one shot. This means that your lens with have a focal length from, for example, 18-50mm. Not very big, but that's what you'd need. Now go out and stop wasting your time. Take them canyon pictures!

Ladies and Gents, let's stick to the original
No story this time, it seems my creativity has reached its max. Our last lens is the one that either came with the camera or that the "experts" at the store suggested you get for your first lens. This lens I find is a good balance and a great way to start out. Yeah, you won't be able to take sick canyon shots, or close-ups of that lone caribou, but you will be able to take this lens for a night out and snap some pics of your friends, or even just the odd thing that you see wandering downtown. Yes, all lenses are somewhat heavy, but this lens is average and I find is bearable when lugging it around all day. The focal length on these lenses is going to be around 18-70mm, like I said before. If you have a lens that is around this length are you're starting out, go out for fun and mess around, see what works and what doesn't, then try to make it work.

That just about sums up the lens options. If you do happen to stumble upon this blog, please write and tell me what you think. I'm open to any critiques.
Enjoy,
Get snaping!