If you’re getting into photography, you might have already noticed some of the limitations that you must work around to use your digital camera on a daily basis. Most “consumer” and “prosumer” cameras lack manual adjustments, and their small sensors might prevent you from taking quality pictures in anything but ideal conditions. Modern digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are able to overcome those disadvantages, as well as many others. For the enthusiast, there has never been a better time to buy one.

There are more options, and they aren’t quite as expensive anymore.

Not long ago, a good digital SLR would have necessitated an expense of a few thousand dollars. Today, with an increased demand for single-lens reflex cameras, it’s much easier to get your hands on an outstanding machine. Online vendors now offer the Canon Digital Rebel XTi ($653, body only), Nikon D70s ($777, includes 18-70mm kit lens), and Sony DSLR-A100 ($800, includes 18-70mm kit lens) for well under $1,000. Make sure you pick up a high capacity CompactFlash card, such as the Sandisk 4 GB Extreme III, and a spare battery. You’ll find that both are essential accessories on an extended shoot.

Sensor size matters.

What good is a 10 megapixel compact digital camera if it produces grainy, unusable images? Sensor sizes, described further in photographer Sean McHugh’s excellent writeup, can directly affect the outcome of your photography. Cameras with larger sensors — including, of course, most digital SLRs — typically produce less noise, even at relatively high ISO speeds.

Wear different lenses for different occasions.

You wouldn’t wear a bathing suit to a fine restaurant, so why restrict yourself to the monotony of a single all-around lens? With a digital SLR, your lenses are each part of an interchangeable system, which allows you to select the lens that is best suited for your particular application. And, when you finally decide to upgrade your SLR camera body, you’ll be capable of transferring your lenses.

Shoot in RAW and adjust your picture later.

Most compact and enthusiast digital cameras can shoot in JPEG, but few are capable of shooting in RAW format. In fact, Canon recently deleted that very feature from a number of their compacts. While JPEG is suitable for high resolution imagery, RAW format captures more information and offers photographers the ability to go back at a later time to adjust properties such as contrast, exposure, and white balance, all without sacrificing image quality.

The cemetery is all that’s left of this rural 19th century town located in the vast Texas Hill Country.

It’s an almost disconcertingly quiet place, and it showcases the rare kind of serenity that is only vaguely disrupted by a passing car on the highway or the anxiously shrill call of a bird. The sign depicted in my photograph marks the cemetery, proudly informing passersby that it has been around since 1881.

It’s no secret that I love to travel, especially by car. It’s only appropriate that I share some of my favorite roads, and I’m going to start with one of the most beautiful coastal highways in the United States.

California State Route 1, formed in 1934, is perhaps one of the ultimate scenic highways. While this incomparably photogenic road stretches nearly 550 miles from Leggett to San Juan Capistrano, there is one particular area that you shouldn’t miss. It is an area known as the Big Sur Coast Highway, and it offers stunning panoramic views of lush, rugged terrain running adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. If you own a cabriolet or a roadster, this is the place to be.

The journey begins just south of Monterey, near Carmel Highlands. Folklore has it that the area was originally settled by Scottish sailors, who would have certainly noticed the uncanny resemblance which the terrain bears to coastal Scotland. Today, real estate in Carmel Highlands is among the most expensive in the United States, and it won’t take you long to figure out why.

If your car takes diesel, you’ll want to refuel in Monterey before starting your trip, as you won’t find much in the 95 miles between Carmel Highlands and Cambria. And, unless you have a satellite phone, you will also want to make all of your calls beforehand. Decent reception is nearly impossible to find on the Big Sur Coast Highway.

Although you wouldn’t want to take any calls while staring at such beautiful scenery, anyway, you will want to keep your eyes on the road. This stretch of Route 1 is a serpentine drive, occasionally without any barriers that would normally prevent you from finding yourself exploring the Pacific Ocean in a leaky submarine. That said, plenty of areas exist where you can pull off of the road for a better look, and I would recommend doing so frequently.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending a day or two exploring this area, as it’s likely that few other places in the United States — perhaps even around the world — are quite like it. This memorable and surreal journey ends as Route 1 heads inland near San Luis Obispo, where signs of civilization serve as a stark contrast to the pristine, relatively untouched beauty of Big Sur Coast Highway.