Your pictures are way better than I thought it could be possible to get with just a phone.

I have been trying to go pro on and off since the mid eighties. At the time, there was only film, and it was hard for a low income person to be able to afford to buy and process enough film to get good at it. My first SLR, was a Pentax K1000, and it did not even have auto focus on it, and it was very hard to manually focus.

I went about ten years with no camera at all. Then digital came along, and was much more affordable with an entry level camera. It kind of leveled the playing field a bit, and I was able to get plenty of practice. I even took an online photography course. I have gotten to the point that I don't suck at it...but I am still not at a marketable level.

So, I needed to find out what I need to do, to take my photography to the next level--or even higher. I decided that the best thing for me to do, is to ask the pros. I don't personally know any pros, so what I did was go to YouTube. I watched a lot of seminar videos on techniques, and videos on equipment reviews, and every other kind of photography videos I could find. And, I did learn quite a bit about what I need to do.

Here are some of the things i learned--which could also help you. Pros always shoot raw, or raw plus jpeg. Pros always do post processing on their raw photos...and I had not been doing that, because I didn't have the software. Most pros use Lightroom for their post processing. Some pros will tell you that equipment does not matter at all, and it is only the skill of the photographer which matters. Other pros will say that the camera does matter, but the lenses you use, and your skill level are even more important. One pro, even said in one of his videos "Don't buy crap". Most of the pros I listened to, said that image quality is much better with a full frame camera, than with a crop sensor camera--even if the full frame camera has fewer Megapixels.

But, they also said that certain genres of photographer work better with a high quality crop frame camera. Like Macro Photography, and wildlife photography. That is because you get more reach from telephoto and macro lenses on a crop frame camera, than you do on a full frame. For example, a 600 mm lens on a crop frame sensor acts like a 900 mm telephoto lens. A 900 mm lens for a full frame camera would be huge, heavy, and incredibly expensive.

The pros I listened to, also talked about developing your own style, which makes you stand out from the crowd. I also learned which genres of photography I now want to make my primary focus. I am waiting for a small amount of cash, which will be enough to get me started in what I want to do.

When you are ready to move up from your phone, to a DSLR, I would advise that you get the best camera you can afford, even if you have to get a used one...and to also get the best lenses you can afford, which are also cheaper used. Most pros seem to use either Nikon or Canon--but a few use other brands like Sony or Pentax. If you get a crop sensor, especially if it is Nikon, and you make sure that you get one with an auto focus motor in the camera itself--like a good used D7200--then, you will be able to save a lot of money on your lenses--because if the camera does have the auto focus motor in the body, you can use AF lenses, and still get auto focus. But, a camera with no auto-focus motor, has to use the more expensive AF-S lenses in order to auto-focus.