equipment advice?

[jkopp]

hello all ..

not really a photographer ... but needing some professional shots. here's the scoop:

we're a professional marketing/media firm that has blown up in the past year. more and more we're in need of professional shots and i want to start doing them myself.

next project:

build a website for a restaurant chain...Olive Garden competitor...need photos of the food on plates like you see in the menus, websites and commercials.

we also take pictures of the businesses and people to put in their websites, menus and marketing materials.

this camera wont be used all the time. only when these types of projects come up and i may use it at home now that i have a baby due this month.


i'm looking at a nikon d40 with the 18-55mm lens and a canon eos digital rebel xt with the 18-55mm

suggestions on what i should be considering for a camera? is 6MP plenty for what i need?

i'm looking to spend $500 ...give or take a couple.

Thanks for the input everyone!!

 

[That One Guy]

hello all ..

not really a photographer ... but needing some professional shots. here's the scoop:

we're a professional marketing/media firm that has blown up in the past year. more and more we're in need of professional shots and i want to start doing them myself.

next project:

build a website for a restaurant chain...Olive Garden competitor...need photos of the food on plates like you see in the menus, websites and commercials.

we also take pictures of the businesses and people to put in their websites, menus and marketing materials.

this camera wont be used all the time. only when these types of projects come up and i may use it at home now that i have a baby due this month.


i'm looking at a nikon d40 with the 18-55mm lens.

suggestions on what i should be considering for a camera? is 6MP plenty for what i need?

i'm looking to spend $500 ...give or take a couple.

Thanks for the input everyone!!

camera should be fine, but what are you going to do for lighting?

 

[jkopp]

i was thinking about getting one of those white boxes with lights on the outside of it? "Photo studio cube"

 

[lifeafter2am]

 

[DSLR noob]

I'd pay a professional photographer if you're offering the photography as a service through your company. Get a dedicated photographer with a portfolio on staff, you won't be able to supply the type of pictures you'll probably be charging for. Just having a good camera won't mean that the shots will come out like the beautiful shots on the menus of popular food chains.

 

[That One Guy]

i was thinking about getting one of those white boxes with lights on the outside of it? "Photo studio cube"

yeah but what about lighting for your portraits of people?

 

[jkopp]

yes one of those but bigger...are two lights suffecient?

 

[jkopp]

we arent charging extra for the photography ... we sell a product(website) and need pictures to complete the site. we're not paying a photographer anymore.

 

[That One Guy]

2 lights should be enough if they have enough wattage.

 

[jkopp]

is the canon g9 just as good for what i need to do or should i stick with a slr?

 

[JIP]

professional Food photography is a very specialised medium using food stylists in addition to the photographers to really make the images right. There are also very specific rules and laws regarding how much you can fake to make an image look right. If you want to try go ahead but do not expect to get anything close to the pictures you migh see at some of the places you mentioned.