Need advise on children and family photography

[abee]

Hi all,

I am wanting to specialize in photographing children and family portraits and cake smashes. I've taken courses. I've practiced. Now I'm ready to take it to the next level. I'm willing to invest in some equipment. I have good lighting and backdrops, but I have a Nikon D3200 with a 50mm 1.8 which are ok but if I'm going to start charging money I want to make sure I've got the tools. I need to be able to shoot indoors and outdoors and something that can take on wriggly children. My questions are:

- do I stick with my D3200 and get a Tamron 24-70mm? Or even get the Nikon 24-70mm?
- do I get a different lens completely? Willing to listen to other suggestions.
- do I upgrade my camera to full frame? If so, suggestions?

Amazon has some nice packages of cameras and lenses that I've seen.

Thanks for the advise!

 

[JonA_CT]

I think it all depends on your budget -- obviously, a full-frame camera and a fast lens will be more capable than what you have, but there is a big difference in throwing down $500 on a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 (the DX fast zoom of choice around here it seems) or spending $3500 on a a D750 and the Nikon 24-70mm F2.8.

If it were me, I'd probably start with the Sigma zoom and see how that changes the way I take photos, but I also have no aspirations of being a pro.

 

[astroNikon]

Taken Courses and practiced ?
I'll flop to the other end of the spectrum from Jon.

If you are going to go Pro, and you have the money and you want all your bases covered for all various venues, I'd go with an FX camera. I had a DX and went to FX and I loved it's ability of taking photos indoors vs the DX (D7000 vs D600).

I would also skip Amazon. Many of the packages through in junk stuff that is useless.
Of course, it will all depend upon your budget, and then your skill level. FX cameras are routinely used by many Pro's in low light events such as at weddings, etc. I'm not a Pro but I'm sure some will chime in.

 

[Designer]

Never mind.

 

[astroNikon]

I doubt very much if you need any different lenses, but I didn't read where you have a flash and can fire it off camera with a proper modifier and/reflectors.

I mean; if you're contemplating a backdrop (which I wouldn't bother with) then surely you would consider using flash.

OP stated " I have good lighting and backdrops" FWIW

I was going to mention it again, until I read that ...

 

[ruifo]

I'd aim to: D610 DSLR + Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 VC + Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1

 

[tirediron]

Do you have a business license? Tax number/ID, insurance, proper agreements/releases/contracts? While not sexy, those are the nitty-gritty tools that will serve you far better over the course of your career than any camera or lens.

What do you mean by "good" lighting and backdrops?

 

[waday]

Do you have a business license? Tax number/ID, insurance, proper agreements/releases/contracts? While not sexy, those are the nitty-gritty tools that will serve you far better over the course of your career than any camera or lens.

I can imagine it now... kids running around at a party accidentally knock your camera out of your hands. No insurance? Darn, you have to buy a new camera.

Or... kids running around at a party, trip on your equipment, fall, break their arm or worse. No insurance? Now, the parents are suing you for thousands upon thousands of dollars, and the government is breathing down your neck because you didn't have the proper license. Yikes!

 

[tirediron]

...Or... kids running around at a party, trip on your equipment, fall, break their arm or worse. No insurance? Now, the parents are suing you for thousands upon thousands of dollars, and the government is breathing down your neck because you didn't have the proper license. Yikes!

Nah.. that would never happen!

 

[vintagesnaps]

If you're at a point of considering doing professional work you should know what you need. If you don't, that's one thing that could be telling you it's going to take time to become a pro and you might not quite be there yet. Taking classes is great, but that may not be enough to move into professional work.

Besides budgeting for equipment, you probably need to think about a business plan. John brought up some great information, you could try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for resources for pros on contracts, licensing, etc. Get on ASMP's site and you'll see there's a lot to learn and to consider so you're prepared and can be successful.

 

[Derrel]

Hi all,

I am wanting to specialize in photographing children and family portraits and cake smashes. I've taken courses. I've practiced. Now I'm ready to take it to the next level. I'm willing to invest in some equipment. I have good lighting and backdrops, but I have a Nikon D3200 with a 50mm 1.8 which are ok but if I'm going to start charging money I want to make sure I've got the tools. I need to be able to shoot indoors and outdoors and something that can take on wriggly children. My questions are:
- do I stick with my D3200 and get a Tamron 24-70mm? Or even get the Nikon 24-70mm?
- do I get a different lens completely? Willing to listen to other suggestions.
- do I upgrade my camera to full frame? If so, suggestions?!

A 24-70mm zoom on an APS-C body is NOT a very good lens choice for indoor work--the bottom end (24mm) will be a semi-wide 36mm field of view equivalent , and the top end will be a useful 105mm field of view equivalent. I would buy a 17-50mm f/2.8 for much less money if you decide to stick with the D3200, or any other APS-C Nikon body.

The D3200 has a small, rather poor viewfinder. I am not at all a fan of the deep DOF look that APS-C provides, but the camera you have can and could "do the job", especially if your good lighting is an electronic flash unit and one or two umbrellas. I think one medium-sized, white reflecting umbrella and about 150 Watt-seconds of electronic flash would be plenty to get started lighting these types of small-set baby and child photos.

Full frame camera? If you want to, sure, why not. NIkon D600 is affordable, Nikon D610 costs a bit more but is almost the same camera as the D600. I would NOT rule out a Nikon D3s used body either. You could use any number of cameras.

 

[abee]

Do you have a business license? Tax number/ID, insurance, proper agreements/releases/contracts? While not sexy, those are the nitty-gritty tools that will serve you far better over the course of your career than any camera or lens.

What do you mean by "good" lighting and backdrops?

Both my husband and I are insurance brokers so we will have all those bases covered. And by good lighting I mean I have a great open concept house with large bay windows that allow lots of light in, plus I have a speed light, a reflector, and 2 softboxes

 

[abee]

Do you have a business license? Tax number/ID, insurance, proper agreements/releases/contracts? While not sexy, those are the nitty-gritty tools that will serve you far better over the course of your career than any camera or lens.

What do you mean by "good" lighting and backdrops?

Both my husband and I are insurance brokers so we will have all those bases covered. And by good lighting I mean I have a great open concept house with large bay windows that allow lots of light in, plus I have a speed light, a reflector, and 2 softboxes

 

[abee]

If you're at a point of considering doing professional work you should know what you need. If you don't, that's one thing that could be telling you it's going to take time to become a pro and you might not quite be there yet. Taking classes is great, but that may not be enough to move into professional work.

Besides budgeting for equipment, you probably need to think about a business plan. John brought up some great information, you could try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for resources for pros on contracts, licensing, etc. Get on ASMP's site and you'll see there's a lot to learn and to consider so you're prepared and can be successful.

I know I'm not there yet, thank you, I'm asking on advise to give me the right tools to get there.

 

[Derrel]

This is a pretty crowded genre, with many,many low-priced practitioners and it is a very well-understood genre, with a huge number of people offering very much close to identical work--thanks to Flickr, 500px, Facebook, Pinterest, and so on, and so the customers have a very good idea of what they want their baby pics to look like, and they have the ability to on-line shop and compare. My suggestion: do NOT put prices on your web site, which will eliminate people shopping your site just based on price: get them to call you on the telephone, where you'd better be able to hook them, and book them.

Over the last couple of years, I've perused maybe sixty such people' sites. and most have prices on them, very detailed prices. The problem is, the majority of the site owners/photographers have work that does not line up with the prices they have, it seems, copied from local competitors. SO--why would anybody book anything when the work is not as good as the work of a better, but identically-preiced competitor?

Unless your work is simply **outstanding**, you will be beaten out for booking by people who have a better site, or better portfolio, or better sales materials. Ergo...SKIP the prices, and get people to CALL YOU, so you can hook 'em and book 'em.