Pittsburgh Beginner Here

[Healing365]

Hey guys, I am so happy I found this forum. I purchased a Canon 80D with the following lenses:

100mm macro 2.8
50mm 1.8
18-135mm kit lens

I have a UV filter on the macro and the 50mm, no hoods on any of them. No polarizers (can I get away without them?)

I want to know based on my equipment what my best bet for themes should be. My wife says to do landscapes but I don't think the glass I have is suitable. A 300mm or more seems suitable but I don't have $1000-$2500+ for that kind of glass. So to get started making money I feel my best bet would be family photos, portraits, pets.. stuff that is close range and macro shots.. or am I missing something?

I understand the concept of aperature, shutter speed, and ISO, but when on the field it takes some adjustments in order to get the properly exposed shots.. I don't know on command exactly what settings to use.. i typically use spot metering for everything..

RAW / manual focus but many times automatic focus .. no jpeg

When I shoot video I usually have it on AV mode

I'm on vacation now..well I'm actually on my way home from South Carolina.. missed opportunities because I mainly shot flowers and birds on the beach and took more video than anything.. before leaving I only got time to edit one photo... so I'll make a new thread later with more images.

I have light room, photoshop, Sony vegas, adobe premier, after effects, and more...

I am a novice but prior to getting my gear last week I did extensive research for months about gear and editing.. hours upon hours of YouTube content and random articles..

I want to make money but most importantly make people happy with the content I produce including both video and photo.

 

[peaceangel83]

Nice shoot !!!


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[beagle100]

I would say forget the UV filter but agree with the wife on landscapes
if you like to shoot birds look for something longer, much longer - maybe 400mm prime or 150-600 or 100-400 zoom
but that 18-135 STM is good for Monroeville mall - you know, the zombies
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[benhasajeep]

If you want landscapes, you will want a CPL (circular polarizer). They are more than just for making the sky blue too. Useful for water scenes, glass, glossy objects (helps reduce reflections, obscure what's on other side, or help see through, depending on how you turn the cpl).

Even when doing portraits outdoors, handy to of course get those nice dark blue skies. The lenses you have are just fine. As you learn more you will know more to what you want in future lenses.

I suggest not getting cheap CPL's. Buy a good one and keep it for a long time!

 

[dennybeall]

In my opinion you can make some money with the equipment and lack of training you have since part of it depends on your business sense.
To make good, or even great money, you will need better equipment and a lot of education. A major dose of creativity and talent helps also.
IMO your photo of the young person is good, perhaps even very good. But, not great. You can sell "good" with careful planning and a good Business Plan.
Make some money with good and if you like it and make progress then go for great..........

p.s. - I'm only "good", I can "get the shot" but can't do great and absolutely can't make art.

 

[Healing365]

Thanks for the replies guys. That is my son Devin, that photo was probably number 35 or so in my shutter count... the same 24 hour period I purchased the camera..

Getting another lens is out of the question now but hopefully soon. I'll just do stuff to build a portfolio and hopefully get some paid gigs.

I guess I'll get a polarizer - sadly I'll only be able to get one - not sure for which lens - probably the kit lens for now since it has more versatility ?

As time goes on I know I'll get better. I'm gonna stick to Av and Tv mode and maybe manual just to learn proper control.

 

[Healing365]

And yeah it's funny I live close to Monroeville mall - not sure about the zombies? Unless you're referring to mindless drones?

 

[benhasajeep]

Your current lenses are 67mm, 62mm, and 58mm filter threads. Buy a 67mm polarizer. And then a 62mm to 67mm step up ring, and a 58mm to 67mm step up ring. Can use same polarizer on all 3 lenses. The adapter are about $15 for both of them on amazon! A very very good B&W 67mm cir pol is about $74 on Amazon. Majority of my filters are B&W. I have some of them for 20 years now.

 

[Healing365]

Here is a flower I shot. Feedback please oh and thanks I'll check out the polarizers and adapters

 

[Healing365]

Not letting me upload images for some reason so ill just link them

 

[Derrel]

Welcome to TPF. Enjoy the new Canon system. You have a solid start on equipment, plenty that can be photographed with the three lenses you own now. Education, practice, photographer development. Get some books from the library nd THEN, later, watch some YouTube video.

Making money with a camera can be tough...the "easy money" days are long gone.

 

[Healing365]

thank you so much, i checked out your work, very creative ideas man,

here are some more pics i recently finished.

 

[Derrel]

Your photos look pretty good when clicken on and seen at full size, but they are a bit large in area for optimal viewing on a web browser; one issue with so many digitial images today is that with 12 to 36 MP cameras, the out-of-camera images are sooooooo biiiig that the computer miust down-rezz them, and sometimes the algorithm used to do that causes on-screen images to look a slight bit jaggedy, to use a popular word. Many of us will down-rezz or down-sample the images we're going to post to the web to something like 1,200 pixels on the longer axis, which tends to make a good-looking web reduction .JPEG.

As far as books to help learn photographic technique, I have learned a lot from the many John Hedgecoe books. He wrote and illustrated 31 photography books.Many are available used for $2-$5 on Amazon.com or from major book resellers, like Powell's City of Books, etc.. Books have the advantage of allowing you ONE, single place to see the tips and methods, permanently, in a fixed order! Very different from YouTube or the web.

One bit of advice is to try to look for pictures that might be made better as "talls". Of the 18 sample shots you've posted, all 18 are horizontally framed shots. Horizontally-framed images tend towar reflecting tanquility, harmony, restfullness, and so on, while "talls" or vertically-framed pictures often suggest action, dynamism, movement, action.

 

[Healing365]

I see, i didn't really think about that. I figure if I were to use lower quality it would degrade image quality. I'll try to just down res and see what happens. I'll check out John Hedgecoe thank you. Technically the very first image is vertical but yeah I get it, It's because most of my images are with my 100mm, but i'll try for some more horizontal shots thanks. here are a few more lol..

 

[Low_Sky]

Healing365, if you are looking for critique of your work, choose your best images and post a few of them in the galleries. The group here is very helpful and will give you good criticism if you ask for it.


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