Portraits?

[laam999]

Hey, I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to make some nice profesional looking portrait photos.

I have a 350d with the kit lense (I'm a poor student so my lense list will very slowly get better).

Looking online it seems much harder to find information on what kit to use than I expected, I would like to take both "studio" style photos (mostly with a cheap setup I can get for my home) and outdoor shots.

I'm bassically asking what I would need in terms of lighting and flash's and possible a good "portait lens" (was thinking either the 50mm or 28mm f1.8 primes).

The background seems the be the easiest studio equiptment to get, but other than that I wonder what type of lights, flashes ect I would need. Also is it worth buying a flash unit for my cam? I belive I would get better results with a flash unit rather than the built in.

I know I won't be able to be able to afford most of the gear anytime soon but I would just like to take some impressive looking photos of my family to show them how great the camera they got me was (it was a HUGE supprise for my 21st).

thanks all

-laam-

 

[JerryPH]

www.strobist.com is an incredible and free source of info. Start with lighting 101 and 102.