Recommendations for Beginner looking to start more work soon.

[tirediron]

No. Again, you are making assumptions about what I know. CAD/CAM is a whole different world. Something you must not know much about, to make this assumption. I also utilize forums to learn CAD/CAMing, and have from the start.

My assumptions are based on evidence presented by you: That is, that you run a successful jewlery fabrication business, and therefore must be skilled not only in the craft of fabrication, but in running a business as well, therefore, you would know what sort of risk/reward scenario you were entering in to when buying this equipment. Further, you had your basic skills to support you while you learned the new specialties. This is much different than someone who doesn't have a basic understanding or skills to fall back on. (And, FWIW, as a hobby-machinist, I am reasonably familiar with CAD & CAM, though by no means even remotely competent with CAM).

But it seems you all support the notion that it's ok to not answer the OP's question of what studio lights she should get. I am so glad the jewelery community isn't like this one.

One of the things that I have learned here is that many people don't know which are the correct questions to ask, so if someone asks a question about buying equipment for a business, but doesn't have the foundation in place, IMO, you're doing that person a greater service by pointing out to them that they may have missed a few steps.

 

[tirediron]

Getting back to the OPs question... WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

 

[pixmedic]

Hi Katy, and welcome to TPF! I'm sorry this thread had to go off the rails before you got anything like a helpful reply.

I am posting this because I wanted to assure those who addressed the OP with such alarm and concern over her situation: please note according to the description for this forum, she posted in the correct place, and though she may have omitted some situational details, she was well within her rights to ask them:

Forum: General Shop Talk

Looking to make your hobby into a business? Already in business? This is the place for you. Discuss marketing, pricing, legal issues and other ideas relating to the business of photography.

I am going to hijack your thread for one final comment, Katy, and make a general plea to some of those who were more interested in what you couldn't/shouldn't do rather than simply answer your question: CUT IT OUT. This forum is for all skill levels, from complete novice to seasoned pros to somewhere in between. Show respect to all regardless of where you place yourself. If you are genuinely concerned about what you are reading, how about a PM to the member? Otherwise it's a ridiculous free-for-all of comments that we've read many many many times, and it does nothing to help a new member.

/Close hijack.

Thanks for sticking it out, Katy! Good luck with your endeavor. Hope you stick with us; we're really not so bad.

well, technically we were following guidelines as per the forum description.
we discussed marketing, pricing, legal issues AND other ideas relating to the business of photography.
maybe it wasn't EXACTLY what the OP was asking...but still within forum guidelines.
and we got to her question...eventually.
and she took it like a champ! no harm, no foul.
katy survived, and will be a stronger forum member for it.
your very welcome katy!

 

[katyasag]

ah yes. so more better pictures just on their own, less photoshop...
Yes, there are some I probably need to take down... but surely I have some good shots on there??

You may have some good shots, I don't know. The way wix displays your images is all in the same crop format, so there's a lot of chopped body parts and odd compositions.

It does look like you need to whittle some of them out though.

As far as PS is concerned. Less is often more. I gently massage each photo I process but tend to not get into the crazy contrasty actions and whatnot. They detract from the image IMO.

Hmmm. Okay. Thanks for the feedback, it all helps.
Yeah, I want to do some work with the wix page and try another format for it all. So I will see what I can do in the days to come.
I will work on taking out some crappy images and just focus on trying to produce some nice images without the use of PS.

Love your site btw...Quite lovely.

 

[katyasag]

well, as of today....about 1,000 was hoping to have more but some other issues came up which require financial attention.
I know in photography land 1,000 isn't much. So I am looking for good deals, but don't want to jeopardize quality of the equipment.

 

[katyasag]

Getting back to the OPs question... WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

well, as of today....about 1,000 was hoping to have more but some other issues came up which require financial attention.
I know in photography land 1,000 isn't much. So I am looking for good deals, but don't want to jeopardize quality of the equipment.

 

[pixmedic]

Getting back to the OPs question... WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

well, as of today....about 1,000 was hoping to have more but some other issues came up which require financial attention.
I know in photography land 1,000 isn't much. So I am looking for good deals, but don't want to jeopardize quality of the equipment.

I dont know what glass you already own, but for under 1k you can get a tamron or sigma 17-50 f/2.8 AND 24-75 f/2.8
both are great additions. for weddings and portraits, i would get 17-50 and 85 1.8 (still within budget) might even have enough for a 50mm 1.8
your D50 has a built in focus motor so you can get older AF and AF-D lenses on a budget.

lighting wise, used sb600's or sb700s with lightstands and softboxes.

 

[katyasag]

Hi Katy, and welcome to TPF! I'm sorry this thread had to go off the rails before you got anything like a helpful reply.

I am posting this because I wanted to assure those who addressed the OP with such alarm and concern over her situation: please note according to the description for this forum, she posted in the correct place, and though she may have omitted some situational details, she was well within her rights to ask them:

Forum: General Shop Talk

Looking to make your hobby into a business? Already in business? This is the place for you. Discuss marketing, pricing, legal issues and other ideas relating to the business of photography.

I am going to hijack your thread for one final comment, Katy, and make a general plea to some of those who were more interested in what you couldn't/shouldn't do rather than simply answer your question: CUT IT OUT. This forum is for all skill levels, from complete novice to seasoned pros to somewhere in between. Show respect to all regardless of where you place yourself. If you are genuinely concerned about what you are reading, how about a PM to the member? Otherwise it's a ridiculous free-for-all of comments that we've read many many many times, and it does nothing to help a new member.

/Close hijack.

Thanks for sticking it out, Katy! Good luck with your endeavor. Hope you stick with us; we're really not so bad.

Thanks for the support.

No worries... I like to think of myself as pretty tough and able to take criticism.

 

[tirediron]

For $1000, I would look toward Adorama's 'Flashpoint' series. While they're really geared toward the 'home studio' consumer, they're by all accounts the best bang for the buck in lighting. For $1000, you should be able to walk away with four lights (something in the 250 w/s range, depending on application), a decent selection of modifiers (I would look for two combination umbrellas, one large and one small soft box, a couple of strip boxes of different sizes, snoot and grids, as well as a trigger system and background stand & muslins.

 

[katyasag]

ooooh. lots of good recommendations. thanks guys.
I will research further when I get home this evening...

 

[rlemert]

As I said above, I do charge for things I am learning. I was a complete beginner at CAD/CAM, and charged for what I could produce with the skill. As I learn more, I get better, and can do more, and faster. I am still very limited in what I can do with it, and seek the help of other jewelers who are masters of the skill. They don't look down their noses at me because I am jumping into a marketable skill as a beginner, and charging as I go.

Are you charging people to do CAD/CAM work for them? Or are you charging them for doing jewelry-related work that happens to involve the use of CAD/CAM tools? That's the critical distinction!

If you're charging for jewelry-related work that just happens to involve CAD/CAM tools, then you are effectively NOT charging them while you learn. You are charging them for your jewelry expertise - which you just happen to be enhancing with another tool.

 

[KmH]

Katy, back on page 1 I linked you to a competitively priced, entry-level, Flashpoint brand lighting kit, gear, that would work booth indoors and out, plus some other online and printed resources.

At that stage in the thread you had not yet stated a budget.

By the way Flashpoint is Adorama's house brand.

 

[terri]

Hi Katy, and welcome to TPF! I'm sorry this thread had to go off the rails before you got anything like a helpful reply.

I am posting this because I wanted to assure those who addressed the OP with such alarm and concern over her situation: please note according to the description for this forum, she posted in the correct place, and though she may have omitted some situational details, she was well within her rights to ask them:

Forum: General Shop Talk

Looking to make your hobby into a business? Already in business? This is the place for you. Discuss marketing, pricing, legal issues and other ideas relating to the business of photography.

I am going to hijack your thread for one final comment, Katy, and make a general plea to some of those who were more interested in what you couldn't/shouldn't do rather than simply answer your question: CUT IT OUT. This forum is for all skill levels, from complete novice to seasoned pros to somewhere in between. Show respect to all regardless of where you place yourself. If you are genuinely concerned about what you are reading, how about a PM to the member? Otherwise it's a ridiculous free-for-all of comments that we've read many many many times, and it does nothing to help a new member.

/Close hijack.

Thanks for sticking it out, Katy! Good luck with your endeavor. Hope you stick with us; we're really not so bad.

well, technically we were following guidelines as per the forum description.
we discussed marketing, pricing, legal issues AND other ideas relating to the business of photography.
maybe it wasn't EXACTLY what the OP was asking...but still within forum guidelines.
and we got to her question...eventually.
and she took it like a champ! no harm, no foul.
katy survived, and will be a stronger forum member for it.
your very welcome katy!

mmm, eventually everyone got around to it, yes. You weren't among those this was addressed to, so don't sweat it.

Glad to see this thread back on track.