I am a beginner and I need HELP!!

[manicmike]

3. You MUST get yourself AT LEAST a 200mm lens... When you get your camera, you should be able to get one in a "kit" for a fraction of the price you would have to pay later. If you don't get it now... you'll be kicking yourself later.

​

Why MUST he get at least a 200mm lens? That's a little on the long side for indoor portraits.

 

[Fusion]

He would undoubtably be better with a standard zoom 24-105 give him some better choices.

 

[Boomn4x4]

3. You MUST get yourself AT LEAST a 200mm lens... When you get your camera, you should be able to get one in a "kit" for a fraction of the price you would have to pay later. If you don't get it now... you'll be kicking yourself later.​

Why MUST he get at least a 200mm lens? That's a little on the long side for indoor portraits.

Because that 5 month old won't be 5 months old and stuck indoors forever.

 

[Fusion]

3. You MUST get yourself AT LEAST a 200mm lens... When you get your camera, you should be able to get one in a "kit" for a fraction of the price you would have to pay later. If you don't get it now... you'll be kicking yourself later.​

Why MUST he get at least a 200mm lens? That's a little on the long side for indoor portraits.

Because that 5 month old won't be 5 months old and stuck indoors forever.

Thats taking planning ahead a little far, anyways most of the kits come with a WA zoom and a tele. :thumbup:

 

[NateWagner]

well, you are sort of right. He won't be 5 months old forever, but if the OP (who I'm not even sure is still hanging around) gets into photography he will probably not be satisfied with the 55-200 lens by the time the child gets to be outdoors. It is slow both in focusing and in aperture.

I would suggest something like an into level SLR, or perhaps even a used SLR such as an XTi/XSi/T1i (or D40/3000D/5000D) so on and a third party 2.8 in the range of 16-50 (tokina) 17-50 (tamron) 18-50 (sigma). Of course that is depending on what you want to spend. If you want to spend more, then perhaps get a 17-55 2.8 IS (if you get canon).

The other thing you would want would probably be a flash, which you could go third party (such as a sigma 550 DG Super. Metz48-AF) or a 430EX/sb-600.

This is a reasonable starting point.

 

[Hardrock]

If I were you and had 3 to 4k I would get the Canon 5Dmkii with 85mm 1.8 , 580 exii flash ,and maybe the 50mm1.4 just to have another lens and that should total right at 4 grand. You could swap the 50mm and 580 for the 24-70 f2.8 to have a little more versatility in lens.

Or the Canon 50d with 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 which would also be right at 4 grand. You could easily take some great shots using natural lighting and then eventaully get a studio kit.


I think both options would be great, I personally would not focus on studio lighting yet. I would buy the camera and lens first and learn how to use them and then venture into flash. You can still have some outstanding shots using natural light outside or inside opening all the windows. Here is one I took of my daughter inside our living room using natural light using a 50d and 50mm 1.4 . http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/191657-my-little-valentine.html

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Roy, I owe you an apology.

After doing some thinking, I realize I am completely wrong. With my following advice you can quickly go from shooting your family, to making money in very little time.

With your budget, you can easily get yourself some excellent equipment. Learning the technical aspects of exposure and lighting are really fairly easy. It will take a little time till you can pull off consistent results, but once you do, you are ready to roll.

1. $elective color sells. The general public sees selective coloring as some sort of magic. They love it. You don't even need to know when it works best, or when it actually detracts from the subject. The general public won't think twice, they will love it. Trust me.

2. Green Screen. Get yourself a green screen. You will save a ton of money on back drops, because there are DVD's available with thousands of ready to use backgrounds. Simply select out the background and replace with a background from the DVD.

3. Collect poses. Look on the internet at well known, and pro photographers. Print out poses you like and put them in a book. Organize them in categories such as maternity, baby, engagement, senior portrait, etc. This greatly reduces your learning curve, and you can easily produce images such as those by Anne Geddes. Your clients will be amazed at your talent. Never stop looking at others work. This way you can keep on top of current trends, and appear to be on the forefront, rather than just following the pack.

4. Props. Get yourself the standard props for various shoots. You know, things like baby blocks to spell out babies name for a maternity shoot. That is tried and true, a guaranteed seller.

5. Pricing. Don't price yourself too low. Word of mouth about your work will spread like wildfire. If you price yourself too low, you will have a hard time raising your prices, because the word of mouth customer already knows you are cheap. On the other hand, don't price yourself too high. You want to bank on undercutting the pro.

In your original post, I don't get the feeling you want to turn this into a business, but, I guarantee that if you follow the above advice, you will have people knocking at your door in no time.

Again, I am sorry for my rudeness. You can do this. Just get comfortable with the technical side, learn to nail your lighting, and the rest is a cakewalk.

 

[bentcountershaft]

i have to ask, fatty, do you think bitter does NOT help those in need? i dont get whats funny there. where's the joke?

Show me where he helps someone, WITHOUT being a d-bag about it?

Show me where his first post is purely helpful to any noobie.

He does help...in a way. He helps by way of showing new people that there will always be someone that doesn't like what you do.

I'm not discounting his skills as a photographer, just the "helpfulness" or even "usefulness" of his posts, in general. It's rare that he's not included a snide remark, even in a "helpful" post.

He helped me right off the bat. Second to reply to my first C&C thread, with no real negativity, just suggestions. Read for yourself.

 

[flashgordio]

Roy, I owe you an apology.

After doing some thinking, I realize I am completely wrong. With my following advice you can quickly go from shooting your family, to making money in very little time.

With your budget, you can easily get yourself some excellent equipment. Learning the technical aspects of exposure and lighting are really fairly easy. It will take a little time till you can pull off consistent results, but once you do, you are ready to roll.

1. $elective color sells. The general public sees selective coloring as some sort of magic. They love it. You don't even need to know when it works best, or when it actually detracts from the subject. The general public won't think twice, they will love it. Trust me.

2. Green Screen. Get yourself a green screen. You will save a ton of money on back drops, because there are DVD's available with thousands of ready to use backgrounds. Simply select out the background and replace with a background from the DVD.

3. Collect poses. Look on the internet at well known, and pro photographers. Print out poses you like and put them in a book. Organize them in categories such as maternity, baby, engagement, senior portrait, etc. This greatly reduces your learning curve, and you can easily produce images such as those by Anne Geddes. Your clients will be amazed at your talent. Never stop looking at others work. This way you can keep on top of current trends, and appear to be on the forefront, rather than just following the pack.

4. Props. Get yourself the standard props for various shoots. You know, things like baby blocks to spell out babies name for a maternity shoot. That is tried and true, a guaranteed seller.

5. Pricing. Don't price yourself too low. Word of mouth about your work will spread like wildfire. If you price yourself too low, you will have a hard time raising your prices, because the word of mouth customer already knows you are cheap. On the other hand, don't price yourself too high. You want to bank on undercutting the pro.

In your original post, I don't get the feeling you want to turn this into a business, but, I guarantee that if you follow the above advice, you will have people knocking at your door in no time.

Again, I am sorry for my rudeness. You can do this. Just get comfortable with the technical side, learn to nail your lighting, and the rest is a cakewalk.

nice one..........

 

[Gaerek]

Roy, I owe you an apology.

After doing some thinking, I realize I am completely wrong. With my following advice you can quickly go from shooting your family, to making money in very little time.

With your budget, you can easily get yourself some excellent equipment. Learning the technical aspects of exposure and lighting are really fairly easy. It will take a little time till you can pull off consistent results, but once you do, you are ready to roll.

1. $elective color sells. The general public sees selective coloring as some sort of magic. They love it. You don't even need to know when it works best, or when it actually detracts from the subject. The general public won't think twice, they will love it. Trust me.

2. Green Screen. Get yourself a green screen. You will save a ton of money on back drops, because there are DVD's available with thousands of ready to use backgrounds. Simply select out the background and replace with a background from the DVD.

3. Collect poses. Look on the internet at well known, and pro photographers. Print out poses you like and put them in a book. Organize them in categories such as maternity, baby, engagement, senior portrait, etc. This greatly reduces your learning curve, and you can easily produce images such as those by Anne Geddes. Your clients will be amazed at your talent. Never stop looking at others work. This way you can keep on top of current trends, and appear to be on the forefront, rather than just following the pack.

4. Props. Get yourself the standard props for various shoots. You know, things like baby blocks to spell out babies name for a maternity shoot. That is tried and true, a guaranteed seller.

5. Pricing. Don't price yourself too low. Word of mouth about your work will spread like wildfire. If you price yourself too low, you will have a hard time raising your prices, because the word of mouth customer already knows you are cheap. On the other hand, don't price yourself too high. You want to bank on undercutting the pro.

In your original post, I don't get the feeling you want to turn this into a business, but, I guarantee that if you follow the above advice, you will have people knocking at your door in no time.

Again, I am sorry for my rudeness. You can do this. Just get comfortable with the technical side, learn to nail your lighting, and the rest is a cakewalk.

Just when I thought I couldn't like Bitter anymore...

I lol'd

:lmao:

 

[FattyMcJ]

He helped me right off the bat. Second to reply to my first C&C thread, with no real negativity, just suggestions. Read for yourself.

I stand corrected. As you can see, I joined WELL after the date of that post (11/2009) so it went unseen. Excellent C&C he gave you.

My question now becomes, why can't he do that for all of his C&C posts? He was polite, informative, suggestive, and no snide remarks. I'm impressed by that post!

 

[FattyMcJ]

Roy, I owe you an apology.

After doing some thinking, I realize I am completely wrong. With my following advice you can quickly go from shooting your family, to making money in very little time.

With your budget, you can easily get yourself some excellent equipment. Learning the technical aspects of exposure and lighting are really fairly easy. It will take a little time till you can pull off consistent results, but once you do, you are ready to roll.

1. $elective color sells. The general public sees selective coloring as some sort of magic. They love it. You don't even need to know when it works best, or when it actually detracts from the subject. The general public won't think twice, they will love it. Trust me.

2. Green Screen. Get yourself a green screen. You will save a ton of money on back drops, because there are DVD's available with thousands of ready to use backgrounds. Simply select out the background and replace with a background from the DVD.

3. Collect poses. Look on the internet at well known, and pro photographers. Print out poses you like and put them in a book. Organize them in categories such as maternity, baby, engagement, senior portrait, etc. This greatly reduces your learning curve, and you can easily produce images such as those by Anne Geddes. Your clients will be amazed at your talent. Never stop looking at others work. This way you can keep on top of current trends, and appear to be on the forefront, rather than just following the pack.

4. Props. Get yourself the standard props for various shoots. You know, things like baby blocks to spell out babies name for a maternity shoot. That is tried and true, a guaranteed seller.

5. Pricing. Don't price yourself too low. Word of mouth about your work will spread like wildfire. If you price yourself too low, you will have a hard time raising your prices, because the word of mouth customer already knows you are cheap. On the other hand, don't price yourself too high. You want to bank on undercutting the pro.

In your original post, I don't get the feeling you want to turn this into a business, but, I guarantee that if you follow the above advice, you will have people knocking at your door in no time.

Again, I am sorry for my rudeness. You can do this. Just get comfortable with the technical side, learn to nail your lighting, and the rest is a cakewalk.

This one is vague to me, aside from the above mentioned helpful post, I haven't seen him be this helpful and sincere before...which sets off my "Sarcasm detector" lol

Maybe he's being genuine, maybe not...but he does include some great ideas.

:thumbup: for a positive post from Bitter Jeweler.

 

[Gaerek]

:thumbup: for a positive, sarcastic post from Bitter Jeweler.

There, fixed.

 

[FattyMcJ]

:thumbup: for a positive, sarcastic post from Bitter Jeweler.

There, fixed.

Yep, figures. Doesn't surprise me. I guess I was hoping he could be nice for once.

 

[outamyway]

wow.