If you had $10,000 to spend on essential items for a start up project...

[dearlybeloved]

Yes, you will need lighting, grip, triggers, light stands, a selection of light modifiers, and other hardware.
Since you will be doing both retail and commercial work you will need both studio lighting and portable lighting.

Do you have studio space available?

The retail part - portraits- and the commercial part, have different business models.
Pricing is different.
Contracts are different.
Delivery requirements are different.
Commercial involves a lot more paper work.

Retail pricing is entirely based on personal use.
Commercial pricing is based on usage. Usage is usually billed separately from what is charged for the photographers time, talent, and reputation.
Usage is broken down by exclusive or non-exclusive use, geographical area of the usage, image size(s) used, number of impressions, media types used, usage length of time, etc.
Case Study: Producing A Successful Estimate | DigitalPhotoPro.com

Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition
ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography

The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating

THANK YOU FOR THOSE LINKS! reading now and finding some things i need to know out. I was wondering about what kind of light modifiers would you think would be safe to start with. also, when i say commercial im talking about small local businesses that are around my area. we have A LOT of ma and pop stores and I have ways to market myself. Im mainly trying to learn about what kinds of equipment ill NEED so i can cover all of that and start learning how to use it.

oh, and is there good stationary and portable strobes that i could use that will be more than enough as well as not break the bank or is that too much to ask for in this type of product?

 

[rexbobcat]

Well now in confused. If you aren't a professional but you are wanting advice on how to start a business, are you intent on becoming a...business amateur? The terms you use aren't always consistent.

I would first find out my expenses, and then try and approximate how much I will need to make a profit. Then I would go and get a business license and a tax ID (here they are $300).

Then I would buy lighting equipment since you have a lot of equipment already, and I would learn how to use it.

I would personally buy both speedlights and strobes. I know that speedlights are portable but I swear, just trying to adapt them to studio use is just as painful (to me) as lugging around studio equipment with portable power.

 

[dearlybeloved]

I am not trying to revolve this thread around business advice really as much as the kind of gear I will need. I have plenty of time to learn to use it and learn more as time progresses but I want to invest into this now while i can. Im also not trying to be a corporate chain or anything. just me with my equipment and taking on more as I gain experience and knowledge.

 

[KmH]

You could put the money in a credit union savings account and earn interest on it.

Why would you want a strobe to be stationary?
Studio strobes basically have power cords and need to be near electrical wall outlets. Many entry-level monolight systems can be powered with battery packs on location.
Flashpoint 320M Portrait Wedding Monolight Kit, with Two 320 Monolights,9.5' Stands,Umbrellas, Snoot and Carrying Case
Flashpoint II D/C Battery Power Pack with Replaceable Nickel-Hydrogen Batteries, for use with the M Series Monolights

Paul C. Buff makes their Paul C. Buff - Vagabond Portable Power






There are many different styles of lighting. Different body types, and various facial mask issue require lights be moved form shoot to shoot.

To get started, the business part is much more important than the photography part.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

F*ck the gear.
You've got a camera, lens and reflector. You're good enough.


Spend the 10k on a graphic designer, web developer, CPA, and a producer to handle your brand design, portfolio and product delivery, cashflow/taxes, and your shoot production for you.

Than hire real models from agencies so you can shoot whatever sh*t you want, and it will look good. Than use it to market to whatever client you want. If you don't know how to do that, you hire an agent to do it for you for a 35% cut.

If you've got 10k burning a hole in your pocket and dont' know what to do with it, and want to jumpstart a photography career, do that.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

if I had $10,000 to spend, I already know what I want to buy. I dont need forum posters advice lol. Everyone is different. Buy what you want! If you do not know what you want, then you dont really need it.

 

[KmH]

If you do not know what you want, then you dont really need it.

Stated another way - If you don't know what you need, then you don't need anything - until you do know what you need.

 

[Designer]

I have a laptop and a powerhouse desktop that can handle anything i throw at it. I dont have to much of a studio space because I'm using an extra bedroom for that. I will need backdrops and such too.

I think a spare bedroom is going to be too small, but here is what I would do:

Get between one and three studio strobes, and get ones that will work with household electricity AND battery power. Get at least one battery pack.
Get a variety of light modifiers; softboxes, umbrellas, gel and flag holders, several good light stands, and wireless triggers.
Tether your laptop to the camera in the studio, but do editing on the desktop.

 

[dearlybeloved]

I will be working my regular job along side getting this started so its more of a lone wolf kind of gig. business cards, portfolios,website and other marketing tools are coming out of my own pocket and im using the chunk for equipment. I mean, I dont have to spend it all as long as I get what I need.

So far im looking at

Flash bracket
monolights
battery pack
triggers
2 nikon sb 700
filters
umbrellas
soft box


i was also pointed in the direction of getting barn doors and honeycomb for the lights.

 

[dearlybeloved]

I have a laptop and a powerhouse desktop that can handle anything i throw at it. I dont have to much of a studio space because I'm using an extra bedroom for that. I will need backdrops and such too.

I think a spare bedroom is going to be too small, but here is what I would do:

Get between one and three studio strobes, and get ones that will work with household electricity AND battery power. Get at least one battery pack.
Get a variety of light modifiers; softboxes, umbrellas, gel and flag holders, several good light stands, and wireless triggers.
Tether your laptop to the camera in the studio, but do editing on the desktop.

That sounds easy enough. I want to add some filters for my person landscape enjoyment but that sounds good.

 

[tirediron]

Let's see...

Insurance: ~$1000.00

Business License: ~$100 - 200

Legal consulation for contracts, etc: $750 - 1000

CPA consultation for taxation, business records, etc: $500

Website design & hosting (1 year): $1500

Increase on vehicle insurance: $500 (? - no real idea on this, but I'm guessing substantial)

So, right there, you're probably already well over $4K and you haven't even bought anything. I think the old business plan needs a little more tweaking...

 

[pgriz]

Honestly, I gotta disagree with almost your entire post pgriz. In order to have a successful business plan, you don't need to know most of those things.
And a lot of those things are impossible to quantify. The only thing that I actually agree on is that you need to know how much you need to make in order to break even.

That may be the way to do things as a large corporation with money to spend on research and development, but as a small time photographer? Not so much.

The rest of that stuff comes from a lot of time. Like, years.

I don't know why when people mention things like starting their own business, members flock to try and scare the OP out of it.

OP - You're going to definitely need ND filters for landscapes. Both graduated and solid. Probably around $800 worth to be safe.

Well, you have your perspective, and I have mine. I have worked as a business consultant for a number of startup companies, and have been involved with a few myself as a partner or shareowner. Knowing the market (or at least putting down the assumptions to be verified through actual experience) is rather basic to any business plan, and if the prospective business owner cannot quantify those numbers, then they are setting themselves up for a lot of hard slogging, and the mis-investment of scarce funds. In any business, there are ups and downs, and deciding whether to push on or cut the losses depends on WHY something is not working, when the inevitable hard times happen. Being blind-sided by things you didn't think about (but should have) is a very tough way to learn to manage the business.

The alternative to doing the research, is to work for someone else in the field, and pick up a lot of the knowledge without putting one's own money at risk. Which is why it is pretty common to recommend that if someone wants to start a business, they should either work for, or partner with someone who already is successful at it. But if you're going in without that knowledge, you've got the odds heavily stacked against you. Doing the research at least lets you know approximately what the odds are.

 

[amolitor]

I would blow it all on models.

 

[Superfitz]

Take a look at the set in this link. It would take care of modifiers, monolights, triggers, stands, etc.... I would add a vagabond mini (or two) and another foldable strip box. They have other kits as well depending on your space. That would still leave you plenty left over for the other equipment you want.

http://www.paulcbuff.com/pkg-portraitstudio.php

 

[ghache]

Seems like you have all the gear camera and lens you need. id make sure to add a couple fast prime for portraits. 50 and 85 1.8 G works flawlesly on you d800e.

i would blow the rest on a 5 light setup.

2 X 800ws flash heads
2 X 500/600 ws
1 X 1200ws head.
these usally can be found in kits that comes with bags, standard reflectors, umbrelllas and stands


2 strip box
1 large softbox
1 beauty dish
2 barndoors set.
oversized reflectors with grids
1 nice boom
1 background stand and some rolls.
fog machine


minimum 3 vagabon mini

a good set of tranceivers/transmitters
pelican cases

some weigths, upgraded stands.

you should be able to do all that with 10k and with plenty of money left for strippers and models to build youself a porfolio that stands out.

before you spend any money on models, make sure you learn out to shoot them properly because you will waste your money.


Look at bowens lights.

for anything business related, contracts, insurance, taxes and all the other crap some people on here is winning about, you seems ready to figure that out.

since yoju asked for advices on tools. thats what you need