I'm looking forward to "fashion photography" have few question .. PLEASE HELP !

[Village Idiot]

lol .. sorry if I misspelled "a lot" or maybe I need to stop saying it in every sentence I type. :mrgreen:
Yeah I shouldn't spend much now .. but I need a lens to start with ..
my 18-55 SUCKS ! .. It doesn't do any work and makes you feel bad about yourself ..
Thanks for your help

No it doesn't. It's not the best lens out there, but once again, lighting and composition can make or break a photo where changing from an 18-55 to a 50mm prime won't do much for you, especially if you're shooting not shooting at the widest aperture.

I'm Confused again, sorry
So ..? 85mm would do more changing ..?
Yeah I know, It's a bit challenging I don't know anything about lighting !
I know it's the key of photography..
For now .. I need a lens to start ! Cause 18-55 is my nightmare ^_^
What's your suggestion now ?

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

 

[ghpham]

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

 

[Abdullah AlFedalh]

No it doesn't. It's not the best lens out there, but once again, lighting and composition can make or break a photo where changing from an 18-55 to a 50mm prime won't do much for you, especially if you're shooting not shooting at the widest aperture.

I'm Confused again, sorry
So ..? 85mm would do more changing ..?
Yeah I know, It's a bit challenging I don't know anything about lighting !
I know it's the key of photography..
For now .. I need a lens to start ! Cause 18-55 is my nightmare ^_^
What's your suggestion now ?

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

Village Idiot, I really loved the portrait pic that you posted,
was this one with the 85mm ?
I'm just not comfortable with it, it doesn't give much light ..
I just don't know, maybe it's from me were i can't get the right lighting throw.

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

Nothing wrong with it,
I need a lens which is ONLY perfect with portrait's [ fashion photography ]
which 50mm your talking about ? 1.4f or 1.8f ?

 

[DScience]

Thanks Thanks a lot for the information you gave.
But I have a question, why would I need the three lens's ?
Do they do different jobs ?

LOL omg...

 

[ghpham]

I'm Confused again, sorry
So ..? 85mm would do more changing ..?
Yeah I know, It's a bit challenging I don't know anything about lighting !
I know it's the key of photography..
For now .. I need a lens to start ! Cause 18-55 is my nightmare ^_^
What's your suggestion now ?

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

Village Idiot, I really loved the portrait pic that you posted,
was this one with the 85mm ?
I'm just not comfortable with it, it doesn't give much light ..
I just don't know, maybe it's from me were i can't get the right lighting throw.

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

Nothing wrong with it,
I need a lens which is ONLY perfect with portrait's [ fashion photography ]
which 50mm your talking about ? 1.4f or 1.8f ?

I have the 1.8 and it does just fine. You will pay a hefty premium if you want the 1.4.

 

[Abdullah AlFedalh]

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

Village Idiot, I really loved the portrait pic that you posted,
was this one with the 85mm ?
I'm just not comfortable with it, it doesn't give much light ..
I just don't know, maybe it's from me were i can't get the right lighting throw.

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

Nothing wrong with it,
I need a lens which is ONLY perfect with portrait's [ fashion photography ]
which 50mm your talking about ? 1.4f or 1.8f ?

I have the 1.8 and it does just fine. You will pay a hefty premium if you want the 1.4.

True
Do you have any shot's made by your 50mm that I can see.

 

[ghpham]

I'm at work . Will have to wait until later unless someone here got one handy.

 

[Alter_Ego]

18-55 arent so bad -.-
Well i use it more then my 100mm lens.
Cause i had the idea that 100mm was purely macro but after reading a few comments i guess its not.

 

[ajkramer87]

I'm Confused again, sorry
So ..? 85mm would do more changing ..?
Yeah I know, It's a bit challenging I don't know anything about lighting !
I know it's the key of photography..
For now .. I need a lens to start ! Cause 18-55 is my nightmare ^_^
What's your suggestion now ?

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

Village Idiot, I really loved the portrait pic that you posted,
was this one with the 85mm ?
I'm just not comfortable with it, it doesn't give much light ..
I just don't know, maybe it's from me were i can't get the right lighting throw.

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

Nothing wrong with it,
I need a lens which is ONLY perfect with portrait's [ fashion photography ]
which 50mm your talking about ? 1.4f or 1.8f ?

A flash will help with that. Look into getting understanding exposer by Brian Peterson. Its a highly recommended book.

 

[Abdullah AlFedalh]

I'm at work . Will have to wait until later unless someone here got one handy.

Sure.

18-55 arent so bad -.-
Well i use it more then my 100mm lens.
Cause i had the idea that 100mm was purely macro but after reading a few comments i guess its not.

Great news for you then !

I meant to convey that at a certain point, don't believe that your current gear isn't capable of doing something that you think more expensive gear will cure.

To a point, new lenses will be better, but don't underestimate the 18-55 by thinking it's absolute crap.

And you'll like the 85 f/1.8 For the price it's a great lens.

Village Idiot, I really loved the portrait pic that you posted,
was this one with the 85mm ?
I'm just not comfortable with it, it doesn't give much light ..
I just don't know, maybe it's from me were i can't get the right lighting throw.

What is "wrong" with your 18-55? if you must get new lens, I recommend the 50mm and the 85mm.

Nothing wrong with it,
I need a lens which is ONLY perfect with portrait's [ fashion photography ]
which 50mm your talking about ? 1.4f or 1.8f ?

A flash will help with that. Look into getting understanding exposer by Brian Peterson. Its a highly recommended book.

I will. thanks

 

[Abdullah AlFedalh]

I think I still need help.
I'm confused

 

[RyanLilly]

The 18-55 lens is certainly not the best lens, and any lens that slow will suck in low light. We cannot give completely accurate advice without seeing some of your work, however I would guess that your experience is now limiting you more than your lens. Better lenses will make your photos better, but only when you have reached the limitations of your current lens.

Lighting in fashion photography is more important than lenses. Whether its a full studio, a strobist setup, or just some reflectors and sunlight, lighting cannot be overlooked. Check out Strobist 101, this is a good way to get started in lighting without spending too much money.

When you do want to invest in more glass you have many choices.

Depending on your working distance, many people will be vehemently opposed to using lenses 50mm and wider, I do not agree with this personally, after all its all about you style. IMO 50mm is a good choice for wider shots, sometimes even 30mm and wider.
For head shots anywhere between 75 and 150mm is common, both the 85 and the 100 would be a good choice, the 100 is not as fast as the 85, but it is a macro lens, so its quite versatile. Although primes are king in fashion, don't discount the use of high quality fast zooms, especially if you want to get into other types of photography, like spots or photojournalism. A 70-200 2.8, or f/4, is an extremely sharp zoom, its great for all types of photography including fashion.

Hopefully this helped a bit...or just made thing more complicated.
We are happy to answer any more specific questions that you have.

 

[JeffieLove]

Abdullah - the photo that Village Idiot posted on the first page was taken at a 12mm range which means he used a wider angle lens than the 18-55...

I haven't read through all these posts - but I think you should just use your 18-55 (like I did) to learn about photography first... learn lighting, composition, posing for portraits, etc... before you get a new lens that you are still going to have bad pictures with because you don't know anything about lighting...

It's not necessarily the lens that makes the photo - the lighting, composition, exposure, etc are what are going to "make" your photo good...

 

[Village Idiot]

Thanks Thanks a lot for the information you gave.
But I have a question, why would I need the three lens's ?
Do they do different jobs ?

LOL omg...

Yes. Even though all the primes listed may sound similar in having wide apertures that are close to the same, the focal lengths will differentiate the lenses. Just go to a website like Canon Digital Photography Forums - Powered by vBulletin to the lens archive forums and look at the different lenses.

Wider focal lengths will often be more distorted. They also take a wider aperture than a longer focal length lens to get the same shallow DOF. My shot above that was shot at 12mm f/4.5 has everything in focuc; a 300mm lens at f/4.5 would have a shallower DOF with much of the background being blurred. That's why something like an 85mm f/1.8 is a classicly preferred portrait lens. It doesn't distort the subject at that focal length and you can get a shallow DOF for a pretty standard portrait.

But as you experiment, try different things. There's time's you'll want to go against convention and do something that would totally break all the rules but would give you an amazing final product.

Abdullah - the photo that Village Idiot posted on the first page was taken at a 12mm range which means he used a wider angle lens than the 18-55...

I haven't read through all these posts - but I think you should just use your 18-55 (like I did) to learn about photography first... learn lighting, composition, posing for portraits, etc... before you get a new lens that you are still going to have bad pictures with because you don't know anything about lighting...

It's not necessarily the lens that makes the photo - the lighting, composition, exposure, etc are what are going to "make" your photo good...

That was taken with a Sigma 10-20 with the variable aperture @ f/4.5. I was using a Paul C Buff, White Lighting mono light with an octabox attachment. That's what blended the interior exposure with the ambient from outside so well.

 

[o hey tyler]

If you're getting a 50mm, get the f/1.4. Just do it. You'll be glad you did.