new to portrait photography. help

[EmMcCon]

I'm pretty new to photography and I'm intrested in trying some protraits probably outside I'm 15 so my budget is basically nothing other than what I have or some DIY.

I have: a camera, lens hood, CPL, tripod and a monopod

So my questions are:

1)can you point me to any good tutorials?
2) what kind of equipment will I need?
3)what are some basic "rules"Any tips anyone has would also be much appreciated

thanks, EmMcCon

Edit: Sorry it got de-formatted

 

[IgsEMT]

1. Portrait Lighting
2. light source. LEARN lighting. Bryan Peterson, David Ziser, Joe McNally, are few authors worth looking into.
3. look at number 1.

good luck

 

[sabbath999]

Forget equipment, concentrate on lighting and composition. Too many people care about their cameras, not their images. Cameras are just stuff, the IMAGE is everything.

 

[EmMcCon]

Thanks but that's not exactly what I meant I was thinking more creative kind of stuff, probably outside. Sorry I didn't specify

 

[IgsEMT]

Thanks but that's not exactly what I meant I was thinking more creative kind of stuff, probably outside. Sorry I didn't specify

Can't run if you don't know how to walk. Learn the basics and the rest will build on top of it.

 

[EmMcCon]

Aye aye c'apn

 

[Big Mike]

Thanks but that's not exactly what I meant I was thinking more creative kind of stuff, probably outside. Sorry I didn't specify

Lighting is the creative stuff. Inside, outside...it doesn't matter. To create great portraits, you need to use light creatively. After all Photography literally means 'drawing with light'.

So first, learn about exposure. (aperture, shutter speed & ISO). Then you can learn about portrait lighting.

 

[pixilstudio]

unless you are shooting slower that 60th which i wouldnt you dont need that tripod and monopod if out side shoot 125 shutter priority

 

[DiskoJoe]

a portrait lens would be a good start. 50mm f1.8 for what ever your camera is.

 

[bazooka]

Outside, you can do pretty good with a large piece of styrofoam or white posterboard to reflect the sunlight where you need it. Choose your background brightness to control contrast between it and subject, distance of reflector to subject to control drop off and quality of light, and position to control direction. Or if you want to get really crazy, get a bed sheet.