Photography

[Jonesy83]

Missis is starting a photography course in January and is looking to go self employed and has got a few people interested already pregnant women wanting photos doing when their babies arive plus someone who's getting married next September mostly working mobile and possibly looking to setup a studio in the spare room

Thing is we've been looking around on Internet and in a few shops to get the equipment and wondering what's the best setup I can remember someon on here who says he's a photographer in his spare time wel have a budget of around 5k to get her started we've been scratching our heads on what's the best equipment to start with

 

[telectrix]

Tony might be you best bet, as he used to be a pro photographer. my advice as a starter is to buy a professional DSLR, like a Canon D50, or Nikon ( not up to date with numbers). a couple of lenses, dedicated flash. get hold of a couple of mags like practical photography. remember that the most important bit of kit is the lens/es. and don't be tempted by huge megapixels. nobody needs more than 12Mp, unless you're producing advert. hoarding size prints.

 

[alarm man]

5k should def get you a decent camera software etc,know a couple of lads who are right into it,and its not cheap to keep buying the best gear,i bought a sony 350 about 3 years ago,does me but should study a bit more to get better pictures,im a bit of a part timer

 

[Sparky Ninja]

I would suggest a lot of reading, as it will require a lot of investment so you want to make sure you do it right.

I was setup as a hobbying photographer, I still have my 40D as I couldn't part with it but it does get to the stage where you carry around a lot of expensive kit.

She should join Talk Photography™ it's a great forum and there are a lot of professionals on there offering critiques and help with production of images etc.

 

[Guest111]

Tip when photographing babies,place a small piece of sellotape on the back of their hand,they are so interested in it they sit still and you can take your shot,motorcycles can be propped up with a wine glass under the footpeg to give the illusion that its stood up on its own.if the glass is clean it doesnt really show in the picture.

 

[Knobhead]

If your wife wants to get in to wedding photography she needs to allow for indemnity insurance and a reserve camera and flash unit. There’s only one chance and it’s got to be right.
Having 2 cameras had a spin off for me. I would use two cameras on an adapted tripod, one film for the couples album the other would be trial films for Kodak. It’s a long story how I got in to doing film trials but it was lucrative. Kodak also published some of my technical papers on film developing.
Learning to pose a bride and groom is an art in it’s self, I couldn’t scratch the surface of it in a forum.
I’m not comfortable with digital at all.

 

[telectrix]

the 1 saving grace of digital, though, tony, is that you can see that you've got the shot immediately. if you're not happy with it , it's no big deal to do it again. you can't do this a week later when you find the film shots are not up to expectations.

 

[ruston]

If your wife wants to get in to wedding photography she needs to allow for indemnity insurance and a reserve camera and flash unit. There’s only one chance and it’s got to be right.
Having 2 cameras had a spin off for me. I would use two cameras on an adapted tripod, one film for the couples album the other would be trial films for Kodak. It’s a long story how I got in to doing film trials but it was lucrative. Kodak also published some of my technical papers on film developing.
Learning to pose a bride and groom is an art in it’s self, I couldn’t scratch the surface of it in a forum.
I’m not comfortable with digital at all.

My nerves would'nt stand it now, every shot had to be right in the days of film . I used to duplicate the mainshots at the register, cake ,and Church door etc.

The advent of the olympus trip killed off a lot of the reprints as they would just photograph the poses that you had set up, I suppose it's worse now as all the digis have superb resolution. I did a couple (weddings) with my digital but to be honest there is something about film that gets you going and keeps you on your toes , as Tel says you got to get it right first time . Digi is so easy to edit afterwards but there is nothing like a darkroom. Having a digi is the shooting equivalent to a machine gun.

 

[telectrix]

last wedding i attended was like that. hundreds of below average shots to get a few good ones. machine gun is a good analogy. bound to get a few hits. i still strive to get it right 1st time. and i've sill got a few film cameras i use occasionally.

 

[ruston]

last wedding i attended was like that. hundreds of below average shots to get a few good ones. machine gun is a good analogy. bound to get a few hits. i still strive to get it right 1st time. and i've sill got a few film cameras i use occasionally.[/QUOTE

Yeah weddings are hard work, and rack the nerves if you get the wrong kind of people, some of the brides have more edge on them than a broken............, the Mothers even worse, then the groom an the best man disappear to the bar before you are finished.There is a book there somewhere.

I love old cameras , there is an old Minolta srt 303 on ebay at the minute for forty quid, I had one , nothing fancy pure manual , battery only for the superbly simple light meter. I loved it; tempted to buy it as mine is in bits unfortunately. The Rokker lens is superb and I still use it on a later 35mm minolta that I have.

 

[PVdesign]

A couple of Canon 5D mk2's! Pick them up 2nd hand for around £1250 each and some good glass to go with it, maybe a fixed 35mm f1.4 ish do get good depth of field. Me and my mate did our first wedding a few months back and got some good images with a fish eye! Invest in some good flash guns aswell.
We do mainly low light stuff in clubs so wide aperture lenses are a must, best thing to do is buy plenty of magazines and ask a lot of people!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Missis is starting a photography course in January and is looking to go self employed and has got a few people interested already pregnant women wanting photos doing when their babies arive plus someone who's getting married next September mostly working mobile and possibly looking to setup a studio in the spare room

Thing is we've been looking around on Internet and in a few shops to get the equipment and wondering what's the best setup I can remember someon on here who says he's a photographer in his spare time wel have a budget of around 5k to get her started we've been scratching our heads on what's the best equipment to start with

Google "Canon Outlet" ......... it's Canon's online store where they sell "factory refurbished" cameras, lenses in fact all sorts of Canon products including scanners etc.

I got my Canon 30D camera & some nice lenses, an all-in-one scanner, printer, photocopier and a Fax machine from there - all in very good nick and all with a warranty.

I got a Canon 400D for my son as well.

I'm sure that a lot of the stuff is brand new & not refurbished at all, & I've not had any problems with returning stuff.I bought a lens that I wasn't happy with, so returned it & they refunded my money straight away.

 

[Knobhead]

Although weddings were stressful (I couldn’t do it now) I had a lot of fun doing them. Wedding cakes were fun, I had a beautiful shot of the bride and groom cutting the bottom layer of the cake, and the other 4 layers were at 30° heading to the floor! Horses, I detested them. My right foot still gives me jip after it was trampled. Vintage cars, always a source of fun, 3 Rolls Royces broken down at the same wedding.
I’ve even done an illegal marriage. Beautiful shot of the bride signing the back of an envelope (hidden by flowers) after the vicar had gone on holiday taking the safe keys with him. The license was filled in the week after.

I enjoyed it, but never again!

 

[ruston]

Although weddings were stressful (I couldn’t do it now) I had a lot of fun doing them. Wedding cakes were fun, I had a beautiful shot of the bride and groom cutting the bottom layer of the cake, and the other 4 layers were at 30° heading to the floor! Horses, I detested them. My right foot still gives me jip after it was trampled. Vintage cars, always a source of fun, 3 Rolls Royces broken down at the same wedding.
I’ve even done an illegal marriage. Beautiful shot of the bride signing the back of an envelope (hidden by flowers) after the vicar had gone on holiday taking the safe keys with him. The license was filled in the week after.

I enjoyed it, but never again!

Yes I remember calling for the bride and grooms parents and eight people walked forward , it was a mining town and nearly everybody knew each other . The vicar used to have his wedding times tight and the arrivals and departures had mingled together, it was pure stress and the closest thing ever to production weddings. Hilarious looking back on it , Though I enjoyed it at the time I could'nt do it again either.

I remember at one wedding a chap standing with a load of good gear when I was waiting for the arrivals, I asked him if he was early for the next one and had come for a look around, turned out the groom had booked him and the bride me. You could'nt make up some of the stuff that goes on at weddings, and there is always a David Bailey to keep you right lol.

 

[telectrix]

nowadays you'll be lucky to get a decent shot, what with all the red and green blotches from compact digi focussing aids all over the bride's mush