Help I'm brand new to photography

photomomof5

I'm brand new to photography outside of taking pictures of my kids. I'm thinking of doing this professionally and probably should start by taking some classes, but in the meantime, I need to know about lighting and what is necessary for indoor shots. I don't understand the difference between soft boxes and light stands w/umbrellas. Or the difference between flash or continuous. Can anyone help me with this?

EarthDog

photomomof5 wrote:

I'm brand new to photography outside of taking pictures of my kids. I'm thinking of doing this professionally and probably should start by taking some classes, but in the meantime, I need to know about lighting and what is necessary for indoor shots. I don't understand the difference between soft boxes and light stands w/umbrellas. Or the difference between flash or continuous. Can anyone help me with this?

That's extremely ambitious, considering your background, so be prepared to work hard at educating yourself about not only photography, but also marketing, advertising, contracts, liability, and all the other aspects of running a business. I hope you live in a town with a good library, because you've got a ton of reading ahead of you.

To answer your immediate questions, though, a softbox shines the light through a membrane onto the subject, whereas an umbrella reflects the light directly onto the subject. So, the softbox's light is filtered (softer), while the umbrella's isn't (crisper). Eventually, you're likely to want both, if you're going to be doing studio portraiture.

Continuous lights, or "modelling" lights, are (generally) used only to set up the shot (determine exposure, lighting angles, etc.), which is then taken using the strobes. Why? Because well made, properly balanced, good quality lightsources that produce sufficient light for photography tend to be expensive and tend to run very hot. So, it's more practical to use a cheaper, cooler source for the things that take more time. Most good studio lights, these days, have both types in the same housing, which makes life much easier.

Cato

Funny thing is, I've seen people take mediocre photos, yet make money off of them - especially if an individual is popular in his/her community.

One practice I've heard of is to have someone come to a child's birthday party, picnic, soccer game, etc. and take shots. Either the person is paid a flat fee to be a "casual shooter" - thus taking the onus off of the parent or organizer - or the photographer just shows up (say at a soccer game), takes photos, and then prints them out on a portable photo printer for something like $5 each.

Photomomof5, you say that you are "brand new to photography", yet you are considering becoming a pro. Do you have a grasp of concepts such as exposure, ISO, aperture, DOF? If you do, then you are not as "new" as you think...

photomomof5

A beginner I am!
No, I do not know anything about exposure or ISO or aperature, etc. That is why I think I need to take some courses. However, there are not too many available in my area. I like taking pictures using my digital SLR and hopefully my husband can show me some of the stuff he's learned from just playing around. I don't think I do too bad of a job for an amateur - I just shoot and play until I find the right look I'm trying to get. However, most of my shots have been outdoors which is why I'm looking at learning how to do inside shots as well - especially since we are in Fall already. Thanks for your help!

1pocket

Individual photography classes are available about everywhere these days. I started my photog education sampling individual classes, but then decided I liked it enough to sign up for a continuing ed photography certificate program -- a complete series of courses covering all aspects (pretty much), and culminating in a "certificate degree". It's not quite college, but it is challenging and thorough. I am at the NH Institute of Art in Manchester, NH, which has a great program with terrific staff, but you should look in your area; with the explosion of digital has come an explosion of interest in photography, and I am betting (or at least hoping) that you can find one of these programs near you.

OffTopic

Photomomof5 if you want to learn about lighting, especially for portraiture, I'd recommend you spend some time over at David Hobby's site, http://strobist.blogspot.com/. It's an unbelievable source of information. Work your way through the Lighting 101 and 102 archives (you'll find them on the right hand side of the site) and join in the discussion on the flickr forum (I don't post photos there but I do visit the strobist discussion daily!). You will learn so much about lighting equipment, lighting modifiers, different techniques, etc. David started the site for just off camera flash but has expanded to include all off-camera lighting. Some very well-known commercial photographers frequent the site and it's fantastic when they take the time to explain how they lit a certain shot.

Another excellent resource is the book Light - Science & Magic by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua. I consider this book a "must read" for anyone interested in learning about lighting. It's especially helpful in learning how to light tough objects like glass, metal, reflective objects, etc, although it also covers portrait lighting.

Two excellent foundation pieces - one free, one cheap for what you'll learn from it (and still cheaper than a class ) .

f-rider

What she said. ^

Scott_Quier

Here's a book to start with - easy read, packed with information Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera by Bryan Peterson (ISBN-10: 0817463003 ISBN-13: 978-0817463007 ) It's one of the best reads to get started.

Another good source of information you already know about - DGrin.com. Post some pictures, ask for C&C, take it to heart, and use it to improve. Repeat as needed. You can also learn A LOT just by looking at other's work and the C&C they receive. After a short while, you get to the point where you can reverse engineer the shot, see the problems, and use that information in your shooting.

Another very good book is Ansel Adam's "The Negative". Yes, it's film based and a little tough to get through. But, it's well worth the time and effort. The concepts he covers there are "timeless" and will give you an excellent foundation upon which to build.

David Hobby's blog is choked full of information. Some of it is difficult to wrap your mind around. But, just like AA's book, very much well worth the time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears it takes to do so. Can't recommend highly enough.