Brand New!!

Leigh0190 · May 16, 2007

I am brand new to the photography business! I know nothing about equipment and have never taken any classes. I am simply doing this because I love photography and people like my work. I will mainly be shooting seniors, families, and couples but plan to do some weddings and other things. Can anyone give me advice on where to start? I currently have a digital canon rebel XT, a 18-55mm lens, a 75-300mm lens, two 1g cards, two batteries, some sort of lens filter, and a speedlite 430EX flash. I don't even really know how to use the flash either.

What else do I need? I do mainly outdoors but am interested in learning how to studio as well.

Also, does anyone have suggestions on ways for me to learn more? More about how to use the flash, more about my camera and lighting, etc.

Thanks so much! Here's my website: olivialeighphotography.smugmug.com

Shane422 · May 16, 2007

I'm not good enough to offer any good advice, but I can pass on a few websites that I read and learn from in addition to Dgrin. From what I saw of your galleries, you've already got a great eye.
strobist.com
studiolighting.net
Adorama Imaging resource

mr peas · May 16, 2007

i think the best way to get better despite where you're at is to shoot as much and as often as you can.

from your gallery, im also liking what i already see. so just keep going! try to challenge yourself, maybe follow the contests and projects all provided to you free of charge by dgrin. you'll be swimming with the pros in no time!

Scott_Quier · May 17, 2007

Olivia,

I understand you

do mainly outdoors but am interested in learning how to studio as well

but weddings often happen indoors.

In the best of all worlds, here's what you need to consider acquiring:

A second camera body. I would make it the Canon 30D, for all sorts of reasons.
The Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS - this is almost a "must have" lens. It's fast, image stablized, and very sharp. Very good optics, especially for the money. the 18-55 you have can be unreliable in dark settings and suffers from vignetting when wide open and at sort focal lengths. The wedding you have posted in your gallery is nice, but not all weddings are held in such nicely lit locations :-). This lens has turned into my "go to" lens - my first choice when trying to determine the best tool for the job.
The Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 IS - again, this is a fast lens and is image stableized. It's also about the best piece of glass you can get. It's also got a good price (for them) on it.
More memory - I would get at least 6 GB in 2GB cards. I, personally, have 7x2GB so I can switch out cards when I want rather than when I need to. I also have 2 x 1GB, just because it's what I bought first and are still reliable.
Another camera battery - that way you have a total of 2 extras. Your 30D that you're going to get (see above) will come with a battery as well.
Canon 580EX or 580EX II. Why? Because (1) it has the power, (2) easy to use, (3) it doesn't drop out of high-speed synch with every exposure, (4) recycles quite nicely (the II even better than the original).
The book, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson (here's a link)
For the very dark churches, a good tripod would not be out of order. You won't use it often, but when you need it, you need it and nothing else will do.
For the reception, when you will be using flash a lot, a good flash bracket will come in very handy. The bracket is intended to keep the flash head above the lens, regardless of the orientation of the camera. When the flash is to the side of the lens (the camera is in portrait orientation), you can get some very ugly shadows to the side of your subject. The bracket helps a lot to correct this. The other alternative is to always shoot in landscape orientation and then crop afterwards.
Some receptions/weddings can be like shooting in a cave and an "ultra low light" lens would be nice as well. Something like the Canon EF 50 f/1.4. I've also read some very nice things about the Sigma 30 f/1.4
For investigating studio, you could do a lot worse than picking up a couple of AB800 strobes (link), light stands, and a couple of light modifiers (umbrellas or softboxes).

Because weddings are a "once in a lifetime" event, it's a good idea to have a backup of anything that might fail. That's why I suggested the second camera body and the second flash.

Now then, I understand that what I have outlined above will run to about neighborhood of $5K, but you need the tools to do the job. These tools won't make you a better photographer or make your photographs better. Your gallery already demonstrates a very good eye (I'm just a little jeolous) and practice will only make you that much better. These toos will, however, make many of your photographs POSSIBLE. You need the fast lenses because not all officials/churches will allow flash during the ceremony. Besides, IMHO, flash during the ceremony is just annoying and disrespectful.

I hope this helps.

dragon300zx · May 17, 2007

Another thing I would recommend is studying and learning equipment and more about the trade before seriously marketing yourself. It will help you more than you would think. After all if you don't know the basics of walking, it's really hard to run.

Leigh0190 · May 18, 2007

Thanks!
Thank you all so much for your help! I am still not sure if I will be doing this wedding or not, but want to learn for in the future anyways. The wedding on my site was just a wedding I attended, not one I planned to shoot.

That is a lot of equiptment, but I figured I`d need a bunch. For normal photography, not weddings, what should I purchase first? For senior pictures and family photos? I will be building up as finances allow, so where should I start?

I am, at this point, mainly shooting friends and family. I am not marketing anywhere but to friends. I plan to grow by word of mouth until later down the road. So I am practicing as much as peoples schedules allow. :-)

Most weddings are inside, I meant I do other stuff mainly outdoors. I dont have a studio or anything at this point. I have been studying works of others and, once again am trying to practice a lot. Are softbox lights a good place to start?

I will check out that book, and try to find others, but does anyone have suggestions of how I should learn about the equipment? Classes I could take or more books to read? I am at this point working on a small budget. I don`t want to get in over my head, just have fun and learn more. :-)

Thank you all so very much! I`m open to any more suggestions anyone may have!

Brand New!!

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