Basic Importance

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Gravy

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Hello all,

As I'm sure you hear all the time, I'm an aspiring young photographer who just wants some advice so that I can develop my skills.

The question I've been seeking the answer to lately is what, in all of your opinions, are the essential lighting/studio/equipment that you would need.

At present, I'm very interested in portraiture photography as well as figurative (perhaps edging on editorial/commerical). I'd say that I hope to vary between indoors and outdoors, if that influences your responses.


I do apologise if I've not been clear about what I'm asking, I'd like to think I knew what I was on about all of the time but most of the time I don't lol.

Thanks in advance!

Gavin.
 
Well it'd be helpful to know what kit you have, what level of experience/knowledge you have etc.

If you are starting from scratch and asking what lighting to buy I'd say get a couple of flashguns and wireless triggers. Thisis based on y saying you want to do inside and outside work.
 
Hi Gavin - and welcome.

If you are new to photography and portraiture, then for the time being forget about “essential lighting/studio/equipment”. Just get out there and experiment and learn about using natural light. Once you really understand it, including knowing what effect it has, plus how to control it, then it’s maybe time to think about more kit. If you must spend cash now, then buy a reflector, although there are plenty of free alternatives that you could use.

Sam-D
 
At the moment, I have no equipment at all, other than my camera which is a Canon EOS 500D, with my 18-55mm lens. I've had my camera for about 3 months now?

I want to know what photographers (yourselves) consider to be essential materials in extension to of course the camera and lens alone.

Thanks for that info, I'll look in to those!

@Sam-D,

Thanks for that reponse too Sam.
I've been out and about a lot, doing daytime and nighttime photography.
You can see some of the things I've achieved with the camera alone at my deviantart: www.dotcanvas.deviantart.com

I think I'm just eager to get into some studio work, or outdoors fashion/commerical photography. I stumbled across the topic of reflectors earlier, how effective would you say they were?

Thanks!

G
 
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you've got some pretty decent work on there. a reflector will be useful to reduce harsh shadows. i will use a reflector in the studio or outdoors, they are cheap versatile pieces of kit.

I think buying one flash with a ttl cord or a wireless trigger + a reflector would be the right step for you to take.

To ask what portrait tog considers essential will vary from one to the other. i like studio work and outdoor ofc but Ive sen some work done with natural light alone that looks fantastic.

For me my essensial kit is good glass, studio flash, flashguns, light modifiers and reflectors.
 
Thanks!

I dont really know much about the ttl cord or wireless trigger could you maybe tell me a bit more about the process of using them and how they work? I'm definitely going to invest in a flash.. gun? for my camera. And I'm ordering 43'' reflectors as we speak!
 
The way to start is with a flash gun. You can do a great deal with that if you learn a bit about light and how to use it, and you can also work it in with studio lights as and when.

Get a decent one, with a bit of power and also with high speed sync facility - Canon 430EXII or 580EXII, or similar Nissin, Metz, Sigma. Also a stand, shoot-through brolly and radio trigger, plus the reflector you've just ordered.

A cord is handy because it will allow you to take the flash off-camera while retaining full E-TTL control (radio triggers are full manual only, unless you spend hundreds on them). However, the main advantage of E-TTL is speed and convenience, and neither of those things are very important when you're setting up with stands and stuff.
 
Thanks for the new response Hoppy.

I've found the 430EXII on the Jessops website for £200. Would that be right? Unfortunately I'm a student at the moment so that kind of money isn't easy to throw away, perhaps you know of a more cost-effective model? Or do you think it would be alright to buy second hand perhaps from eBay?

So, say I were to ignore getting the brolly. Would you then advise I got a cord rather than radio triggers?



----

I feel ridiculous for asking, but I can't find anywhere that gives a clear answer.
What actually is a TTL/E-TTL Cord, how it works etc.
And what are Radio triggers - how they work, and their difference from cords.

Thanks if you can enlighten me, I shouldn't be planning to buy things that I don't know the use of.
 
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Gravy said:
Thanks for the new response Hoppy.

I've found the 430EXII on the Jessops website for £200. Would that be right? Unfortunately I'm a student at the moment so that kind of money isn't easy to throw away, perhaps you know of a more cost-effective model? Or do you think it would be alright to buy second hand perhaps from eBay?

So, say I were to ignore getting the brolly. Would you then advise I got a cord rather than radio triggers?



----

I feel ridiculous for asking, but I can't find anywhere that gives a clear answer.
What actually is a TTL/E-TTL Cord, how it works etc.
And what are Radio triggers - how they work, and their difference from cords.

Thanks if you can enlighten me, I shouldn't be planning to buy things that I don't know the use of.
Click to expand...

If budget is tight, get a Yongnuo flash. I get confused with the model numbers these days, but depending on which one you get the only thing you'll lose is high speed sync I think. Which is a shame, but you can usually work around that. About a third the cost of the Canon 430.

You'll also want a Yongnuo RF-602 radio trigger set - £40. Konig stands are very cheap, plus a shoot-through brolly and an umbrella adapter. You could get all that for less than the Canon gun. Great little mini studio set up, with stacks of potential. Maybe get white and silver reflective umbrellas too - they're so cheap. Plus the reflector you have. Sorted :thumbs:

That's the studio-style side, but just the gun on its own can do a massive amount on-camera if you learn how to use it properly. Basically, never point it straight at the subject, and always bounce it off something - ceiling, walls, diffuser. Use the little pull-out bounce card, it's amazingly good and useful. Take it from there.

E-TTL is Canon's flash control system, including auto exposure control and wireless mastering of remote guns. The communication protocol for auto exposure remote control is very complex and the native Canon system does it with light signals. That works fine indoors, but can be unreliable outside in brighter light.

Radio is more reliable, but full E-TTL radio remotes are very expensive (eg Pocket Wizards, £400 a set). On the other hand, basic manual radio triggers like the RF-602 are really cheap - they just fire the flash, but you have to set the power output for exposure. Or you can get full E-TTL with a cord quite cheaply (up to 10m) and that's a very good option if you don't mind the wires.
 
If you are happy to pay £200 get the nissin di866, it's a cracking flash. Just picked one up myself to complement my 430ex2 and have to say it's miles better for the same money.
 
I've decided that if I'm going to get a flashgun, I'd be as well to get one of the best straight away rather than waste money buying one I'd eventually replace.

So I intend to get the Canon 430EXII.

In fact, if possible; do you think you could perhaps link me to the exact items your speaking about?
I have this funny feeling I'd end up purchasing the wrong stuff, just because there's so many Photography equipments which all share similar names.

I came across this, an umbrella/swivel bracket and stand for £27?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/90cm-Silver-B...graphy_StudioEquipment_RL&hash=item3a65c9b5a4
 
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Flash is great, but when starting out is brings a new set of variables to take into account.

I would say start to learn to shoot in manual in available light getting your exposure right and using a reflector.

Get a reflector and Understanding exposure
 
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