Beginner Equipment advice needed

Dust wont damage the front element of your lens and besides a filter will have the same dust on it, the lens hood protects from various angles ie braches from the side top and bottom except straight on, and if a filter does shatter the odds are that whatever caused it would follow through to the lens and damage it anyway plus the shards of filter glass scratching your lens, I have never used a filter in years of photography but l aways use a lens hood and I do find it essential for me
What size card were you referring to with these figures and what camera as the figures would be different depending on the megapixels of the sensor
 
Simon, thank you for such detailed reply and the questions!
I've actually made a list of areas that I need to look into/learn/improve if I want to become professional and steps I need to take in each of the area. I really appreciate your advice about analysing and setting myself exercises and will implement this for sure
I don't have an answer to all of the questions just yet and you have added few for me to think about
My weakest points are back office stuff and post processing as I know nothing about it and I guess there are no shortcuts there right? The only thing I hope is that if I will be able to archive what I want ( the picture I have in mind) when taking the photo, I won't need to process it that much afterwards and use Lightroom instead of Photoshop for example that will save me some time

Photography is something that I always enjoyed, but never took it any further. I have some savings that allow me to purchase some equipment, set up website and spend on courses or master classes. I am currently on maternity leave and I've set myself a 6 month goal, if I will be able to achieve it, I stick to photography and won't return to work and if after 1-2 years nothing will work out, then I find another job and still have nice camera to take photos of my family :)

Are there any online resources that you could suggest that helped you personally?



juggler said:
To digress slightly... you're clearly ambitious and have an aim in mind. How do you plan to achieve that aim? I ask 'cos I haven't been taking photography seriously all that long and I've achieved a degree of competence within a narrow field. However my unusual academic and acrobatic background has made me really quite good at learning stuff and more importantly working out how to learn stuff. If you want to turn pro* in just a year then you're going to have to do the same.

I'm assuming that you are basically a beginner and I'm trying to help you focus on some key skills. I'll start by asking some questions; I'm not expecting you to answer them in public but I think that if you want to turn pro in a year then you should have good answers to all of these:
  • What are you doing to master the controls on your camera?
  • How are you getting familiar with what your various lenses can do for you?
  • How are you learning about composition?
  • How are you getting familiar with the back office stuff - pc maintenance, backups, sensor cleaning, etc?
  • What experiments are you doing to understand how to use light? (Even window light can be used in a huge number of ways. How many can you think of?)
  • What are you doing to teach yourself post processing?
  • How are you developing your portraiture & interaction skills?
  • What are you doing to learn about marketing, book-keeping, social media, business plans and the like?
  • What are you going to do to master print preparation?
  • How are you going to learn about lighting?
  • You say you don't want to pose people but how are you going to learn to create natural looking situations which produce semi-candid shots?
  • How are you going to find about what you haven't even thought of yet?
  • And the hard one.. how are you going to learn to use photography to communicate?
I don't want to turn pro, but I do want to produce professional quality work. And I've got answers to nearly all of those questions.

It boils down to directed practice - it's no good just doing stuff and repeating your mistakes. You have to really think about what you are doing and why, and then you have to analyse the results. For instance you can set yourself exercises to master the camera controls, e.g. use it without looking at the rear or top screen at all, try to use it without looking for the buttons, spend a few weeks exclusively with each of the focus modes in turn and so on. Then work out what went wrong - and regularly ask for feedback.

It is quite possible to learn by muddling through but it will take a lot longer. And it's possible that you have a natural instinct for one or more of the above; realistically that'll only give you a slight head start.

You don't need to restrict yourself to portraiture to devise exercises to improve your skills. You'll need to specialise for a while but if you really are a beginner then not just yet.

It's really worth paying for some 1-1 training if you can find someone good but there are lots of good online resources.

I reckon that if you're working full time at the moment then it might be possible to get enough of those skills together in a year - if you're really focused and do meaningful, directed practice every day. (For instance just today I've worked out that I get slightly more consistent focusing results with a really shallow depth of field at long focal lengths if I use single-shot rather than continuous autofocus mode on my new camera. Over the next few weeks I'll spend some time working out how to get the best out of AF-C on it. Some of that time will be spent photographing passing cars at a variety of angles and distances.)

To do it in a year you'll have to avoid getting bogged down in either lighting or post-processing like I did.

Obviously I've made a lot of assumptions about your current skill level; maybe you can do three quarters of this stuff already. And maybe you learn more quickly than me. I'm not trying to put you off, just sharing an approach which has worked for me.

*there are some photographers who charge money but produce shocking work. I'm assuming that you don't want to produce high volume low grade cheap stuff. If that's your ambition then much of the rest of this post won't really apply.

PS the 85mm focal length works well for considered portraiture; I find it a little bit tricky to use it to catch kids in motion.
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May I offer a little advice find your nearest camera shop no PC world or comet or currys a camera shop mine for reference is mifsuds in Brixham South Devon go and chat with a sales person and physically handle canon Nikon and any other format camera they have to offer and chose which feels right they should if they are any good be able to let you play feel the weight etc which are all important as too heavy and you will notice it when you have done that walk out and go have a serious think. You are not buying a camera you are investing in a system or brand
As has been previously advised I would buy a good second hand one and play then chose your camera you will then be able to make a much more informed descission and with luck won't make a costly mistake you may regret.
When you buy your camera just remember it is just a box thing to record your image getting the right lens on the front of it can make it deliver works of art, try to buy good glass it will make a difference to what you can achieve
I love my Nikon D750 but it's my fourth camera and each has been a treasured possession because they allow me to try to express myself .try to get involved with a camera club but also try and find a workshop with a professional photographer who you think can help you within the area you want to work in
 
Some good advice there Baz re workshop, tuition etc but as for cameras the O.P has already purchased a Canon 6D and 85mm lens
 
Bottom line Irena enjoy it.... it can be frustrating at times but ultimately rewarding as long as you keep and open mind and are willing to learn you will get over the disapointments, we all have them but you seem to have the right mindset in wanting to learn as Simon states, and taking workshops is a great way on these first steps to improve, theres literally thousands upon thousands of sites which will assist you plus members on here to advise you, just ask the relevent questions and there will be advice and help but like any hobby its about practise and familiarity, the more you do it the better you become
As for resources can you be more specific as what you wish to know do you mean technique, basic camera settings, subject or some thing else
 
Iren said:
Thanks!
So hood is not just to protect lens, but also improve/change the outcome/images!?
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The primary purpose of a lens hood is to improve the image! The fact that it happens to add some physical protection from damage to the front of the lens is incidental. I was a bit startled by this response, so I checked back to your original post.

Iren said:
Hi!
I need advice on what is the best equipment to purchase if I am planning to specialise in family/portrait photography. Outdoors or in doors with daylight
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I'm rather startled that someone who knows so little about photography and the behaviour of light is asking for advice on kit for starting out on a career as a professional photographer specialising in family/portrait photography. You have such a lot to learn that what you should be buying is a basic educational starter kit. Given how little natural intuition about the behaviour of light you've acquired in all the years you've been using a pair of eyes there's a strong possibility you'll get annoyed by the amount of boring technical detail you'll be faced with learning. My guess is that as you start walking about with your camera and working your way through the camera manual you'll pretty soon find your 85mm lens annoyingly restrictive.

You are planning to work your way through the camera manual aren't you? You may find it's too technical for you, in which case you mustn't give up on it, but go an get an introductory textbook written for novice users of your model of camera. If as I suspect you don't easily pick up knowledge from books I suggest you go along to your local library and enquire about photography classes.

I don't like pouring cold water on someone expressing an enthusiasm about photography, but you sound like a kid who's decided to become a portrait painter and is asking for advice about the best brush.
 
I did try to avoid the 'you haven't got a clue about photography but fancy a career change' angle. Because I know that people have managed to do what the OP is planning.

But: those people were ludicrously driven, and the OP is a month into her 6 month plan and no further forward.

The photography part should be the easiest thing to learn, and we don't appear to have got close to a basic understanding of what might be required photographically, there's a huge difference between believing you can achieve an image and working out how it's done. The more usual route of course is for an experienced and knowledgeable photographer to decide to start a business part time.

I wish Irina well but I'd expect to be critiquing some practice sessions by now if we're only 5 months from hanging a 'for hire' sign.
 
:)
i knew that i'll be getting this sort of replies. I have no illusions and i know it would take me a lot of time to get there (if i wont give up half way), but i will always regret if i wont try.

As you said, ive started with camera manual and going through it and learning my way around the settings etc. I will certainly read/take course or masterclass etc as well as practice whenever possible and of cource post my photos in the relevant sections of this forum to get some feedback

chris malcolm said:
The primary purpose of a lens hood is to improve the image! The fact that it happens to add some physical protection from damage to the front of the lens is incidental. I was a bit startled by this response, so I checked back to your original post.



I'm rather startled that someone who knows so little about photography and the behaviour of light is asking for advice on kit for starting out on a career as a professional photographer specialising in family/portrait photography. You have such a lot to learn that what you should be buying is a basic educational starter kit. Given how little natural intuition about the behaviour of light you've acquired in all the years you've been using a pair of eyes there's a strong possibility you'll get annoyed by the amount of boring technical detail you'll be faced with learning. My guess is that as you start walking about with your camera and working your way through the camera manual you'll pretty soon find your 85mm lens annoyingly restrictive.

You are planning to work your way through the camera manual aren't you? You may find it's too technical for you, in which case you mustn't give up on it, but go an get an introductory textbook written for novice users of your model of camera. If as I suspect you don't easily pick up knowledge from books I suggest you go along to your local library and enquire about photography classes.

I don't like pouring cold water on someone expressing an enthusiasm about photography, but you sound like a kid who's decided to become a portrait painter and is asking for advice about the best brush.
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Thanks Phil!
I am not keen to go into the details, but yes i know little about photography/processing/light etc and i know that having expensive camera and lens wont be enough to take photos and charge money for them. However after 10 years in marketing/research area i feel its time for a change and i do have some ambitions, but no illusions

If in 6 month i get bored with all the techincal stuff and wont progress, theb i'll return to work; if in 2 years i wont get to the business lever, i'll return to my field

Hope all the lovely people who commented here, would be kind enough to comment on the photos once i post them


Phil V said:
I did try to avoid the 'you haven't got a clue about photography but fancy a career change' angle. Because I know that people have managed to do what the OP is planning.

But: those people were ludicrously driven, and the OP is a month into her 6 month plan and no further forward.

The photography part should be the easiest thing to learn, and we don't appear to have got close to a basic understanding of what might be required photographically, there's a huge difference between believing you can achieve an image and working out how it's done. The more usual route of course is for an experienced and knowledgeable photographer to decide to start a business part time.

I wish Irina well but I'd expect to be critiquing some practice sessions by now if we're only 5 months from hanging a 'for hire' sign.
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Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

Regarding resources, once i get through the manuals that came with the camera, i would like to read/learn more advanced stuff about camera settings. Moreover, some resources on composition and how to work with different light would be handy. I am not going to image processing just yet, so more about what i can get out of my camera and about settings in different light/conditions

GordH said:
Bottom line Irena enjoy it.... it can be frustrating at times but ultimately rewarding as long as you keep and open mind and are willing to learn you will get over the disapointments, we all have them but you seem to have the right mindset in wanting to learn as Simon states, and taking workshops is a great way on these first steps to improve, theres literally thousands upon thousands of sites which will assist you plus members on here to advise you, just ask the relevent questions and there will be advice and help but like any hobby its about practise and familiarity, the more you do it the better you become
As for resources can you be more specific as what you wish to know do you mean technique, basic camera settings, subject or some thing else
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Iren said:
In regards to card, I actually have 32mb not Gb, each photo weight around 4-5mb I could take only 5!
RAW is switched off, but JPEG on largest possible
I had this memory card for long time, so looks like I need to get 32GB instead
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32Mb is insanely small for modern photography - I'm currently using a set of 8GB cards and sometimes find those are restrictive, so yes get a 16 or 32 GB or two as a matter of priority (even when i started with digital about 12 years ago 32Mb was small - I think the smallest card i ever used with my 300D was 256MB )
 
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big soft moose said:
32Mb is insanely small for modern photography - I'm currently using a set of 8GB cards and sometimes find those are restrictive, so yes get a 16 or 32 GB or two as a matter of priority (even when i started with digital about 12 years ago 32Mb was small - I think the smallest card i ever used with my 300D was 256MB )
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Got 32GB this morning and it looks much better now, will be enough for sure!
Thanks
 
definitely get more than 1 card though, if you are doing paid work - you need to have a back up in case you fill it/ lose it/ corrupt it etc - if nothing else I like to put a card in the camera everytime i take one out so that I never get that 'ooh crap moment' where you arrive at a job only to realise your card is still in your card reader at home (the same is true for batteries)
 
I think you'll have a very steep learning curve, my advice is practice practice practice, you have the camera, you have a decent lens, now take photos, at different apertures, shutter speeds, understand exposure, you have the AV, TV priority modes on the camera, use and understand the aperture shutter pairing, understand the effect of ISO, fill a gallery with images so you can use it as a training aid to get the right setting for a set of light conditions. Use you friends to help you practice, but you'll need to understand the processing of images as well, especially if you going to take raw, it's not something you can leave to later. Perhaps join a camera club, or get yourself out on some photography meets, ask questions, look at people's galleries, look at camera settings, it's going to be a challenge for you and a lot of hard work, I wish you well in your endeavours
 
big soft moose said:
definitely get more than 1 card though, if you are doing paid work - you need to have a back up in case you fill it/ lose it/ corrupt it etc - if nothing else I like to put a card in the camera everytime i take one out so that I never get that 'ooh crap moment' where you arrive at a job only to realise your card is still in your card reader at home (the same is true for batteries)
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Thanks for advice, I def will do that at later stage, I am still very far away from any paid work :)
 
pete.rush said:
I think you'll have a very steep learning curve, my advice is practice practice practice, you have the camera, you have a decent lens, now take photos, at different apertures, shutter speeds, understand exposure, you have the AV, TV priority modes on the camera, use and understand the aperture shutter pairing, understand the effect of ISO, fill a gallery with images so you can use it as a training aid to get the right setting for a set of light conditions. Use you friends to help you practice, but you'll need to understand the processing of images as well, especially if you going to take raw, it's not something you can leave to later. Perhaps join a camera club, or get yourself out on some photography meets, ask questions, look at people's galleries, look at camera settings, it's going to be a challenge for you and a lot of hard work, I wish you well in your endeavours
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Thanks for encouragement and helpful tips, really appreciate it!

For the little time I been practising, I found that soft setting for portrait mode, when shooting outside when it's little cloudy, gives me very nice photos compared to standard settings and it's such a great feeling to finally see something decent after thinking what the hell I am doing wrong. Of course it's just a small example and with the lens, with no zoom and I have to stand little further and move around a lot which is not bad as well.
 
Iren said:
Thanks Phil!
I am not keen to go into the details, but yes i know little about photography/processing/light etc and i know that having expensive camera and lens wont be enough to take photos and charge money for them. However after 10 years in marketing/research area i feel its time for a change and i do have some ambitions, but no illusions

If in 6 month i get bored with all the techincal stuff and wont progress, theb i'll return to work; if in 2 years i wont get to the business lever, i'll return to my field

Hope all the lovely people who commented here, would be kind enough to comment on the photos once i post them
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Again, I don't want to put you off, but the photography technical stuff is both the easy bit and the least important. Add in the other technical skills of posing and lighting, which many experienced photographers never really get the hang of, and are a constantly moving feast due to fashion.

People photography is about people skills, and running a successful business is about marketing skills (fortunately you appear to have this in hand).
 
GordH said:
Some good advice there Baz re workshop, tuition etc but as for cameras the O.P has already purchased a Canon 6D and 85mm lens
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that'll teach me for skimming posts lol
 
Phil V said:
Again, I don't want to put you off, but the photography technical stuff is both the easy bit and the least important. Add in the other technical skills of posing and lighting, which many experienced photographers never really get the hang of, and are a constantly moving feast due to fashion.

People photography is about people skills, and running a successful business is about marketing skills (fortunately you appear to have this in hand).
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Ill keep that in mind
Thanks
 
big soft moose said:
yeah your right , my mistake its an EF mount ( I was thinking of the cheap 24mm which is an EFs)

with regard to the 50mm , the mk2 was a bit of a bag of crap - it wasnt great optically, focussing was slow and the build quality sucked like a ten dollar whore
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Frankly that's a load of crap - the 50mm F1.8 is incredibly sharp from F2.8 onwards - easily as sharp as an L glass lens, and it may be light and made of mainly plastic, but I have used one for years now and even dropped it a couple of times with no ill effects.

And at about £90.00 for a new one it's the best value lens Canon Make.

Perhaps if you had invested in better class whores you would appreciate good class lenses - :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Iren said:
Simon, thank you for such detailed reply and the questions!
I've actually made a list of areas that I need to look into/learn/improve if I want to become professional and steps I need to take in each of the area. I really appreciate your advice about analysing and setting myself exercises and will implement this for sure
I don't have an answer to all of the questions just yet and you have added few for me to think about
My weakest points are back office stuff and post processing as I know nothing about it and I guess there are no shortcuts there right? The only thing I hope is that if I will be able to archive what I want ( the picture I have in mind) when taking the photo, I won't need to process it that much afterwards and use Lightroom instead of Photoshop for example that will save me some time

Photography is something that I always enjoyed, but never took it any further. I have some savings that allow me to purchase some equipment, set up website and spend on courses or master classes. I am currently on maternity leave and I've set myself a 6 month goal, if I will be able to achieve it, I stick to photography and won't return to work and if after 1-2 years nothing will work out, then I find another job and still have nice camera to take photos of my family :)

Are there any online resources that you could suggest that helped you personally?
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Whatever camera you have one of the most important things is that you should be so used to it you hardly notice it when working.

It should just be a tool in much the same way a wrench is a tool to a plumber.

And to get to that stage you have to practice and practice and practice again.

When I'm taking photos of children I can take literally hundreds if time allows just to capture all the different expressions etc then whittle them down to the really good ones.

If you try to get a particular picture "the picture I have in mind" then you will fail disastrously because children are a law unto themselves and will easily get upset and fractious if forced into doing something they don't want to do.

You MUST also learn PP too because that can turn an ordinary photo into a special one and there are definitely no shortcuts there - but of course the advice and help on here is invaluable so use it as much as possible.

But frankly you have a very long road ahead and I personally would advise you NOT to leave your job, but to learn all you can first and even then just do it gradually as a sideline until you are good enough to actaully be able to make a living at it full time.
.
 
petersmart said:
Frankly that's a load of crap - the 50mm F1.8 is incredibly sharp from F2.8 onwards - easily as sharp as an L glass lens,
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sorry, but that's a load of crap - I've used the 50 f1.8 for many years to and it is in no way as sharp as L glass - hell its not even as sharp as the sigma 50 1.4 - for the money its a nice enough lens, but the mk2 in particular was a bit of a bag of crap build quality wise - I had one break into three when it dropped 2ft onto a carpeted floor, its built down to a price so these things are to be expected. - ther upside being that given you can get them for £25 on ebay if they do break every now and then its not the end of the world (and the new STM model is supposed to be a signficantly better built than the mk2)
 
 
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oh goody pixel peeping, because that has so much relevance to the real world :facepalm:

and yeah it works with ext tubes - although for the price of some decent tubes and the lens you could buy a 60 or 90 macro second hand which would also be a superior portrait lens
 
big soft moose said:
oh goody pixel peeping, because that has so much relevance to the real world :facepalm:

and yeah it works with ext tubes - although for the price of some decent tubes and the lens you could buy a 60 or 90 macro second hand which would also be a superior portrait lens
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Well pixel peeping does have relevance to the real world in that it can easily show who is right.

And since extension tubes can be used with any lens why bother buying a macro lens if you don't need to?

And the 50mm also makes an excellent portrait lens especially when photographing children.
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