Photographers Please Help

[robfisher]

My daughter is wanting to make a little extra money for college with her camera skills. But we are on a very tight budget and can't afford all the equipment she really needs. I do not doubt her abilities. She has shown the sills required to excel in photography. Her artistic composition skills and abilities to weave story into the shot are extraordinary.

Now it's my turn to step up and we are on an extremely tight budget. What camera(s) and what computer/program will she need to do things marketable like weddings and portraits. She's thinking just on location shooting, no studio.

Can any of you pros point me in a direction and give me a minimalist budget concept? She's been looking in the $1000 range for the camera, but throw in lenses(if needed), a computer and program and I'm already beyond my limits.

Any ideas?

[planovet]

Ask the Dog (caseydog).

[BILLYL]

Ask the Dog (caseydog).

Yep - ask Casey - he does some amazing stuff.......

[cuyeda]

You may get various answers to a broad subject. There are the two most popular brands of cameras Nikon and Canon. I use a Canon, and don't know the Nikon market. For the Canon camp, The Canon Rebels give you a good bang for your buck. The Rebel category usually churns out some really nice features for under $1000. I bought my Canon T3i with kit lens for $849.00.

The lenses costs more than the camera body. A fast lens will make a difference in creative control, especially in lower light scenes.

For software, you may consider the Adobe Elements 10. It provides enough tools for a budding photographer on a budget to afford. The nice thing about learning Adobe Elements, most of the features can cross over to the more expensive Adobe Photoshop when you can afford the entire suite. So it's not like you are starting all over learning new software when you upgrade in the Adobe family.

There are various tutorials, and newsletters geared to learning the features and tricks of the trade. http://www.timgrey.com is one example of the free newsletter for Adobe Elements and Lightroom.

[ssrjim]

Keep in mind Adobe gives student (and teachers) really good discounts. The 700 dollar Photo shop is 200 after discount. If you are going to make money get the program the pro use, Photoshop.

[GuitarPhotog]

I'm a working professional commercial photographer. Having a camera and some photographic skill is not necessarily a road to money.

The photographers who are making money in this market are those who understand marketing and how to connect with their customers. For every successful wedding photographer there are dozens or even hundreds of "craigslist wannabes" who do nothing but drive prices down and produce crappy quality.

If your daughter is serious about making a living at photography, she should take as many marketing and sales courses as she can and concentrate on building a large, strong network of contacts.

<Chas>

[Shanty]

For software, you could consider GIMP. There is a free version to try out if you like it. Almost as good as Photoshop, and very cheap at $free. Plenty of tutorials on youtube, too.

[Mikka]

My daughter is wanting to make a little extra money for college with her camera skills. But we are on a very tight budget and can't afford all the equipment she really needs. I do not doubt her abilities. She has shown the sills required to excel in photography. Her artistic composition skills and abilities to weave story into the shot are extraordinary.

Now it's my turn to step up and we are on an extremely tight budget. What camera(s) and what computer/program will she need to do things marketable like weddings and portraits. She's thinking just on location shooting, no studio.

Can any of you pros point me in a direction and give me a minimalist budget concept? She's been looking in the $1000 range for the camera, but throw in lenses(if needed), a computer and program and I'm already beyond my limits.

Any ideas?

Don't know about cameras, but I can tell you that my friend's daughter in law is making a killing taking pictures of pregnant belly's and babies, As a matter in fact that's the name of her business "Babies and belly's"

[eaglesdare]

i don't think you have to break the bank for the camera. its the skill of the photographer that makes a difference. i could use a $1,000 camera and still get pictures that look just like my point and shoot. but someone with skill could take my point and shoot and produce pictures that looks like they used the $1,000 camera. the magic isn't in the camera, its in the photographer.
just make sure the camera is one of those that you can change out the lens. lenses can be rented also. perhaps rent first and see which she likes, then save. my friend rents lenses, because they are so expensive.

i have heard good things about gimp. with it being free, that is a great choice.
i have been using adobe elements forever, started with 4, its up to 10 now. that is a great program for under $100. user friendly for the most part. if you can get photoshop at a decent price, that would be great also. i just can't justify the price tag of the program for what i do.

[gregp136]

I have to agree with Guitarphotog. The Art of Photography is similar to other art. It is all about marketing.

Greg(and Laurie)

[robfisher]

Thank you all for all the great advise so far. Totally agree about the marketing piece. My daughter has watched me and listened as I've talked about marketing my own businesses over the years and she seems to have a firm grasp on the concepts. This past 3 years of totally reinventing myself has been invaluable to her I think. We've discussed lots of errors made leading up to my own personal economic crash and the steps of reinvention and marketing.

She has proven to be a force when it comes to setting her goals and achieving them. The school she is going to attend, while certainly not traditional, is very centered on the marketing of ideas, the presentation and selling of oneself. Even in middle and high school my daughter has proven that a "no" answer usually means they just don't have enough information yet and she starts over. Unlike her mom and I this girl is an overachiever all the way. It's been our goal as parents to slow her down a little. She wanted to grow up. We thought she should have at least some childhood. As it is she completed middle school in 2 years and is doing high school in 3. That's a slow as we could get her to go.

[rich5665]

I took a coarse awhile back, the instructor was a wild life photographer. He did a shoot for National Geographic. Took 3000+ photos, just to have 5 printed in the magazine. As for cameras, I agree that Canon and Nikon are at the top, Sony, Olympus and Pentax also make nice DSLRs. I would stay away from the entry level cameras from all the manufacturers and have your daughter look at the enthusiast/semi professional models. I believe they start right around $1000,

Sony Alpha A55
Nikon D7000 or D90
Canon EOS 60D
Pentax k-5
Olympus E-5

Stay away from "Kit" lenses and zooms they tend to be slow f/4.0-5.6
A few Telephoto lens maybe f/2.0 or f2.8 like an 85mm, 100mm or 135mm would be good to have if just a little expensive.

Gimp is a great photo tool for the price (free) Photoshop is better but expensive. If you have never worked with either one, it can be frustrating.

Oh, also invest in a photo printer. Epson and Canon make the best, HPs are consumer printer and in my opinion great for the kids to print their homework on.

But the best recommendation that I could make is to go into a reputable camera shop or studio and talk to a professional.

In the end though, it's the person behind the lens and not the camera that makes a great photo.

[Pizzaguy]

Pizza is my profession...... photography is my passion! With that said, get the best equipment that you can afford. $1000 would barely be a starting point to get started in that profession. But then again I've seen many awesome shots taken with small point & shoot cameras. Digital has taken the profession to a whole new world. Just surf thru http://www.flickr.com/ and you'll see what I mean.

Now if your daughter has an interest in photography by all means get her a sub $1K DSLR body and a Kit Lens and let her explore her interests. Once she has decided that photography is something she'd like to get into as a profession she can upgrade her equipment.

A few websites for her to explore would be........

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

B&H is run out of NY City by a couple of Jews. They are THE PREMIER online retailer for photography equipment in the country. You may find stuff slightly cheaper elsewhere but you'll never get their level of service ANYWHERE. THESE GUYS ROCK!!

http://www.dpreview.com/

Digital Photography Review is a great site for research. They offer camera & lenses reviews and tips. They have a very active forum that can answer just about any question she may have.

Now as far as software I'd actually highly recommend Adobe Lightroom. Adobe Photoshop is geared more towards Graphic Designers and the such. Lightroom has a great interface that allows you to store & catalog your images. It also allows you to do everything that Photoshop does in adjusting exposure and light levels and IMHO is much better for photographers. Photoshop like I said is more for combining different images together with words and geared more towards graphic design.

[Pizzaguy]

I shoot Nikon..... My main body is a D300s about $1600.

My next 2 lenses that I hope to aquire in the next year are....

Nikon 17-55 f2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/300490-USA/Nikon_2147_17_55mm_f_2_8G_ED_IF_AF_S.html

$1400++

Nikon 70-200 f2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/644741-USA/Nikon_2185_AF_S_Nikkor_70_200mm_f_2_8G.html

$2400++

There goes your budget!

Ya might wanna look into a 2nd mortgage!!

But then again I have a set of pizza ovens in my shop that were $30,000++ and a POS computor system that set me back $20K.

Bruce

[TheBizMan]

Don't know about cameras, but I can tell you that my friend's daughter in law is making a killing taking pictures of pregnant belly's and babies, As a matter in fact that's the name of her business "Babies and belly's"

Thats the real trick. Find a nitch market and go after it. Specialize in one type and get really really good at it and you can make money.