Should I get started in portrait photography?

[SnowManZ]

Let me just start off by saying that I did a boxing shoot at my local gym tonight. After the fights I was showing one of my buddies some of his pics of his match. He commented that he loved the shots and would like to do a boxing photo shoot with him and another friend, and he said he would pay me. He would also like poster size prints to be done, or at least large size prints, I only have a 350D.

We are just acquaintances, and I have no idea how much to charge for something like that. The other part is that I don't even have an external flash.

I was told a while back from a successful professional photographer, that I should never get into portrait shooting because they often times go broke. That has stuck with me, and I have never really been interested in it, and therefore have never wanted to invest in the equipment needed for it.

What are some of the minimum things that I should need, taking that he wants them taken in the ring. But if I can convince him to do it out of the ring, the background is horrible, should I get a backdrop or just find a nice place to shoot?

A couple flashes on stands with soft boxes? Wireless triggers? What kind of things?

I need some specifics please.

[Stackinchips]

You could definetly go the strobist route. I was going that route for some time... (shooting normal falshes into umbrella's etc) but finally moved up to the professional strobes 2 weeks agoa nd couldn't be happier. But the strobist thinking is also very economical and works great for space, time and budget. Check em out at:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/

[OKCPhotogrpaher]

There is money to be made in portraits, just dont give up your day job.
If you are going to buy a couple of canon brand falshes you might also look at alien bee strobes before you buy a 580ex or two, for a studio light they are fairly reasonable also.
As far as pricing you should be able to get at least 50-75 for a location shoot fee and then price the photos accordingly so you will make some money when he orders prints, look at some of your local photographers for pricing in your area.
Good Luck!
Dale

[SnowManZ]

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Awesome thank you. But what about their starving student kit that use cheap vivitars, or something similar used with some sigma 500 super's? Those can be obtained for relitave cheapness.


As far as pricing you should be able to get at least 50-75 for a location shoot fee and then price the photos accordingly so you will make some money when he orders prints


Alright thanks for the help, I for some reason thought that it would be around 100 bucks for a shoot plus prints. I didn't want to screw him over, so thanks again. But I did want to offset my problem of having to buy all these strobes and umbrellas.

[milleker]

I never wanted to do portraiture when I started Photography - I tried it because I wanted fresh things to photography that haven't been photographed millions of times before. Its fun, so yes - you should get started in portrait photography. ;)

[PhotosGuy]

But what about their starving student kit that use cheap vivitars, or something similar Light is light. They work pretty good as long as you don't need to shoot fast & impress your clients with studio strobes.

FAQ - Studio Lighting (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66140)