SO I got approached last night.....

[canonnoob]

Last night I was shooting some photos for the college ministry I work for( I actually run a small group but last night the college minister wanted some pictures for the website) and I had one of the other older leaders come up to me and start asking about my photography. I told her that right now its really just a hobby but in my off time I would love to start actually working doing it(when im not doing ministry). she said that she had been looking for someone to do family portraits this fall and had someone in mind but said now she will just have me do them... I was like, I dont know what to say. lol I ended up saying yes and that I would love to do them but i thought it was really crazy how that happened. So with my equipment listed below, what do you guys think i need to top off the photog idea? I know i need a flash and a diffuser but what about other lighting? Umbrellas lamps or anything? She said we would be outside in a park in the fall.... so theres a clue...

Let me know what you guys think and thank you for reading all of that i know its kinda long.

[Livinthalife]

I have seen som eamazing pics from the kit lens, so don't let it get you down. not to mention the nifty. You will be fine. Just do the shots at sunset! :)

[canonnoob]

yeah, the kit lens is nice, I really like it for somethings. my nifty has seemed alittle off lately.. dont know why, I need to practice more. I also use a tripod so free hand and shaking wont be a problem for me.

[DunnoWhen]

Before buying any new equipment, study some of the threads and stickies about portraiture here on this forum.

Then go out and practice, practice, practice before posting your results here for people to critrique and to give you their advice.:)

[canonnoob]

hm interesting take on that...

[PhotosGuy]

...study some of the threads and stickies about portraiture here on this forum.
Then go out and practice, practice, practice before posting your results here for people to critrique and to give you their advice And look for locations where you could do this:
VERY simple "outdoor studio" (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=122297) It doesn't get any easier than this.

Or this:
Angeline outdoors (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=483975)

[Bobster]

don't forget to mention your price for the shoot before the day..

[canonnoob]

Thanks for the link frank. I just watched a video concerning off camera flashes and gear, I think I finally understand it all lol. or some at least. the basics. She has a place picked out that i will see in about 2 weeks.. hopefully. So ill take some pictures of it if i can get out there and then show you guys and gals so maybe you all can shoot me some ideas.

[canonnoob]

don't forget to mention your price for the shoot before the day..
See thats the thing... I dont know how much to charge.. I figured I would do a flat shooting fee, then give them a CD of the photos. so they could print their own and not have printing fee unless they need me to.

[Dchemist]

You check this site out, excellent lighting, posing information: http://www.montezucker.com/

[canonnoob]

what do you guys suggest I do about PP? I dont have photoshop and all that jazz and im not super famliar with it.

[i7137]

If you go to the college you speak of inquire with the art school or even libraries as alot of times they will have copies of Photoshop on coputers. Just an idea.

[Dchemist]

You can download a 30 day trial version of Photoshop. If you are in college you can get a copy cheap from Adobe or several distributors. You have to have an ID.

[canonnoob]

im in college yes... how cheap is the student version? anyone know?

[krb]

im in college yes... how cheap is the student version? anyone know?
https://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/index.cfm?store=OLS-EDU&view=ols_prod&category=/Applications/Photoshop&distributionMethod=FULL&nr=0&keyword=photoshop

Don't know how the student prices direct from Adobe compare to what you might find at the college book store, but they are much lower than the normal full versions.

[canonnoob]

Do you guys think I need both PS and Lightroom? or can i just get one or the other? which one do you guys think i should get for post processing?

[krb]

PS should be enough.

[canonnoob]

well wahts the difference in the two? I know photoshop actually edits the images what does lightroom do exactly?

EDIT: nevermind I went and read more closely on it. well do you guys think I should at least get a shoot through umbrella and stand, as well as a flash for off camera?

[tim]

don't forget to mention your price for the shoot before the day..

See thats the thing... I dont know how much to charge.. I figured I would do a flat shooting fee, then give them a CD of the photos. so they could print their own and not have printing fee unless they need me to.

Given your experience you should be paying them to let you take the photos, and get a model release. Even after being a professional wedding photographer for a few years I did my first family portraits for free, cost of prints only. A portfolio is more important than a few dollars from your first job.

[Nicole Faith]

I would suggest you offer for free to start out - think about helping out your portfolio first, not making money. I did many, many free shoots for myself before ever charging. This really worked for me because I was able to take the time needed to get a good portfolio built up - which then led to booking clients off those photos. Thus becoming paying clients!

If you don't have any equipment (or know how to use it) and don't own any software (or know how to use it), then it will be pretty hard to come up with a correct price. It would be hard to compare prices to other examples/photographers because you would be working with next to nothing.

I use both Lightroom and Photoshop and I think this works best. But it's more of once you get comfortable with each program that you will figure out what workflow is best for you. Lightroom groups photos for workflow and addresses the camera settings for adjustment. Photoshop is very important as well though as it lets you fix details. However, the newest version of Lightroom added more Photoshop features to it. I would check out both trials or via your school to see what you think before investing. Either way, you can't go wrong.

[canonnoob]

nicole thats what i think im gunna do and just do it for free the first couple of times... im gunna look into PS and maybe lightroom this weekend... Thanks for the help everyone... i really appreciate it! Keep coming with more if you have more....

[newbie builder]

if you can only get one, lightroom 2 without a doubt over ps. if you are doing very heavy editing, ps is superiour. but now with lightroom 2, i almost never touch ps anymore. it's a fantastic program, and it can help you process thousands of images very quickly.

strobist.com

that's my suggestion--add in some off camera lighting (manual flash+stand+umbrella is a very simple setup that can get nice results without much hassle) and you can get some really nice stuff.

[canonnoob]

well... really i dont know what do to about it... i mean ill probably use it mostly wehn i do portraits or I want some photos printed/ printable. But other than that I wont use PS or LR2 other than to practice and keep my skills up/ learn....

I was thinking about that today... I could get the 530ex? for like 250 or so if im not mistaken... i cant remember how much that usually runs for. but then an umbrella and swivel shouldnt be too expensive right?

[tim]

Photoshop includes Bridge, which has similar functionality to Lightroom, though LR does a bit more. Some people, like me, prefer Bridge.

Read up about Bridge before you make your decision.

[canonnoob]

will do...