Studio Portraits?

[jonaatewong]

hey guys im a pretty amateur photographer with an Canon Rebel XT and i want to get into doing studio portraits but you obviously need very expensive equipment to do so. how can i sort of break into getting into that type of photography? any suggestions?

[perfeng702]

don't have to have very expensive equipment. do lots of reading... check out strobist.

[jonaatewong]

whats strobist?

[yuriyo923]

strobist.com.. website for off camera flash kinda thing..

[egordon99]

Canon Rebel+kit lens+inexpensive Genesis strobe kit (from Calumet I beleive) should get you there. Less than $1000 too!

[[godfather]]

Yup, no need to buy expensive stuff, before you get known to your needs.

[DarksideTi]

How to get great studio shots: Upgrade your camera to something that costs at LEAST $4000, buy 10k worth of studio lights and make sure there is nothing in your studio that costs less then $500...that goes for light stand and sand bags as well. :D

ok....well, maybe not. Honestly, you can get great results with some homemade diffusion panels, strong work lights and paper backdrops, you can get all of that for about $125, it's all about controling the light. Strobist is a great way to go as well, but honestly, you can pickup some inexpensive studio lights for the same about of money it would cost to do a strobist set up. Start with "house" brands, maybe 2 lights with umbrellas, you can do this for as little as $250 (maybe less), not "high" quality stuff, but it's a great place to start. Once you have it down, and are hooked, you will be giving your bank account or credit card a serious workout.

opps, I forgot to mention, google "DIY Photography", you can get some great ideas that way, also check ebay for studio lights, you can find some cheap stuff there to get you started. There is also a thread here somewhere (excuse my noobishness) that has a whole bunch of lighting set-ups to try)

[Cathpah]

opps, I forgot to mention, google "DYI Photography", you can get some great ideas that way, also check ebay for studio lights, you can find some cheap stuff there to get you started. There is also a thread here somewhere (excuse my noobishness) that has a whole bunch of lighting set-ups to try)


ahem, you'll have better luck if you search for "DIY photography" as I believe the acronym is do it yourself....haha.

Oh Ti, aren't you glad I can follow you around and be your spellcheck :twisted:

Us Mainers gotta keep eachother in line! see you tonight buddy.

[DarksideTi]

ahem, you'll have better luck if you search for "DIY photography" as I believe the acronym is do it yourself....haha.

Oh Ti, aren't you glad I can follow you around and be your spellcheck :twisted:

Us Mainers gotta keep eachother in line! see you tonight buddy.

I R ePiC pHaiL :( .. ...I will edit right now sorry OP [/threadjack]

[jaykilgore]

You can do it with a digi rebel. My first ever published images came with a Digi rebel, the original one when it was new.

It's more on your lighting and people relationship, than anything else.

If you're just starting out, I'd strongly recommend you NOT go the "strobist" way of doing it. It will be more headache than it's worth. Get yourself a good strobe, photogenic AKC320 for 220.00 and a stand and softbox. You'll be more than on your way to getting great images!