The Merge!

[mblanton]

I am preparing to merge from ametuer photography to professional photography (in as much as I wish to offer my services for payment). I intend to work from my home and will not operate a studio. My plan is to take it slow and start with outdoor portraits and work my way from there.

I have a 10D with battery grip, 17-40L, 28-135IS, 50 mkII 1.8, 75-300IS, and a 420EX flash. I have small tripod that I dislike very much and plan to replace it with a set of carbon fiber legs and fluid ball head very soon. Tommorrow I am purchasing a stroboframe and off camera cord.

On July 7, 2005 I am going to my first meeting of the Heartland Professional Photographers Association and I hope to gain some networking as well as tips of the trade.

I want to concentrate on outdoor portrait photography for now, so I have a couple of questions I would like to pose to the group.

1. Is my equipment going to be adequate or am I going to come up short? What if anything would you recommend that I purchase?

2. I want to put together a portfolio. How many photos does a portfolio usually contain? Can there be multiple photos of the same person?

3. Can you recommend any books, dvds, or websites specifically about posing?

Let's see work on those for now and I will probably have more questions as I progress. Thanks for your help.

Mike

[Harry Settle]

I'll give it a small start:

1) You have adequate equipment to get started.

Start slow and add equipment as you develope the need for it. I would recommend a light meter for this also, even though everyone insists that the on camera metering is "good enough". Do not skimp on a good, sturdy tripod. They don't cost all that much. You are going to want a better flash.

One of the books that helped me out greatly, for all types of portraits, was a book on taking "Senior Photos". I loaned it to a friend so I don't have the author/publisher info.

[blinking8s]

I think if you plan to start with portraits, you might want to get a 85 1.8 and a light meter