Just Starting

Hello everyone. I am just getting started in this photo hobby that excites me so much. I need a bit of advice, I tried searching the forums but couldn't find my answer. I currently am using a fuji finepix s7000, but I have a rebel xt that a friend of mine is about to sell me. I want to take engagement pictures and portraits. I have alot of clients just waiting for me to get started believe it or not...alot due to the fact that I already do webpages for weddings. So my question is, will the rebel xt be good enough to achieve what I am doing, and at what point will I need to upgrade. Also, I have no idea what lenses I will need to get the portrait effects that I see in some engagement pics. Finally lenses, filters and flashes....where do I began. I know I want to be able to take pictures remotely and have the flash go off when I snap. I know this is alot of questioning, and I hope I don't get any newbie hate replies for my ignorances. For those that respond, thanks in advance.

There's loads to read here in the forums.

If your bent in engagement pictures is towards studio type work, then you probably want kit slanted towards studio work. That means studio lighting, a background setup and a light meter will all be amongst your wish list, and your lens choices may well be good quality but still relatively inexpensive primes. This isn't an area of photography where I'm an expert, so I'll leave detailed advice to others.

For outdoors / events type work, you'll probably be looking at high quality (and therefore expensive) zooms as your primary lenses, maybe some inexpensive fast primes, and a quality flash, flash bracket and probably external battery.


Either way, the XT will do fine - though think about what happens if you have a camera go down during a paid for shoot.


Some more ideas about the type of work you're wanting to do and exactly what budget you have in mind would help.

David

I'd definitely get a backup body. You know about Murphy's Law, don't you? There are varying opinions about lenses, but the constant is that you should purchase something that is able to shoot in lower light. I found it helpful to have a wider angle zoom available for the group shots. A sturdy tripod is also a must as are plenty of memory cards. I think David has covered everything else.

I agree with Liza (as usual) about getting a backup body if you are going to be serious about your photography. That's the next thing on my list of "needs".

As to the XT; I have one and really like most of it. Some limitations I see are that is has poor autofocusing in low light and too much noise at higher ISO levels.

Take care,
Harry