Could you use the Canon XSi to start photography business!

FYI....If you use the little " button with the + sign next to the "quote" button you can quote multiple responses at once and respond to them all in one post. It makes life easier.

Just Be wrote in post #5487803
Again, welcome TLOWE!

FYI. We have a lot of very smart folks who love to help out and a few smart asses who mean well.

When I first started out I had an Elan IIE and a kit lens. I still have many portraits of my daughter decorating my walls that still hold up to my new pixel peeping ways. I still use the same strobes I started out with. SP systems is a fine brand and reasonably priced, although knowing what I know now I would buy Alien Bees.

Good advice if you are doing this for paying clients is buy whatever gear you can afford (2) of. I own (2) Xti and love them.

Haha! Thanks I know what you mean! I work with a few smart ass's!!!

Good advice, it will definaltey be useful!

Thanks so much & have a great day!

sevillafox wrote in post #5487808
FYI....If you use the little " button with the + sign next to the "quote" button you can quote multiple responses at once and respond to them all in one post. It makes life easier.

Oh thanks! Im "blonde"! =) That does sound easier!

sevillafox wrote in post #5487808
FYI....If you use the little " button with the + sign next to the "quote" button you can quote multiple responses at once and respond to them all in one post. It makes life easier.

I've been here for 3 years and this is the first time I really noticed the '+'! I need no glasses or I'm just old!

TLOWE113 - Welcome to the forum.

Hikin Mike wrote in post #5487846
I've been here for 3 years and this is the first time I really noticed the '+'! I need no glasses or I'm just old!

TLOWE113 - Welcome to the forum.

Thanks! I am glad I wasnt the only one!

sevillafox wrote in post #5487808
FYI....If you use the little " button with the + sign next to the "quote" button you can quote multiple responses at once and respond to them all in one post. It makes life easier.

Hahaha wow, I never knew about that. Thanks!

papermoon wrote in post #5484842
shooting with high-quality lenses on a lower-end DSLR body is better than shooting with crappy lenses on the best body out there.

I'm about to shoot this theory to hell in June.

Sorry, I was making a little joke at your expense. =)

http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Pencil_Thin_Mus​tache

In this song, Jimmy Buffet nostalgically opines that if he had a Pencil Thin Mustache that he could be or could have been a suave ladies man who wandered around solving mysteries. Think Rhett Butler crossed with 'Murder she wrote'. In other words, he had everything else in his life except for this one small detail that prevented him from emulating his heros and scoring.

I think a lot of posts here start off saying the same thing, 'Hey if I had X camera could I be a great photographer?'. It's a cart before the horse kinda thing. Get your photography skills up, and your interpersonal skills up and your business skills up and it wont matter which camera and lens you use. To a small extent some people won't use a pro who isnt using top level gear but _nobody_ wants a pro who is laking in experience, vision and solid business sense.

Keep in mind that I'm an amateur who only shoots stuff to please himself... I never wanted to be a pro shooter and I never will. I have tons of respect for those who can balance the business/eye side of things and even more respect for those that have realized that building their business on something that everyone can do but few can do really well has got to be continually challenging. This is not to mention all of the hassles that modern digital technology have added which make everything infinitely copyable, removing the bread and butter of the historic photographer's income: reprints and print packages. It's not an easy life but there are some great people out there who are courageous enough to get through all that despite the legions of soccer moms and uncle fred amateurs who think they can do this as a profitable side business, and I have to give them props even tho I know that I don't want to be on either side of that issue.

If you want a real education as to what I'm talking about, see all 17 pages of:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=61210

I started selling pictures with the Rebel XT and 50mm f/1.8 II. A rebel XSi would be more than good enough. It's about using it well enough so people like your work.

I have an XTi and I have a job as a photographer

Follow up, just found a new photo business blog that answers a lot of your specific questions:

Beyond just making extra money:
http://prophotolife.co​m …tra-money-in-photography/

How much do pro photographers make?
http://prophotolife.co​m …ional-photographers-make/

Decisions about photo education:
http://prophotolife.co​m …-about-a-photo-education/

Yes it is, I started with a Rebel XT..if you shoot raw it really doesn't matter what camera you use because raw is raw regardless of the camera..all raw is the same.

Shooting wrote in post #5518588
Yes it is, I started with a Rebel XT..if you shoot raw it really doesn't matter what camera you use because raw is raw regardless of the camera..all raw is the same.

Thanks for the advice!

Shooting wrote in post #5518588
Yes it is, I started with a Rebel XT..if you shoot raw it really doesn't matter what camera you use because raw is raw regardless of the camera..all raw is the same.

Yeah, that's definitely BS. Hate to break it to you, but a RAW file out of a 1Ds MkIII is an awful lot different than a RAW file out of a D Rebel...

Shooting wrote in post #5518588
Yes it is, I started with a Rebel XT..if you shoot raw it really doesn't matter what camera you use because raw is raw regardless of the camera..all raw is the same.

If this were true they'd sell very few Mark 3's.

Kurt