beckonga wrote in post #6045186
I am a new owner of a Canon Rebel XTI and would like to shoot children and families professionally. I prefer to use natural light and natural settings in a photojournalistic approach. A 50 mm f/1.4 lense has been recommended to me as well as some sort of photoshop software (but which one? and how much retouching is typically done on portraits like these) I would like to improve the crispness and color of my photographs and maybe one day start a business. Can any one recommend a book, website, lense, software, etc. to help me learn more? (I tried to attach a photo, but kept getting a mesage that it was the wrong size, even after lowering the quality quite a bit - not sure what I'm doing wrong) Thanks for your help!
I'm assuming that you have not done any professional photography yet, correct? Have you done any kids/families at all, friends/family for practice? Do you have a web site? This forum is a good place to start. I recommend, reading a lot (books (Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson), magazines, web forums). Also, read your cameras manual & then read it again. The 50 1.4 is a good portrait lens, along with many others. How much do you want to spend? The 50 1.8 is also very good, & in expensive. 85 1.8 is awesome. You'll get lots of other recommendations also.
First, you should really learn your camera. Get consistent exposures. Learn how to interact with your subjects. Then you gotta learn how to run a business & that would take me a long time to write up here 
!
