Looking for some advice please

[vikki75]

HI,

I'm hoping that there might be someone here who can help me with a few questions that I have in regards to starting my own photography business?

I'm looking at opening a studio to do children's portraits and would just like to know what are the basics that I woudl need. I have been doing some photos at home of my own children with a basic digital camera but obviously I would need a massive upgrade to go professional, to cut a long story short here are the things I would like some advice on.

What camera is best to use
What lighting is best to use.
What is best 'in-studio' printing or sending the images away
What is the best software to edit and make up collections.

Any help would be most gratefully apreciated as i'm still in the early stages of my reasearch.

Kind regards Vikki

[d2creative]

What camera is best to use
The one you know how to use, offers the features you need and feels right in your hands. What do you mean by "basic digital camera"? Are you using a point and shoot? Are you using it on auto mode? Do you know how to shoot manual?

What lighting is best to use.
Strobe lights.

What is best 'in-studio' printing or sending the images away
Depends on how much you want to spend on a printer and ink.

What is the best software to edit and make up collections.
Photoshop CS3 is the best editor. Aperture and Lightroom are two of the best 'wares to manage your photos and do light to moderate editing.

Any help would be most gratefully apreciated as i'm still in the early stages of my reasearch.
I'd say you have a lot more research and learning to do before you can open a successful portrait studio. But that's just me.

[brian.austin]

If you're asking questions at this level, it sounds like you have very little experience with photography. Before making that serious investment for business purposes, I strongly recommend you simply study photography and improve those skills before venturing into the business side of things. Taking snapshots is not the same as structured portrait photography using lighting systems and extensive customer/subject interaction.

Consider picking up a book titled Digital Photography for Children's and Family Portraiture by Kathleen Hawkins. This book cover many of the business aspects of a small family studio, including marketing and skill sets required to make things work smoothly. It actually covers very little of posing and customer interaction. There are several good posing books on the market for that.

If you're just starting out with photography, consider all of Bryan Peterson's books, starting with Understanding Exposure.

Lurk, browse and post questions in PhotoCamel's Lighting forum, which also covers portrait techniques. Keep track of how others are learning and start posting your own portraits in PhotoCamel's Portraits critique forum.

May the Force be with you.

[vikki75]

I am starting 3 courses in photography over the coming months but am doing online research in order to get ideas of the prices and the equiptment that I am going to need.

As sated in my previous post I am only just starting to look into it and was just getting some ideas about what would be the best things to obtain and the places to get them from.

For things like the printing of the pictures they are going to need to be printed either by myself or by another company so an idea of the difference in the costs and what would be the best option are alson needed.

Photography is something I have always been interested in but never had the financial backing to do it, things have changed and i'm now in the position where I can do something about it so in order to give my best i'm doing as much research and courses as possible.

Thank you for your advice, I also have a friend who is a photographer for a magazine so i'm going to start assisting him so i can get some hands on experince

Vikki

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by vikki75

I am starting 3 courses in photography over the coming months but am doing online research in order to get ideas of the prices and the equiptment that I am going to need.

If you're already signed up, great. If not, look at Rocky Mountain School of Photography for a nice set of courses that really throws you into it in a few months, including commercial work.

Lurk through the various manufacturers forums here, like Canon, Nikon, Fuji, etc.. You'll get a better idea of what each can offer and the problems others might be having.

As sated in my previous post I am only just starting to look into it and was just getting some ideas about what would be the best things to obtain and the places to get them from.

There are way, way too many variables to answer these questions in a simple post. It's a learning process.

For things like the printing of the pictures they are going to need to be printed either by myself or by another company so an idea of the difference in the costs and what would be the best option are alson needed.

There are several threads in the Printing forum that cover what you're looking for.

Photography is something I have always been interested in but never had the financial backing to do it, things have changed and i'm now in the position where I can do something about it so in order to give my best i'm doing as much research and courses as possible.

Great! As just a hobbyist, I've spent close to $13-14K on equipment, software, lighting, and classes for this stuff (and I don't print my own). Some do it for less; some do it for more. Budget accordingly.

Thank you for your advice, I also have a friend who is a photographer for a magazine so i'm going to start assisting him so i can get some hands on experince

Vikki

Experience is the best teacher for this stuff. Have fun!