Hello all,

I bought my wife a Canon EOS350 DSLR a couple of years ago, up to now she has used it purely for personal pics of the family and pets etc. She has now been asked by a few people that have seen her pictures to take some family portraits and pictures of their kids, we would like them to look as good as possible so would like some advice about what equipment to buy to get the best shots, maybe a prime lens? she only has the zoom lens that came with the camera, back drops and lighting?

Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Phil.

Hi Phil,

I Shoot professionally a Nikon D3x in my studio - 2x 1000 watt flash lights with 1m Soft Boxes - and 2x 200 watt flash lights with 0.5m Soft Boxes used as fill-in lights.

The larger main lights are triggered by a wireless trigger, the smaller ones are trigger by IR.

I use a 3m wide Vinyl sheet as a white backdrop - no Creases, but it's VERY heavy and requires a dedicated wall support (and it cost's a fair bit!)

I get images such as these from it.

Maybe try something like a Lastolie Highlite backdrop? - It's portable enough, but you will need a few flash lights to use it properly.

Using a cloth backdrop is not great really, as it'll always be full or creases.

Maybe try a roll of paper 1st. - Cheap and cheerful, but it dont last too long!

With regard to a lens, personally, i shoot a Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8 Zoom lens (Set at 125 ISO, 160'th second and F6.3) altho, this is the top of the line Nikkor lens, and not just a kit.

Why not try shooting portrait images our doors 1st?

Something like this, classed as "Lifestyle" photography goes down well.

These are shot with a Nikon D3 and a 70-200 2.8 VR lens.

Ok, think that'll cover it!

Al.

ps. Message to the Mod's - I'm not advertising what i do, just showing which images can be achieved.... hope you dont mind!

I'm also a professional photographer (weddings mostly though I do the portraits and groups for a few local schools) and would suggest that you don't buy any equipment yet, but learn to 'read' the light and find 'good' locations to take pictures. If you can do this, then you will have made the first big step towards creating great pictures.

Once you have got to grips with this, then look at where you are taking pictures (in terms of the background) - does it compliment the clothing that the subject(s) is / are wearing (as an example)

Then move on to thinking about poses, clothing, style, etc. to finish the picture off.

I guarantee thought that if you take a picture in the right place in the right light and make even a half decent stab at posing, you will have pictures much better that 'Uncle Bob'.

Try reading books by Mark Cleghorn or Bjorn Thomassen as a starting point or look at Damien McGillicuddy's or Damien Lovegrove's websites & blogs for lots of free ideas (just don't get disheartened by the quality of their pictures - they are masters of their game!)

Invest money and time in the photographer first, the lenses second and the camera third (and lights fourth).

Can't remember who said that, but I added the last bit... (Sorry Alan - nice lifestyle pics though)

Edited 18 September, 201114 yr by KBPhoto

Thanks for the replies, think we'll try with what we have for now, luckily the people we are shooting first are close friends so it will be a nice relaxed shoot.

Hopefully if all goes well we can get some decent gear in the future, I forget what an expensive game photography is.