Advice on starting out requested

Cyrus

I know there are a few keen photographers on here so any advice appreciated.

Mrs C is currently retired from the corporate world to look after our 2 girls and as a family it’s working out great for us. She has now expressed an interest in doing some part time work. She is an excellent phone photographer and has captured some amazing pics down the years so is thinking about dabbling a little in doing family photography sessions locally. 

If she is serious about this can anyone advise what camera set up would be best for those kind of shots (family portraits , kids, indoor and outdoor ) and if there is any particular course you could recommend to get her started ? Also what editing software is best for this kind of work.

appreciate there is more to this than just getting a camera and getting started but she has a good eye and it’s worth looking in to at least.

also are there recommended courses she could do or are there YouTubers that do it as well and she should start there ?

manna452121

You will have to let people know your Budget.Youtube is full of advise and free courses

Cyrus

Yes I think YouTube is a good start and take it fro there , I guess we could spend up to 1k on equipment if it made sense but I’d rather spend less 😂

manna452121

You could have a look at something like this https://store.canon.ie/canon-powershot-sx70-hs/3071C011/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAv8SsBhC7ARIsALIkVT0RGh6-Blo6659b2_KP3VlQLlq_KtH0b6SzaSrNPk20lVUgjrQVLQMaAj2ZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Kurooi

Normally people will encourage you to spend as little as possible and get started, but if this is supposed to be a business, people come in and pay to get photos taken you can hardly take out an iphone and click a photo against the wall. So you will want to spend a bit to look professional, if anything. 1k For a camera set up is a good start. For a camera set up and everything else you need... it's tighter.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be thinking get a second hand body or even a body + lens , I got a few lens through MPB now and that's definitely a good reference point for prices. Focus on getting a good lens with it maybe a prime 50mm or 85mm (great for portraits, family shots) 85mm is the portrait classic but I'd actually lean towards the 50mm because if you're indoors you might be physically constrained by the space you're working with. Those MM figures are focal length. The lens will also have aperture, for portrait lens you want a low aperture. Generally the lower the better. A f1.4 would be spectacular, f2.8 or so probably will work. Low aperture allows you to work well with less light, it also allows you to create blurred backgrounds and through that subject separation. This is very desirable in portrait photography. The aperture on the lens is only the lowest it can do. You can still crank an f1.4 lens to f8.0 and get all that crispy sharp detail on a landscape photo, but you can't take an f4.0 lens and go lower than that. Consider also many lens are sharper on slightly higher aperture. so if you get a f1.4 it might produce better results when set on f1.8.

Lens will be the largest chunk of your budget. Always check reviews and in particular 2-3 youtube reviews for lens you're buying. There are lots of gallaries online and reviews also which will show you images taken with the particular lens. Beware that camera bodies and lens are specific to brands and mounting mechanisms, so if your wife gets a Canon or a Sony or a Fuji it locks her in to that , and those lenses. As an example, I have a Samyang 50mm 1.4 lens (this is for Sony cameras) , which is a fantastic 3rd party budget option for portrait lens. You will likely find similar alternatives also in Tamron or Sigma. This is all something youtube can help with too. Best focal length for portraits. 50mm vs 85mm. Aperture explained, best budget portrait lens.

Youtube is a great learning source, picking a topic at a time you might start with videos like "Portrait photography set up" or "tips for portrait photography" to very specific areas like "How to use tone curve in editing" or a full video on compositions. I learned through youtube only and I wouldn't look back, couldn't stick with a course... You should also consider it as part of the journey that you get exposure to photography and photographers. Especially Flickr is great many serious veterans are on that and through following them I see styles and editing ideas I want to try out. It's great to follow others to keep the interest in the hobby up and keep motivated. But follow photographers. People whose work you feel you respect. Not social media influencers.

Software - I use lightroom classic and photoshop (13 eur/month) and sometimes also Topaz labs (full pack once off purchase $200, they will drop it on a sale). You have to shoot in RAW format. Lightroom and photoshop are a nice combo they cooperate well but you might want to skip a subscription... You can get a free alternative like Darktables and that fulfills most of your editing requirements for now. I would keep Topaz in mind maybe down the line because if you're on 1k budget that's relatively tight to buy everything - you can use Topaz to enhance the photo resolution for prints. Maybe just don't worry about it for now but remember this tip when someone asks to blow the image up to a large canvas.

Kit- other than camera and body, you will certainly need a memory card. 64GB I find is actually plenty especially for portraits in RAW that's still 1000+ images, don't waste too much money going bigger. Kingston Canvas SDXC UHS ii is a great affordable option, you might use the high write speed when taking bursts of photos and of course you do want a reputable enough brand. I think you will want a light kit, and maybe a tripod. You can find both on amazon on 100 eur or less each. Whether you need a tripod is a tough call. It really depends on what camera, lens you have and the light set up - if you can take sharp photos freehand that's great. If not then tripod helps reduce the shake, just generally better images. To be fair I got a very light weight one recently for 60eur off Amazon. I don't want to push you to them or praise or market here, I just find that when you walk into camera stores their "budget" option tripods are 150eur+. Light kits, I found one under 100 eur which dims AND has the light temperature adjustment. Spectacular stuff. You can adjust temperature on editing no problem but it just helps to see it in real life.

You might also look into backdrops, you might have some naturally pleasing compositions, backgrounds in your home and garden but maybe it wouldn't hurt or at least look more professional to also have a bit of a neutral cloth available.

It's an expensive hobby, or business. In my head I'd be thinking approx €800 camera and lens, €50 memory card, €90 light kit €80 background. Keep in mind phones now take pretty incredible images and especially at this more constrained budget side if your wife has a new enough phone she may well find the phone takes sharper, better images. It might even shoot raw. So it's not always going to be an upgrade. But again, you will likely not be successful at persuading people to pay for taking photos with your phone.

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121705743#Comment_121705743

Thank you so much , there is a lot of great info there I appreciate you taking the time to post.

for the money what camera would you suggest ? Happy to buy used.

Kurooi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121708489#Comment_121708489

Well I'm biased but I would take a look at Sony A7 and Sony A6000 as a start. They're around the same price, the incredible thing with A7 is that it's full frame which at this price point is rare. You'd have to get that second hand though. Do check that always with camera bodies by the way, a cropped sensor (APSC) changes the focal length, on A6000 the crop factor is 1.5x so a 50mm becomes a 75mm suddenly not so easy to work in tight spaces! Also while crop sensor cameras can work with full frame lens , you won't want to put an APSC lens on a full frame camera.

You could get that A7 body on MPB for approx €440. It's a bit pricier but mirrorless full frame... It's appealing to say the least. I would want that Samyang 50mm 1.4 but if you're tight there is a lens that's super cheap Sony FE 50mm f1.8 , €160! It sort of throws the idea of spending more on lens out the window but at the same time I see the main complaints with it are corner sharpness and autofocus.

Corner sharpness not a massive issue with portraits. Neither really is autofocus since your subjects are sitting still and you can take your time getting it right. Throw it on a tripod even. It could work well enough at least to start it off then upgrade later especially since your wife may find she'd rather have an 85mm or even a zoom lens and that's fine. I just love my 50mm...

Of course before dropping money on it , again, watch a few videos about the camera, the lens, see sample galleries. Here is one with the exact combo of A7 + Sony 50mm 1.8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFT8BOLNlP0

Galleries of that lens

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2932498@N24/

https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/2587249948/sony-fe-50mm-f1-8-real-world-samples

Again Flickr is great you can see exactly what gear people used under the photo and a lot of these images look very professional you couldn't tell it was a cheap lens... Not bad.

Cyrus

Thank you again

Oscar Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121554327#Comment_121554327

You're wasting your time spending such a small amount if you are serious about photography!

If you have the cash then spend it! Get advise from other photographers or camera shop staff!

Kurooi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121760191#Comment_121760191

Could not disagree more. With better cameras you pay of features portraits just don't need.

Nobody likes their face with every crisp wrinkle blown out in 8k. They want hazy low sharpness skin with some artsy grain and low clarity. Flattering focal length, composition and editing will get plenty out of cheaper gear, I've seen and admired the work of many people shooting with €300 DSLRs and the only reason I wouldn't advise OP to go down that path is because I assume eventually the missus makes money off it and wants to invest more mirrorless seems the inevitable.