amateur wants to start photography business

<p>I am exploring possibilities in starting my own photography business, and I was wondering what types of equipment I would need...from backdrops to umbrellas, etc. I would like to know what the necessities are and a price range that I am looking at to get started. I already have a DSLR camera, tripod, and 3 good lenses (50mm 1.8; 28-70mm 2.8; 70-200mm 2.8). I have an external flash, but it stopped working on me. I currently take sports pictures, but I would like to get into portrait photography as well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.<br>

Thanks.</p>

<p>You would need studio lighting (monolights or a powerbox+head system), plenty of lightstands, reflectors, scrims, umbrellas, softboxes, backdrop system, gels, fan, the list is really endless but it highly depends on what kind of material you'd be shooting.<br>

You will want to be comfortable spending at the very least around $3000.</p>

<p>It also depends on what type of pictures you do...on-location portraits in parks or whatever would require different equipment than in-studio portraits. Sounds like you've got pretty good glass to work with, but you definitely need to have at least one flash you can use off-camera. You don't say what budget you are working with...figure at least $500-$800 to get some off-camera lighting as a start. For studio, I would say $3000 is probably about right for lights/backdrops/modifiers for a basic setup.</p>

<p>If you want to do indoor studio portraits, you also need enough space. You'll need room for your backdrop and lighting, as well as room to get your subject(s) at least four to five feet away from the backdrop to prevent shadows. Then you of course need room for yourself to shoot, so that's alot of space.<br>

If you haven't worked with studio lighting before, you'll need alot of practice time before you can jump into doing portraits. Practice on friends and family with one light to see what it does, then two, then three, etc. Read as much as you can about lighting, and keep practicing until it's second nature. You don't want to have clients right off the bat that are having to wait while you spend time trying to adjust your lights and get it right.<br>

Also, if you do plan to do studio work, I'd highly recommend getting some tethering software so that you can see your shots on a laptop as you work. It's so worth it!</p>

<p>I think that instead of buying a bunch of gear, and then trying to learn how to use it, maybe at the expense of your customers, that you should start by learning to shoot portraits. Outdoors, in the shade and indoors next to a window. Then get a reflector and learn how that affects your pictures.<br>

Then after you understand how to make portraits, look to buy some equipment and go into business.<br>

I am a strong advocate of "never practice on the paying customer" If you expect to call yourself a professional photographer, then you must know what you are doing. And buying a bunch of equipment and setting yourself up in business is generally not a path to knowing what you're doing.<br>

In the beginning, you'll be overwhelmed by the complexity of all that new equipment and the complexity of running a business (invoices, licenses, taxes, etc.) so keep it simple. Study the business aspects at the same time as you are learning the basic photographic principles so you can be a success.</p>

<p><Chas></p>

<p>As a side note, they say the best way to make a small fortune in photography is to start with a large fortune.</p>

<p>+1 to what Charles said...</p>

<p>+1 to what Sheldon said... Photography is one of the most expensive lowest paying jobs I have ever had. I make way more money mowing lawns and walking the neighbors dogs. Photography is one of those things where you have to invest a small fortune to get great work to even start getting paying customers. I currently shoot with well over $5000 worth of equipemt with a Canon 5D Mark II, 85 1.2L 2 White Lighing x1600 and 4 Alien Bee AB800, 2 580 EX flashes, wireless triggers backdrops, softboxes, etc. Many custers think my modest $150 price tag for a portrait shoot is too high. I meet models all the time who tell me they don't believe in paying for pictures when they can get tons of TFCD work on Model Mayhem and Onemodelplace. Too many damn photog's with fancy camera shooting for free for us with years of experience and pro equipment to make a buck.<br>

So there is my motivational speach for today... Good Luck. :-)</p>

<p>Thanks guys for all the good advice. I have experience taking outdoor portraits and I do believe I have an eye for outdoor lighting and posing. I also have lightroom and photoshop with which I do post editing and touchups. It's the inside studio work that I have no experience in. I was just looking to get into it and wondering what kind of price range I would be looking at. I would like to get into doing senior portraits, families, babies, pets, etc...just basically whatever I could do I guess.<br>

You guys are definitely right about the large fortune thing. I have already spent $2,000 not including software and my laptop. I would probably be able to swing $1,000 to start with, then add more later...</p>