rlk121

Hi Everyone

I have a question about lighting. Lately I have been shooting outdoor

portraits. This weekend I have been asked to shoot the portrait of a child

indoors for a Christmas card. It will be in their living room by their

fireplace. The room is lit rather well with natural light. We will be shooting

around 11am. I have a Canon 350D with a Speedlite 430 EX.

Lately I have been thinking about purchasing some umbrella lights. I am not

sure if I should get the continuous lights or the strobes. I don?t have a lot

of money to spend on equipment right now. But if the lights will help me do

some indoor work I would think about getting them. (I realize I will need an

adapter for my camera to use these lights.)

I noticed a setup recently where a woman had a continuous umbrella set up and

was using her flash in addition to the umbrella. Is this a simple and cheap

solution? Should I just use my flash? Should I invest in an umbrella?

I am new to all of this (I am a graphic designer with a background in

photography) I would like to do some more freelance work such as this sort of

portrait session. Would an umbrella be a good investment?

Thank you very much for your insight, I really enjoy reading these forums.

Becky

I posted in this forum several days ago in response to the photograph of the two girls in the buggy during the funerals of the children slain in Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania. This forum has taken a wild ride over the past few days. However I came across something today that reminded me of everything that has been discussed here.

Everyone here has been arguing what makes the shot of a lifetime. I think it has been agreed that it takes on a personal spin no mater what the image.

For this Marine he had the shot of a lifetime and never lived to see it. Attached I have included the picture of Sgt. William Homer Genaust. He is the marine that captured the color motion picture of the flag raising at Iowa Jima February 23, 1945. He died almost two weeks later and has been missing in action ever since. The only visible public credit for his movie is on the brass plaque atop Mount Sunbachi a few feet from the photo scene. 2.08 nautical miles from his final resting place.

(By the way there is a local Congressman in my area that is trying to find his remains and bring him home for a proper burial. If you know of anyone that might have that information please send me an email.)

Regards

Becky<div></div>

"Should folks immersed in grief have to also deal with a swarm of camera-wielding people who are there out of morbid curiosity and with the hope of catching them when they're so vulnerable?"

In response to that comment. The Jews have a saying and it goes something like; "May we never forget"

I agree to a point that we should respect those that are grieving and give them room to mourn. But with photos like this one the images stick in our mind and we remember. We don?t just remember the facts, but we get a glimpse of the emotional side too. We will never forget the images of Auschwitz or the September 11th attacks because those images have been burned in our minds forever.

And I for one hope that the things we can?t forget are the things we will not repeat.

Hi Shawn

I like the picture in the sepia tone rather than the color. The only problem I can see is her hand in the upper right corner of the photo. There is a funky black edge around her fingers. I am also wondering if you applied a filter to the deck? The detail seemed crisper in the color version. It seemed to have better detail when it was in color.

Other then those two points I think it looks fine.

good luck to you:)

Becky

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. As you can see I am a graphic artist that is getting into photography. (I studied it years ago in college) I really do need to go back and start refreshing myself with the basics. I shot for many years with point and shoots:)

So I have been learning as I go so to speak. However these formums have been great! I have to agree with an earlier post. I am in much need of a better understanding of DoF. I was pretty certain that my problem was a combination of a cheap lense and lack of experience on my part.

I am off to research better lenses and refresh my knowlege of DoF.

Thank you for your time and expert advice!

Sincerely Becky

I am so glad I found this posting because I have the 350D with the 18-55mm lense (I bought the package that was mentioned in the origianl post)I am finding that I am not getting very good clarity in my shots. Especially portraits. I was wondering if the lense was defective, if it just wasn't a very good lense or if I really don't know what I am doing:) (I would bet on the later)

I am attaching a photo I took today of a flower in my garden. I am really disappointed in the lack of clarity in the picture. I have an Olympus point and shoot (C-765) that takes a better picture than this one.

Am I missing something here or is this particular lens not a very good lense for this sort of shooting. As mentioned above I have found it to be fine when taking landscapes but when I have tried to take portraits and closeup photos like this flower I really do struggle with it.

any suggestions?

So I shouldn't get too excited about doing portraits and school pictures? You are right about the compition with Wal-Mart and Sears I hadn't thought of that.

I am a mother with a child that is active an a play group. There are about a dozen mothers in the group and they are all excited about me opening a portrait studio, I sort of got thinking that I could start there. I guess I need to think out of the box here and develop something that The big retail stores can't compete with.

Hi Ivan

I have been doing some freelance jobs on the side of my full time job for a few months now. Don't sell yourself short. I always charge a fee for taking the pictures and then I sell my photos as you are thinking about doing.

Usually I will charge the client around $40.00 and hour (sometimes more depending on the client)to go and shoot the job. I also ask for a down payment in advance to process the photos.

Always charge in thirds. 1. The initial down payment to take the photos. 2. Another third to process the photos and the final payment should cover all of the printing fees and your expenses. You don't have to charge a lot of money for your work but you should always cover your over head first otherwise you could very likely be stuck not being compensated for work that you have completed.

Also remember that your time is valuable. When I first started doing this I had the feeling that I wasn't a "real" photographer so therefore I didn't "deserve" a photographer's salery. This is not true.

Good Luck To You

Becky

Hi Mikael

Thank you for answering my question. You are right I was not very clear with what I want to do. I have been a graphic artist for a television station in Northeast Pennsylvania for almost nine years. What you said about bringing twenty years of reporting experience with you really struck a cord with me. I have often wondered how I could apply my background into my own business.

When I first started thinking about going out on my own I figured I could do weddings, portraits, family photos, special events etc.

I also have an advantage, my Father is an accountant and business planner so I have an edge there.

I guess my question then is How did you finace your own business? How did you get your first clients, how do I continue to feed my family?

Am I crazy can I do this?

thank you for taking the time to answer my questions it is much appreciated!

Becky

I am a graphic artist/photographer. I started out in graphic arts but I have

been working more and more with photography. As anyone out there ever taken

the chance and started their own Photography business? This is what I want to

do. But I need some inspritation and some success stories as well as some

BEWARE stories to ponder. Can anyone help me out? Is this possible with a small

business loan? I know this is a loaded question, I am just looking for a little

advise.

thank you very much

Becky Stitzer

I have the Digital Rebel XT, I am in the process of taking portraits of all the employees I work with. I get the red tone quite often. I too have been corecting the problem later in Photoshop. (a simple reduction in the satuation of the flesh tones works nice.)

However I have been getting better results if I set my White balence to Tungston lighting (we are shooting these portraits in a studio with Tungston lights) then I go into the WB shift mode (feature on the rebel xt) and have the camera add more greens and blues to the exposure. (I hope you are following me, I am new at this as well:)

I would try experimenting with your white balencing and even a custom white balance if you can. And try playing with your color in the camera. Take some test shots before hand and you should see a difference.

It worked for me. Again I too am learning this could be all wrong! lol!

take care

Becky