I am sure you have many fans of your work. I think you are great. I'm currently trying to start a career in photography. I have a very supportive boyfriend that just loves to see me happy with my camera. I take it everywhere. It wasn't till recently that I really started thinking about doing it as a real job. I have a disability in my right arm that has kept me from things I wanted to do with my life and photography has never been one. You can check out my all time favorite pics folder on myspace if you want. My issue is... I can get the pose, I can get the moment, I am very frustrated that I cannot capture on film what I see with my naked eye. I am wondering if you have any pointers as far as a camera, filters, lighting, lenses, software, etc. I need a few pointers. No hurry... just wondering. Thanks for your time.
Mandy
The question is about equipment, here is my philosophy on equipment. I am a computer geek, so this is going to be real technical :)
- FILTERS: I don't use em. Theory is, your lens is only as good as the last piece of glass, so if you have a $1000 lens and a $10 filter attached, you now have a $10 lens. "But what about protecting the lens?" one word... insurance. I recently dropped my prized 70-200 canon lens that I shoot 90% of everything with, insurance covered it.
- CAMERA:I shoot everything with my Canon 1Ds Mark II, I have two back up cameras a 5d and a 30d just in case. I firmly believe that the camera does not make the photographer, I JUST LOVE TOYS, I have seen some amazing stuff from photographers with far less.
- LIGHTING:I love natural light, all of our seniors are done out doors, all times of day. I typically take a 5-in-1 reflector with me (and an assistant). But most of the time am lurking in the shadows of buildings, this way the sun is not giving me hard shadows and more often than not where one building shades, another is providing nice light by bouncing the sun back. Another thing to try is shooting into the sun, so the sun gives a nice rim light to your subject. The trick to all shots is to make sure your background is darker that your subject.
- SOFTWARE:Photoshop plain and simple, on a MAC of course ;)
- RAW vs. JPG:I shoot RAW, I'm a control freak.
Another tip, shoot in manual mode, wide open. To fully understand your camera, take a picture of a white piece of paper, and then a black piece of paper. Make sure you fill the frame and set your exposure to what the camera says is right. You'll be amazed at what happens :)
-Sam
