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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Camera SOAK:

H

haeveingridseyn

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Hi everyone, :violin:

After years of getting great prices from an upstart, young photographer, she raised her rates on us which pissed me off.

This last photo shoot of the girls was about $300, whereas it was under $100 each time before. And since we want really great quality photos of the girls every 6 months or so, it seems time for me to spend the money on a camera and do it myself.

Lots of people here take great photos. While the artistic part might take a while (or never come), I know I can certainly upgrade the quality of photos I get with my little SD450.

What I dislike about my camera:

1. When I push the button it takes a second or two to finally take the photo, and I miss the moment. I'd also like to take several photos in a row very quickly, which obviously my camera can't do.

2. Many of my photos seem blurry.

3. Like the photo below (by our pro), I want to have shots where something is in perfect focus but the other stuff is way out of focus. I'm sure it's a simple setting or technique, but I don't know it (or can't do it with my current camera).

Any ideas for cameras and what this setup might cost me?
 
A Canon Rebel of Nikon D5000 is a great, affordable way to get into DSLR photography. Can be had for $600-800, so will pay for itself in savings of not paying a photographer pretty quick.

I don't know much about Nikon stuff, but I assume it's all more or less the same. That said...

The Rebel can take continuous shots (a little over 3 a second), is very snappy, like most DSLRs, and due to it's large sensor and use of 35mm lenses, you will get that out of focus background look you are referring to (shallow depth of field).

As for blurry photos, this depends on how much light is on your subject, and how well your camera can adjust it settings for the light in any given situation, and the lens being used. A DSLR will let you manually adjust settings to get the best picture (it has an auto mode too, but learn to use it manually and you'll take better pictures every time). It will also let you use higher quality and "faster" lenses for use in low light settings.

So that'd be my advice. Get your feet wet with a basic DSLR like the Rebel. As time goes on, you can invest in better lenses, and upgrade to a better camera body like the 5D Mark 2. Or maybe even a Red one day :)

Also be sure to scout out some photography web sites to good info on how to take better pictures.

Good luck.

P.S. I don't see a picture attached to your post.
 
I feel motivated to respond even though this post probably won't help you much. I shot family portrait sessions for $100 for a while, but I'm no longer in that business because the economics didn't work out (I went back to engineering, the pay is a lot better.) If you don't want to pay her fee then don't, but consider that the new rate might be the actual living wage and the old rate might be a starving-artist startup rate that wasn't supportable.

Anyway, for portait photography with the background "way out of focus", the conventional tool is a "full-frame" DSLR like a Canon 5D, 5D mark II or Nikon D700 or D3 in combination with a fast normal to short-telephoto lens, for example f1.4 or even f1.2. These cameras cost around $3000 and a good lens might be $1000 or so.

The smaller 1.5x or 1.6x "crop-factor" DSLR cameras, around $1000 for the body only, can get blurry backgrounds too, but for a given lens (aperture and focal length), the effect is not quite as pronounced. If you can "cheat" by moving the subject to a position where the visible background is very far away, of course that casts it farther out of focus.

The small consumer pocket cameras keep much more depth in focus, and those cameras do not give you blurry backgrounds except with extreme close-ups.
 
haeveingridseyn said:
Any ideas for cameras and what this setup might cost me?
Click to expand...

I think you'd be better off at a photography forum. REDuser is sort of a higher end cinematography crowd and you just told everyone here (most of whom have studied the topic for many years) that $300 was too much money for good photography. $300 is a crappy pay day for most people here.

But your pictures are blurry and you don't know why. (It's probably not the camera. It probably what you're doing with it.)

No offense intended, but I really think a better place for your discussion would be here.

www.dpreview.com/forums/
 
I always had this argument with my apprentice, who felt we should give our work away in the early days to build up a portfolio and build a loyal client base.

I told him that only gets people used to paying nothing and resenting you if you ever try to charge what you're worth.

If you feel they aren't good enough, by all means don't use them, but they might find it insulting if you say you are pissed off because she now wants what are probably very fair rates.

Glad I didn't listen to my apprentice!

I'm getting what I'm worth and he's still giving it away ten years later... Poor guy (literally!)
 
This is the most hilarious thread in years. LOL

haeveingridseyn said:
Hi everyone, :violin:

After years of getting great prices from an upstart, young photographer, she raised her rates on us which pissed me off.

This last photo shoot of the girls was about $300, whereas it was under $100 each time before. And since we want really great quality photos of the girls every 6 months or so, it seems time for me to spend the money on a camera and do it myself.

Lots of people here take great photos. While the artistic part might take a while (or never come), I know I can certainly upgrade the quality of photos I get with my little SD450.

What I dislike about my camera:

1. When I push the button it takes a second or two to finally take the photo, and I miss the moment. I'd also like to take several photos in a row very quickly, which obviously my camera can't do.

2. Many of my photos seem blurry.

3. Like the photo below (by our pro), I want to have shots where something is in perfect focus but the other stuff is way out of focus. I'm sure it's a simple setting or technique, but I don't know it (or can't do it with my current camera).

Any ideas for cameras and what this setup might cost me?
Click to expand...
In a more serious note to the non-joker (?) inside you and in many others who have joint this community and think to start up next monday, do you have any idea how many years (not days, weeks or months) someone must have before even 'thinking' to be able to shoot acceptable and sellable pictures? *

* I began somewhere in the beginning of 90s... seriously!
Be welcome!​
 
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