i met with the owners,and had alot of time to talk to them.

their equipment:
3 continuous 1,000 watt soft boxes
a canon rebel xsi
75-300
nifty 50
and kit 18-55
some external flash that couldnt have been more than 50$

their editing program?
PHOTOBUCKET

"do u shoot in raw or jpeg?"

(long pause) "i have no idea"

 

well i guess as long as you get pictures that satisfies your client then i guess it doesn't matter how you get it or what you use.

 

i've seen someone with just the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens and a handful of lighting equipment do nice shots...

 

Hey now... don't hate. Not everyone can afford a studio and equipment as nice as yours.

 

 

In all seriousness though....photobucket?!?
Even I have PS and I still consider myself a noob.

 

the 17-55 is one of the best EFS lenses, some say on par with L glass so that's no surprise

 

Everybody is a "photographer" now. That's why I got out of the business.

I used to charge between $1,800 to $1,200 for a wedding, depending on factors. I would get people who would try to price match me with a "student who will do it for $150." WTF

Sorry. I had enough work I didn't need to go begging for $150 gigs.

 

And it's funny how they'd compare you with a student. I'd laugh in their faces and tell them to get it done by the student.

 

I am too nice. I believe in charging people a fair price and not kicking them while they are down. So I never charged extra for last minute bookings. I could either do it or I couldn't.

So one time, I had basically told this one couple to get lost after they had tried to price match me to a student.

Then, they called me the day before their wedding, asking me if I could do it because the student couldn't get off work for their wedding.

And to the "students" who are out there actually selling their services for $150...

Grow some confidence and charge what you really think you are worth. Or if you can't, in good conscience, price yourself more than $500, don't even market yourself as a photographer.

 

^they charge $200 for weddings....


and i never claimed to be a photog.

my point is,i dont have my XSi and think im a pro. or pro enough to run a studio anyway.

and photobucket for editing? come on..

 

Was not referring to you. Just kind of an open letter.

 

^that was my reply to mrsteve (about me not claiming to be a photog)

 

i just thought i would share what i saw.

like i said,i dont think of myself as a photographer,or good enough to open a studio thats going to cost me money to run and take a chance.

as far as equipment,i dont have any of what i really want,but im working on it.
i dont like how small the xsi is in my hands at all. i want to get something bigger,maybe a 50D. and some L glass...i couldnt justify myself charging people knowing i MIGHT not get the results they want.

 

Thick skin. You should get some.

Relax. He's just pressing your buttons.

 

What does their work look like? Do they have a portfolio?

 

i wasnt getting defensive,just clarifying,i just wanted to make sure i wasnt giving the impression i thought i was some kind of pro

 

no portfolio at all.
she showed me one pic from her computer of a nude shoot she did and the color was really red. she used photobucket to smooth her face,i guess she cloned out some acne or something...it wasnt anything id brag about..

 

i want to clarify also that i am not bashing them for having the balls to open a studio...i just had the impression that someone should have more experience before taking a dive into something like this.
it could be very risky on their part. but they are really nice people. and young. (21yo)
so we will see.

 

I wonder why they opened up a studio unless they have prior experience and if they had prior experience why they didn't have a portfolio would really bother me as a consumer unless there prices are really low.

 

This makes me really appreciate the studio I did the model workshop in. They had several rooms, at least 7 portable strobes (various alien bees), either a permanent computer in each room or one on a cart that could be wheeled in, 1D series bodies, L glass, etc... and when you rent the studio, you get to use any of that equipment. If I ever needed a studio, I would go there. I think they normally charge around $75/hr with a 2 hr minimum.

Edit: The bodies and lenses aren't included, but the price is $50/hr with a 2 hr min.

http://ronny-c-photography.com/zanostudios

 

^that sounds like the money could really rack up and u would have to charge alot for a session,but other than that it sounds amazing.


edit: after clicking the link,it LOOKS amazing too.

 

^ I am amazing marti with my Canon SD600 with the facefinder :p

 

Nice to meet you Amazing Marti...

 

I guess it should have said. I am amazing with my Canon Sd600 marti. I guess it didn't come out right the way it was suppose too.

 

haha stoge,im marty,he didnt use a comma "im amazing, marty,with my ..."

 

I thought it was like a circus clown/photographer act...

 

I too was confused..

 

It is a nice place, but a lot tighter than it looks in those pics.

The thing with studios shooting that took me a little while to realize is you need distance from your models, so longer lenses with high apertures. Fast glass isn't as important as good glass.

 

"I now direct your attention to the center ring, where The Amazing Marti will mistify you while he demonstrates his skills using only an SD600"

[crowd ooohs]

"with..."

[add echo effect]

"Face Finder."

[crowd gasps in amazement]

 

How come?

 

Being close can distort features. Most importantly, things like noses can appear larger.

The crop factor for digital cameras comes in handy. 50mm becomes about 80, which is just about the perfect FL for modeling/portrait pictures.

Aperture is not as important in terms of lighting. But wider aperture allows less depth of field, which can be important depending on the photo style.

 

Wide angle distortion where proportions will look off - things closer to the camera will look biger in comparison to everything behind it. Unless that is the look you are going for, it's not usually very flattering.

And generally in the studio, you want everything in focus, so higher (smaller) apertures. Your backgrounds are usually solid or fairly plain, so you don't need to blur them out as much with shallow DOF.

 

received my stofen and 430

 

Cool, thanks! I have never done any model photography (attractive woman run from me) so I didn't know...

 

You have to do what I did...





Pay them

 

Here's a shot from that studio workshop. You can clearly see her legs get out of proportion to the rest of her. I wasn't going for this look, but I still like it.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68088083@N00/2596742172/" title="Kellie - Studio Workshop June 2008-7491 by MoeRonn, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2596742172_64b3477245.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Kellie - Studio Workshop June 2008-7491" /></a>

 

IC, and it makes perfect sense now that I see it!

 

The trick is to step on their feet so they can't run away.

Oh wait, that's what I do for dating.


Put some nice work together (of anything, cars, landscape) and then post an ad on Craigslist for TFP. Be candid about your abilities and say you want to try expanding into new photography initiatives.

Don't make it obvious you want young attractive women. That just comes across as creepy.

Use whoever you get and build your portfolio.

 

I feel like people are the hardest subject to photograph well, so I plan to try to get into some workshops to get experience, and then give the TFP route a shot. Thanks for the advice!