What kind of equipment do I need in order to give someone a photo shoot?
Okay, I аm nеw tο photography аnd I lіkе іt! I recently bουght a Nikon D40 аnd I’ve taken several pictures outdoors, indoors, οf random objects, etc. Mу sister аnd hеr friend want mе tο give thеm a photo shoot аt thе park οr ѕοmе ancient railroad.. Dο I need one οf those external flashes οr anything? Or аm I ехсеllеnt tο gο..?
Alѕο, I want tο bυу a backdrop fοr indoor shoots. Whаt kind οf equipment dο I need fοr thаt?
Thanks!
You are excellent to go.
A modest reading and studying what other people have done will help.
The only hardware I might suggest is some sort of reflector board.
An external flash would be helpful but if you’re going to go that far, get the flash bracket and hardware for it. For shooting outdoors, you can get away with the on camera flash if you need a modest fill. I concur with the reflector. It can be something as simple as a piece of colorless foam board or poster board or you can get a gold/silver reflector disc. They’re clever as hell for more than just shooting outdoors. With the sun going down behind a person, that gold reflector makes for some really nice warm shots.
As far indoor stuff, buying a background is the start of it all. You’ll need strobes, a backdrop holder… You shouldn’t worry too much about just the backdrop until you can get more stuff unless its some kind of deal you can’t pass up. You can’t just have a backdrop and shoot pictures. You need a couple strobes for your subject plus strobes for the background itself unless its black. Then you can get away with probably 2 strobes. A softbox is highly recommended, at least by me anyway. I like mine but you can maybe get away with a shoot thru umbrella. Excellent Luck.
I might recommend Scott Kelby’s “The Digital Photography Book” as some reading. The first one — Volumes 2 and 3 are for later.
Maybe look around at other portraits to see what they did, why it works, why it doesn’t. There’s a difference between a likeness and a snapshot.
As Mere_Mortal suggested: a reflector or a diffuser. Or both. See above reading suggestion on how and when to use them.
An external flash, a quick lens (f1.4), a excellent tripod, and a cable release may also be on your shopping list for the prospect.
As for outdoors you’re excellent…Indoors Lights and backdrops.