starting as a photographer

[shane_and_holly]

Just a few questions from a newbie First..I dont really have room for a studio...and am not sure what I need...any suggestions.
Also, I use elements 7...will that be enough?
and any opinions of portrait professional?

[RexK_Cozumel]

Hello and welcome to DPS. To better answer your questions it would help greatly if we had some background information. What exactly are you trying to take pictures of. What level of quality are you trying to achieve? What budget are you working with? etc etc etc..

[Jim Bryant]

elements 7? Nope..........it won't fix all your newbie mistakes.

[RexK_Cozumel]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

elements 7? Nope..........it won't fix all your newbie mistakes.

LOL ouch Jim that is kinda harsh...

[shane_and_holly]

good point...lol...im going to do mostly potraits....outdoor which im already doing, and studio...when i get one. my budget....well..im a stay at home mom looking to go into business..so..well you know...lol! and thanks for the welcome!

[navcom]

Are you seriously considering opening a photography business or are you just thinking about the option for sometime in the future?

If you are serious, your questions show that you don't really have a plan. I think that should be your first step.

Without a plan, finding the items you need to fill your studio is the least of your worries right now. If you did have a plan and have done all your market research, your plan would determine what tools you need, not the other way around.

Do you have a business plan written out?

[jagoble25]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

elements 7? Nope..........it won't fix all your newbie mistakes.

I think it will work fine. My wife's aunt uses an even cheaper program Paint Shop Pro and she makes a nice chunk of change off her photography every month. I think she said she was now making more with that than her full time salary job in the corporate world. She does have a knack for it though.

[RexK_Cozumel]

well... for studio lighting I like to use PCB products they are a good price to quality ratio. Of course if you have an unlimited budget Profoto, elinchrom, broncolor, hensel are all better.

I would recommend getting a single light to start and experiement with that before you start getting a bunch of modifiers and more lights. You really need to learn the basics before you will know what you need. Buying a bunch of stuff all at once may seem like a good idea but it probably is not. You will most likely end up with some stuff that you never use and/or it will just confuse you if you dont know how everything works.

As for retouching work I use photoshop CS4 and lightroom for my editing. Elements is like a baby version of photoshop. If you can not afford photoshop cs4 then maybe check out Gimp. Portrait professional allows you to make a bunch of adjustments using sliders so it is user friendly but I think that it does a poor job of retouching a good bit of the time. It is not a program that I would use if I wanted the very best results.

[shane_and_holly]

I am working on my business plan...Im currently in photography classes, and that is part of them. I just wanted some other views on what people use, and maybe some less expensive stuff than the incredibly high end setup that my classes reccomend.

[RexK_Cozumel]

Originally Posted by shane_and_holly

I am working on my business plan...Im currently in photography classes, and that is part of them. I just wanted some other views on what people use, and maybe some less expensive stuff than the incredibly high end setup that my classes reccomend.

Out of curiosity what do your classes recommend?