HELP!! with portraits ..

[Kellyj69]

I'm new to DSLR and I've been shooting TONS of flowers and animals .. even ventured into shooting live bands ..

I have a friend that wants me to shoot some photographs of him .. modeling type stuff

My current equipment

Canon Rebel Xs
50mm f/1.8 - Nifty 50
18-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6
35-80mm f/4 - f/5.6
80-200mm f/4.5 - f/5.6
Quantaray 75-300mm f/4 - f/5.6

(I know thats more glass than an amateur needs but I found someone on craigslist that sold me 3 of the above lenses for $80)

so .. I will be shooting outdoors .. some "action" some posed shots .. what setup would be the best for me to start with? attached is a sample of what I'm trying to do ..

[PamEli]

Wow! nice find on Craigslist; I keep looking for someone like that in my area,

Anyway, very cool example of your style, looks like a lot of fun. Normally I'd suggest you start with your Nifty-fifty, but with this kind of style I'd use one or more of the zoom lenses you have. It will allow you to keep shooting at different focal lengths without changing lenses. I like the35-80.

Other than experimenting with different times of the day for various lighting affects, you're off to a great start.

Pam

[Kellyj69]

funny story about the lenses .. the 18-55 came with my Rebel .. then I bought the nifty 50 at a local store .. THEN I found the 70-200 on CL for $50 and found a 35mm Rebel Xs with the 35-80 and 80-300 for $75 THEN sold the Rebel Xs 35mm body for $35 ok .. so I spent $95 for the three lenses

Thanks also for your advice .. I'll probably just try them all .. and see what happens

thanks

[PamEli]

Haha...I like your style.... I wing it alot...probably spend way more time than is proffessional, but I'm learning as I go and I usually like what I come up with. I'm sure you are finding the same thing. I'll be doing my first "paid" portrait shoot next weekend... Yikes! Its so much less stressful shooting freinds and thier babies...but I'm ready.

[Kellyj69]

good for you! I hope you'll share the results

[PamEli]

I guess I will have to now I've spent more time on Flickr and haven't done as much posting here.... I read alot and comment sometimes, but I love the community here and maybe its a good time to start spending more time here.

[mwonderman]

I almost always use my nifty 50 for any portrait photography I do. In fact, it barely ever comes off my camera. I don't think I've used my standard 35-70 in almost a year! I'm not even sure where I've left it now.

The depth of field created by the large aperture in your 50mm I think would be quite effective, unless you're going for a grungier, edgier fashion photographs, in which the background plays a much bigger part of the photo, so you can really just use your 18-55, or even a zoom lens.

Though, it's key to remember that it's not just about the equipment, it's also the composition.

I hope my babble helped you even in the smallest of ways.

[PamEli]

Ok - here is some of the results of the family session I referred to in this post.

From Mike, Ashley, Leo, Max 7/25/2010

From Mike, Ashley, Leo, Max 7/25/2010

From Mike, Ashley, Leo, Max 7/25/2010

I hope the embedded links work....

So Kelly I'll LOVE to see some of your results.... thanks in advance for any comments.

Pamj

[Kellyj69]

Pam

Great stuff! especially like the mom holding the baby ..

actually I've been shooting ALOT heres a link to the shoot that started this thread..
Tyrell - a set on Flickr

and here's the rest ..


atxphotoguy's photosets on Flickr

and

Atxphotoguy2010's photosets on Flickr

and
K Jones Photography's photosets on Flickr

ModelMayhem.com - Atxphotoguy - Photographer - Austin, Texas, US

and on Facebook @ K Jones Photography

Thanks so much for remembering to share yours !

KJ

[PamEli]

Thanks Kelly,

Shooting alot is all good, and it shows... I REALLy like the Tyrell set; very edgy and dramatic urban It seems to suit the guy...

Thanks for the comments.. I need to sit down and start a notebook. After this shoot I learned alot about what to charge and how to operate and stay organized..and that I'll spend more time post-processing than I do shooting.

Anyway - thanks for sharing.