Reply To: I wanted to charge $ until I found your site…

May 8, 2014 at 1:50 pm #18654

Participant

No hurt caused whatsoever. I LOVE that you took the time out of your day to talk to me. Well, I may be a little hurt over the dog/tutu comment. Those pug girls of mine are well paid with high end doggie treats! They didn’t mind dressing up at all. If I had a male pug, he might have been put in a leotard. With a codpiece, of course, to save him from any embarrassment. LOL ( You now have that image etched into your mind for the remainder of the day. You’re welcome)

Equipment. I started in 2009 with a refurbed Nikon D90, kit lens and a new Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR (at the time I was given a chunk of money and knew I wouldn’t soon be able to afford better glass, so I chose less of a body and more of a lens) Filters for the lenses, but have only really used the clear one for protection and the circular polarizer for competitive swimming photos.
over time:
50 mm 1: 1.4
16-35mm 1:4
Nikon D800E
1 good speed light, 1 umbrella, a 5/1 reflector, backdrop stand with a couple backdrops and a roll of black paper

The room I have available to me is even too small to use my 50 mm except babies and seated poses. I can’t bring anyone far enough away from the backdrop to keep light from falling on it when I want it nice and black.

I use a recent version of Lightroom and have Elements 10, which I’m trying to learn compositing with. Yes, I use RAW.

I know I need more light sources but hesitate to purchase because I’m not sure what to get / learn. I like the idea of boxes that area always lit. Maybe you all can give advice in this direction. I use my speed light off camera and manual settings for now.

Gosh theres so much to answer from above! Next – Girl in Hat. My cousin. There’s an album on the Facebook link of other pics I took of her that day. 1 flash, 1 reflector. I thought the same about the one-eye stare. I did not get one with a hint of the other eye with that pose. I took a ton of pics, but she was shy and awkward, so there’s only a few where she let me see her real self.

@ Bagga – Must I choose a favourite? I’ll tell you what I don’t want to take photos of. Car races. Although I have… I like people, I like nature and displays of light that others don’t notice. I’m the person who takes a photo of a beautiful misty morning on the street, even though its garbage day. I know that won’t pay, but I can’t help but like it. VIEWBUG, yes it was free. I thought people might say they like something, and take away some critique. Noooo… everyone gushes over everything to get others to add and gush over theirs. There is a lot of enviable photos on the site though. I love browsing. (and Thank you for the compliment in your last post. I wish I had started decades ago too. If I get rich (lmao) i’ll send you a good bottle of scotch. Rich means I have to pay off existing debts!

@ Nesgran – you’re a bit tougher, but I appreciate it. The fact that you said my work may be good enough for a photographer to choose me as a 2nd is a compliment. Thank you. I will do more free work to fill my portfolio and keep practicing.

@ Worst Case – I’ll never take a dog in tutu pic ever again in my life I swear… if you take one of yourself in a tutu and post it on this thread. I promise!