Just starting out as a photographer? Well here’s inpho that helped me.
Firstly a big thank you to my friend simon luckham who started me down this road.
Check out this guy loads of video’s on you tube, even now I refer back to him http://froknowsphoto.com/ his upbeat style and knowledge will stand you in good stead.
For the tech stuff http://www.kenrockwell.com/ Rockwell will give you the rundown on all the Nikon and cannon products, when I am researching new pieces of kit I always check his reviews.
Your first dslr camera there is such a range out there most pros shoot with Nikon or cannon, there really isn’t much difference in the spec’s or quality of image with both brands, its more what feels right for you I would suggest ether of these I shoot with Nikon both brands have a great range of lenses and good support.
First camera:
Budget: Nikon D40 or D80 with kit lens, you can pick these up on eBay for peanuts £150-£300 with lens, there great start out camera’s they have the older Nikon sensors but don’t let that stop you for the price you can’t go wrong.
Mid-Range: Nikon D3100 or D5100 these are newer Nikon ranges the D5100 is great for video work new these are go for about £600 second hand around £400 with lens.
High End Nikon D90 or 7000 these are pro/semi pro although not full frame cameras you can pick them up for around £1000 I would recommend not getting these as a starter dslr.
Inpho:
Get a UV filter!! It protects your glass (lens) from scratches I always go for Hoya but kenko as just as good and are part of the same group as hoya its little known that hoya, kenko, Tamron and silk are all part of the THK group, get a good bag I use a billingham 5 Series as a general bag and lowepro DryZone 200 for hevey field work, both are strong very good designs. Tripod is a must for long exposures for me its Manfroto or Silk these start new from around £50-£100. Cleaning you will need a micro fibre cloth and a Rocket blower to clean your lens’s it’s good to have a spare battery and extra memory cards, not essential.
The most important tip is to have fun enjoy the world of photography books and videos can help, it’s great to throw that all that away sometimes find yourself and just experiment, I’m always learning you never stop, there are no mistakes everything you do will help you grow and view your environment in a totally new way. You start to understand how light works and how you can bring a smile to the face as you show them your picture of them; and as a career well look around everywhere we are bombarded with images so the work is there, you don’t need much technical skill either, just some creativity. Hey if I can help with ideas or inpho leave a message on the inphotopia blog .
My kit what’s in the bag?
Bodies
Nikon D90 I use the D90 as a backup camera it’s always in the bag just in case! With a 12.9 megapixel dx sensor, tends to get a lot less noise in low light. Its good not to have to switch lens’s on a shot.
Nikon D7000 This is my main body used with the MB D11 battery grip its light has a good feel in the hand, and very little noise at high iso’s up to around 1000 so fitted with and f1.4 or f2.8 this camera is great for events for everything I love it!
Nikon D700 This a pro camera all the way not a beginner camera!! And it has a price tag to go with it
Flash:
Nikon SB600 x3
Nikkor 20mm f2.8 fast auto focus nice a clear images
Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Portrait Portrait Portrait!! This is the one of the best portrait lens’s you can get! In my opinion with some great second hand prices, if the budget is tight then 50mm f1.8 is a great option.
Nikkor 70-200 mm f2.8 Sport or wildlife fast auto focus this gets you up close!
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 this is a good solid walk about lens tend to have this on street shoots with a good price tag it competes well with the others in its class.
Tonika 90mm f2.5 macro!! A good macro lens vey light, I prefer this to the Nikkor 60mm
Tonika 11-16mm f2.8 I love this lens it’s my favourite a wide angle lens it is clear and crisp with little to no distortion, you can have great fun with it
Ray flash very good light portable ring flash used for model shoots gives great all round lighting and creates a nice reflection in the subject eye.
Filters A selection of Corkin filters, polarising and UV filters .
Diffuser I have a selection of diffusers you really need to experiment and pick and choose the right type for the right environment.
Odds and ends: Spare camera batteries, spare rechargeable batteries for flash, micro fibre cloth, rocket blower, lens caps, earplugs (a must for gigs, I learnt the hard way ;) SD or CF cards spare UV filter, business cards!!.
It should be said I don’t carry all this a round with me for instance on an event shoot I would have:
D90 and D7000 a prime lens usually a 20mm or my wide angle 11-16mm Tonika, on the D90 then a zoom like the Tonika 17-50mm or 50mm Nikkor prime lens on the D7000.
Two SB600 Flash’s one spare, with normally a white plastic diffuser to bounce the flash you can make or buy these.
Spare caps, filter, batteries, cards, micro fibre cloth, rocket blower and business cards!!
Glossary Inpho:
dslr Digital single-lens reflex, a mirror reflects light entering via a lens up at a 90 degree angle. This is reflected by the pentaprism, for the photographer looking through the view finder. When you create an exposure, the mirror swings up, the aperture becomes smaller and a shutter opens, which in turn allows the light passing through the lens to hit the image sensor. The second shutter, close’s over the sensor to end the exposure, the mirror comes down at the same time the shutter reloads. In short what you see in the view finder is what you get when the mirror inside the camera flips up it exposes the sensor which captures the image.
Filter there are several different types of filter UV filters are a must to protect your glass (lens) from damage. Kenko or hoya are brands I would recommend. Most filters will screw onto the end of the lens, most of the jobs filters do can be done in the editing process, however there are still some effects we still need filters for, I use a polarising filter on bright days also when trying to take shots of moving water, sometimes I will use a number of ND filters from Corkin.
Filter Type
|
Used For
|
Type of subject
|
UV/Haze
|
Lens Protection
|
All
|
Cool & Warm
|
Changes White Balance
|
Unique lighting, Landscapes
Under Water
|
Circular Polarizers
& Linear
|
Increases Saturation
Lowers Glare
|
Landscapes
Sky, greenery, water
|
Graduated Neutral
Density (GND)
|
Reduces Lens Vignette,
Control Light Gradients
|
Landscapes
|
Neutral Density
(ND)
|
Long Exposures
|
Waterfalls, lakes, Rivers
In Bright Light
|
Tripod Three Legged support for camera or flash/reflectors Manfroto and silk are my preferred brands a must for long exposer work, always better to use a tripod when you can.
Long exposure This is the kind of photography were a tripod really helps!! This works better in low light conditions and using a ND filter makes a big difference.
Rocket blower Giotto’s is my preferred make, this is a rubber blower used to blow dust from the lens, and if your CAREFUL! The sensor with the body on a tripod facing down!!
memory card there are several different types of memory card for dslr Cameras’ SD (Secure Digital) & CF (Compact Flash) are the standard with SD pretty much in all the newer semi pro dslr’s I use SanDisk extreme cards fast reliable there are many different makes, don’t muck about with memory better to have less but good quality the worst thing that can happen is the card failing.
Megapixel one mega pixel = one million pixels these make up your digital images anything over 6 mega pixels is more than enough for the average photographer, the only thing to remember is the higher mega pixel the more memory it takes up also the better computer you need to edit images, more inpho-mation = more processing power needed to edit, especially if your shooting in raw as I found out when I switched to the d7000 I always shoot in raw, it can also produce more noise at high iso, although camera companies are constantly getting better at hiding noise.
Noise shows up as grain on your images, it is course by using high iso’s in general its best to keep below 4-500 on most semi pro dslr’s although I have found with the d7000 I can shoot at around 1000 iso with very good results.
Battery grip
Iso International Organisation for Standardization a throw back from the film age it was a figure used to rate the speed of film for different kinds of shoots, it rates the films sensitivity to light 100, 200, 400 …… and so on, the higher the number the more sensitive it is. The lower the iso the better quality image you will get most semi pro dslr’s will shoot are around 200 and go up, the higher end of the market will start at 100 iso. So iso is how sensitive the cameras sensor is to pick up light.
Diffuser these are used to defuse the light from a flash unit, you can make your own or buy them, a must for flash photography.
