# Supplies for beginners?



## cmercer (Oct 29, 2012)

I am starting to be asked to take pictures for families and I only have the Canon T3i and the 85-300mm lens. And of course the lens that came with the camera. I don't have any other tools and wanted to know what should I start with buying?
Oh and I have an OK software Digital Photo Professional that came with the camera...would like some recommendations for software too! User friendly...something I don't need to take a class on how to use it!


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 29, 2012)

In terms of equipment, probably a speedlite would be good (flash that goes in the hotshoe on top of the camera), they tend to provide better photos than the little popup one on the camera. For a single lens, I've heard some fairly good things about the 17-55mm, although I've never used it. Alternatively I have used the older Sigma 17-70mm and thought it was pretty good, the newer version is supposed to be better and have some image stabilization technology in it.

In terms of software, DPP is pretty good for provided software. Otherwise, the main software is Lightroom or Aperture (Mac only), with a couple of smaller and lesser known software packages out there. I've never used Aperture, but I wouldn't say Lightroom is immediately easy to use, although I got the basics of it down fairly quickly. If you want to go beyond the iPhoto type use, you likely will need to do a combination of online tutorials, classes, and just plain messing around with the settings on different photos to see what happens. Both of those software packages are quite powerful, combining both DAM (digital asset management, e.g. catalog/tagging/etc) and general global photo editing. 

DPP, as I said, is pretty good, especially for it coming with the camera. It will let you do pretty much the same kind of things that Lightroom/Aperture can do, although it's a different interface and is more about the photo you're looking at, rather than providing much in the way of DAM. Whatever software you go for, I'd highly recommend taking a workshop class in basic photography and basic editing at your local camera store/continuing adult education place. Those will likely help you a lot in understanding some of the underlying terms and concepts, and often you can use online tutorials and forums for a lot more.


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## cmercer (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for the reply and info! I am actually enrolled in my first class which starts on Monday!


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 29, 2012)

Great, good idea. A basic class or two can go a long way to improving your photos. That and shooting a lot of different things, and remembering what you were doing and what you were trying to do. Then figuring out why your photos didn't turn out how you wanted, and repeating the whole thing over again slightly different  It can be a lot of fun, but sometimes time consuming process.


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## PackLight (Oct 29, 2012)

cmercer said:


> I am starting to be asked to take pictures for families and I only have the Canon T3i and the 85-300mm lens. And of course the lens that came with the camera. I don't have any other tools and wanted to know what should I start with buying?
> Oh and I have an OK software Digital Photo Professional that came with the camera...would like some recommendations for software too! User friendly...something I don't need to take a class on how to use it!



I would suggest a new 5D III with as many prime L lenses that you can buy. Of course you will want a full set of L zooms as well. 

For now though I think you need to define your photographic style and then find out how to taylor from there.


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## cmercer (Oct 29, 2012)

PackLight said:


> cmercer said:
> 
> 
> > I am starting to be asked to take pictures for families and I only have the Canon T3i and the 85-300mm lens. And of course the lens that came with the camera. I don't have any other tools and wanted to know what should I start with buying?
> ...



What are the Prime L lenses and L Zooms you are referring to?


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## cmercer (Oct 29, 2012)

As for my photographic style??? I have no clue. I just want to be able to take family portraits inside and out and newborn photos. That is about all I am really interested in thus far!


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## robbymack (Oct 29, 2012)

As someone stated above a speedlight, the 430 is reasonably priced right now, and also pick up the Ef 50mm 1.8 as its great for the price. Maybe invest in adobe's Lightroom or apple's aperture depending on your flavor. Read as much for free on the Internet and also buy some books, Brian petersons "understanding exposure" is ubiquitous. Since you want to photography newborns see if you can rent a macro lens, newborns are so small it's nice to be able to get in close. If you like it then you have what you'll want as your next lens purchase when you can afford it. Otherwise have fun.


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## jthomson (Oct 29, 2012)

You don't say which lens came with the camera. If it is the 18-55mm then you have a good lens to to practice with out doors.

I would recommend adding either the 50mm f1.8 or the 40mm f2.8 lens for your indoor shooting. 
As others have suggested a dedicated flash would also be useful, personally I would recommend the Nissin Di 866 as a better value option to the canon 430.


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 29, 2012)

cmercer said:


> PackLight said:
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I'd hold off on spending a bunch of money that L glass (the designation that Canon gives to it's top end lenses) and an expensive body. The kit lens will be alright for outdoors, or get a lens with a larger aperture (smaller 'f' number) for more inside, and possibly the 430EX as robbymack recommended. Then in a year or three once you have more experience and are more comfortable with what you are doing, you can figure out what additional lenses and/or body you want to get.


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## cmercer (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for all the input! You have given me a lot to research and think about!


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 29, 2012)

cmercer said:


> I am starting to be asked to take pictures for families and I only have the Canon T3i and the 85-300mm lens. And of course the lens that came with the camera. I don't have any other tools and wanted to know what should I start with buying?
> Oh and I have an OK software Digital Photo Professional that came with the camera...would like some recommendations for software too! User friendly...something I don't need to take a class on how to use it!


If you want to get the most out of your camera, use RAW. Nothing wrong with using jpegs but editing them will degrade the quality even further.
The most powerful RAW editor is Lightroom. Adobe has free video tutorials and there are a ton of good books. 
If you just want the software to do the work for you, DXO takes a fairly good stab at developing RAW images, you will probably be happy with them. However, if you want special effects or more control, use Lightroom or Aperture.
You are going to go thru a learning curve no matter what you choose. Many people try to organize their images into directories or folders on their computer. Lightroom has a built-in image management system, but you should learn to use it before jumping in and trying to organize by folder.


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## Rat (Oct 30, 2012)

My go-bag contains at least an extra battery, an extra 32GB card and a microfiber cloth. Then, depending on the weather, I bring a rain sleeve (that will fit both camera and a pretty large lens), and although I too always shoot raw only (meaning I can change the white balance afterwards), I usually bring a white balance cap. Most all of these items can be had for peanuts on eBay, except the memory card (for which you should do a little more research, quality and speed varies wildly). But the cheapest gadget will always be the trusty plastic bag - fill it with a bit of sand and you have a great tripod


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## DB (Oct 30, 2012)

@cmercer

As others have said here, initially just get some spare batteries + SD memory cards, then if I were you I'd get a Lastolite collapsible White Balance (WB) card - they cost about 25 bucks and allow you to use custom WB on your T3i. For now I'd keep shooting JPeGs, take your photography class and learn about the 'Exposure Triangle'; Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO settings.

Then later, once your course is finished, invest in a 50mm prime (fixed focal length) lens e.g. the EF 50mm f1.8 is only about 120 bucks. Using such a lens will get you on a steep learning curve.

Then later, a few months down the road, when you feel that you're able to take better pictures in Manual (M) mode on your Rebel, then get some editing software like Photoshop, Elements or Lightroom....and then you can start shooting RAW (unprocessed files). Trying to shoot & edit RAW files first is a bit like being thrown in the deep end to learn how to swim - it works well for some but not for others.


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## gloch (Oct 30, 2012)

When you are just starting, what you really need to focus on is just learning the mechanics of photography (eg. Aperture, shutter speed, iso, and how to balance all of them) and the art (composition, contrast, rhythm, line etc.) to achieve your vision and adjust to circumstances. Then you can start add lenses and lights. It would be a good idea to pick up a nifty50 right away. It will be a great bang for buck on portraits and will teach you more about composition and the mechanics because it is a 'fast' lens and pretty sharp given the right circumstances.

Other items would be a decent tripod, shutter release, lens cloth, a few SD cards and eventually blower for keeping the sensor dust free when you swap lenses.

Most of all, I would offer your services for free or really cheap until you really start to get a hang of how it all flows. It will be a great learning opportunity and they will be more forgiving.


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 30, 2012)

gloch said:


> Most of all, I would offer your services for free or really cheap until you really start to get a hang of how it all flows. It will be a great learning opportunity and they will be more forgiving.



Well, I think for right now he's mostly just going to be doing family photos and such for himself and his family. They probably saw he has a 'big' camera and everyone started tell him/her that he/she is now voted to be the family photographer.


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## Chris Geiger (Oct 30, 2012)

The first thing you should buy is a book called "Photography" by Barbara London. You can find it on Amazon. This is the book for learning photography. Read it, study it, live it. Practice everything in the book. It will teach you how to measure light and how to control your camera and is a primer for lighting basics.


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## gloch (Oct 30, 2012)

Drizzt321 said:


> Well, I think for right now he's mostly just going to be doing family photos and such for himself and his family. They probably saw he has a 'big' camera and everyone started tell him/her that he/she is now voted to be the family photographer.



It's a great way to get started to see if you enjoy it and if you want to do anything more with it.

-gl


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## cmercer (Oct 30, 2012)

Drizzt321 said:


> gloch said:
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> > Most of all, I would offer your services for free or really cheap until you really start to get a hang of how it all flows. It will be a great learning opportunity and they will be more forgiving.
> ...



So I have been named the family photographer for a while now...3 years?! Now I am having friends and friends of friends asking me to do their family portraits. That is why I am excited to go further with what I know! Plus making a little money for my efforts is not such a bad thing!


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## DB (Oct 30, 2012)

Chris Geiger said:


> The first thing you should buy is a book called "Photography" by Barbara London. You can find it on Amazon. This is the book for learning photography. Read it, study it, live it. Practice everything in the book. It will teach you how to measure light and how to control your camera and is a primer for lighting basics.



+1 It is always a good idea to buy a couple of illustrated photography books - especially if they are 2006 to 2009 editions as you can get them quite cheaply.

Personally, I've found that *Bryan Peterson* has some great books called _Understanding Exposure_ and _Understanding Photography_ that are fully illustrated, minimal text, nice simple English descriptions and he covers the essentials of RAW too.

Also, *Scott Kelby* has written a series of four books called _The Digital Photography Book Vol. 1, 2 ,3 & 4_ although I have to warn you that he shoots with Nikon - so that makes him practically a Satanist on this forum 

Seriously though, his books are quite good and inexpensive (see Amazon link below)
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Part/dp/0321773020/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351563128&sr=1-1&keywords=scott+kelby


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## Drizzt321 (Oct 30, 2012)

cmercer said:


> Drizzt321 said:
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> > gloch said:
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Ahh, I see. Well, in that case start pretty low/free for at least a couple. In fact, practice on your family as you learn more. Also read up on portraiture and family portraiture, and especially on lighting. Light, really, is everything in photography. Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, they are all just different ways of manipulating the light that hits and is recorded by the sensor. So, you will likely have to invest a bit in some additional lighting at some point in time, but not right away.


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## wsmith96 (Oct 30, 2012)

I was in the same position back in 2009. I had just bought my rebel T1i and it came with the 18-55 and my family bought me the 70-300 IS USM lens and a 270EX speedlite. I first started with Dave Busch's book on the T1i and some of the photography magazines that came out of the UK. They did a good job getting me on my feet and my photographs improved greatly. A year later I took a formal photography and photoshop course through our city's parks and recreation group.

The next major purchase, for me at least, was the 60mm EF-S macro. This lens takes great pictures and will allow you to zoom in close for details - something you might desire for newborns.

Now that I have a few years of experience, I just upgraded to the EF-S 17-55 and 10-22 lenses, and a 430EX II flash. For what I do, I don't have an immediate need to upgrade the camera yet, but I would like a faster shutter speed for photographing my children's sports eventually. On my wish list still is the 100mm L IS USM macro and the 70-200 IS USM F2.8 L zoom. Another one to consider is the EF-S 15-85mm. I don't have this one, but I've heard it is very handy to have when you need just a bit more reach and the reviews I've seen on it say it's fantastic.

As for software, I use Canon's DPP and Corel's aftershot pro and paintshop pro. If you are going to make money off of your photography, I would recommend not using Corel's products as the majority of professionals use Adobe's photoshop and lightroom products. It is also much easier to get 3rd party plug-ins for Adobe products as well. I don't have any experience with Apple's products, so I can't speak to those. If you are a weekender like me, the cost of the Corel products is perfect and I can't tell a difference in quality between what I did in a Corel program or Adobe program, so for me, the cost of the software was a determining factor.

I would also recommend getting 2-3 memory cards and I like Canon's camera backpack. It has a lot of room in it and you can get it for $40 on Amazon. A lens pen is nice to have too along with a second battery, or a battery grip for your camera.

Good luck!


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## cayenne (Oct 30, 2012)

robbymack said:


> <snip> Read as much for free on the Internet and also buy some books, Brian petersons "understanding exposure" is ubiquitous. <snip>



I would like to second this heartily!!!

That book is one of the first I got...I'm still re-reading it to get the concepts down, but I'm now rarely on anything but "manual" on my camera...I still throw a lot out, but I'm learning by leaps and bounds how to shoot and expose for how I want things to look. 

Not just capturing moments, but capturing moments in the fashion that *I* wish it to be preserved.

Also, research, research, research. Youtube, IMHO, is a great place to start. I do better by people showing real world examples how to do things. Sure, you have to sort through some cruft to find the 'gems'....but they are there and aren't hard to find.

I have spoken to the OP on another thread...he has a mac...I recommended starting with iPhoto..since it comes with the mac.

I did this (and with iMovie)....I read and watched a metric TON of YouTube video tutorials and just shot and started trying to use the tools. It works.

I wanted a bit more...and got Aperture, for $80, the price is certainly right.

After messing with video, I wanted more..now, I'm futzing around with FCPX for editing and even trying to learn color grading with Resolve 9 Lite (free). 

In closing...again, gotta echo getting the Understanding Exposure book, it is cheap on amazon. After that, explore the tools you have on the mac...research a bit, tons of info on the internet and youtube these days...can be one of your biggest starting resources.

Everyone and their goat is demo'ing stuff on YT. It is a good spring board to learning...

HTH,

cayenne


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