Looking to get into photography profession

sanias

Dear people, I have just finished my BA and I have a passion for travelling and Photography. Just wanted to know if there are some good institutions for me and what is the kind of equipment I would need to be a good starter

PS : I just bought myself a Canon EOS 1000D

santos_g15

great .Welcome to league of canon EOS 1000D owners .what are the lenses you are having on mind ? what type of photgrapher do you want to become.
for landscape - you need wide lens
for portraits -you need standard lens with wide open aperture.
for wildlife-you need zoom and moderately fast lens.
for sports -zoom and super fast lens.
for birdlife- ultimate zoom .>500 mm.

buy yourself tripod and good shoulder bag.understanding exposure by bryan peterson would help.yes i am reading that book and i am a amateur photographer .lol.(hope you take advice from amateurs).

avinashzalake

Santosh
I am waiting for your Ladakh Photos
I know I am very poor in that field
Which Camera Do you suggest for me ??
Maximum up to 10000 bucks

santos_g15

Avinash,
I am a amateur photographer yaar.Not very qualified and all.however what are you considering, point and shoot camera or dslr type. point and shoot is click and you get the pictures.dslr stuff is camera where you have extra ability to focus on the subjectzoom in on them with zoom lens ,go for a wide angle if its landscape ,or gives you option of wide aperture if you want to do portrait .most branded dslr are costly .So according to your needs you can buy cameras.

avinashzalake

Thanks Santosh
Maximum 10,000/- that I can spend on it now
Later onwards I will think of DSLRs
Which one you will suggest
I am planning Canon A590

santos_g15

Looks like a good camera.

sanias

Dear santosh, thanks for the suggestions, im gonna be an all rounder . however i wished i could own the super ultimate zoom lens... Can you recomend good photoediting softwares and also if you have the time I do need a good computer suggestion... is dell XPS a good choice ? or a macbook? ... do let me know
thanks
san

santos_g15

The lens you are talking about is called bigma .lol.ITs sigma 50 -500 mm.big beefy lens that does all the jobs for you .not fast enough.no optical stabiliser and feww shortcomings.

Adode photoshop cs4 is latest from adobe.pretty costly.it enough for major editing purpose.for novice purpose picassa does agood job.

computer ? it depends on how you want it. any good assembling with good ram (read 1 GB) and harddisk (80 -160 GB) and may be cache will do.you will have to have usb 2.0 and dvd drive (R+-W).forgot the main thing motherboard of cyle 3-4 ghz will do.whatever you buy, ask for these features.

And with that you can load windows,linux etc.

i dont know much abt Mac but one of shortcomings is ,it severely restricts you to use apple products in many cases .i dont know if you can install linux on them or vista.probably some mac user can enlighten us.

Rob_The_Pom

Wanting to be a pro-photographer is great, but it is an incredibly difficult thing to get into successfully. There are some astonishingly good photographers out there who don't make it to the top. Most pro's spend their lives doing weddings and the like - not some much fun I think.

I am not a pro, but I have made efforts to break into the market and it is hard, very hard. Unless you are going to use traditional film, you need serious technology.

The biggest question is a simple one though - are you good enough?

I recommend you have a look at this website:

photo.net

There are many real experts there who can offer you sound advice. It'll also give you a view of how good you need to be to make it in areas like travel or landscape.

If want to do lanscape for example, a 1000D is not going to cut it. You'll need a trad medium format camera or a high range DLSR. More than that, you will need top quality lenses.

Photoshop CS 4 is certainly a nice to have, but there is an excellent free editor that is pro-quality called 'GIMP' - General Image Making Programme.
You can find it here:-

www.gimp.org

Anyway, I hope I don't sound too pessimisitic, but I just want you to realise that it is a hard road. And, even if you don't make it as a pro, it is a wonderful hobby to have!

Good luck, and all the best,

RTP

__________________
There is no God but Dawkins and Hitchens is his prophet.

vjay17

Hi San,

For lense, I recommend Tamron (3rd party lense). You can view it at http://www.tamron.com/lenses/default-photo.asp I am not sure in India, but in Malaysia it can be bought in any camera shop.

Cheers,
Vejian

Rob_The_Pom

If you want to do serious pro work, I am afraid to say that a Tamron lense is not likely to be up to the job. This is not to say that they are bad lenses, but if you want to do pro stuff, you need high quality.

Cheers

RTP

sanias

Hi people, Well i think ill stick with the Mac... i just did an online search and the best part is the macbooks have a LED display and comes loaded with cool photo softwares! iPhoto and stuff seems pretty cool.. i did check bout the compatibility issues and they said that it supports windows too... and moreover for graphics there is a 9400m and 9600 gt built in it. the best part of all the searching was this link http://www.apple.com/in/students/ there is a student offer for these comps at apple stores and they claim to be givin a good discount... i am all thrilled to be buying a great cam with a great laptop!

Rob_The_Pom

Could you post a link to some of your photography work? I'd love to see it.


Cheers

RTP

maury

A few random thoughts on the topic: I am a professional photographer - somewhere around 40+ years making my living with a camera. I was in India for a month last October. I carried 2 inexpensive point & shoot cameras. I won't mention the brand name - it is really not important - but they were in the $150.00 price range. So far I have sold one photo story form the trip that will probably cover my airfare. With luck, I will sell more and probably come out a few bucks ahead - not bad considering that I was there on my own, for a vacation, not a job.

The point is that the equipment you use is of little importance - espically in today's digital world. I was able to get good, saleable images with pretty cheap equipment.

Bottom line: you can't buy your way into professional photography any more than buying a sports car will make you a professional race driver.

pixelshooter

Sanias, I second Rob_The_Pom on several fronts. I am not a pro, but I have been shooting for the past 4 years or so. Many a times I have been asked if I want to go pro. Until now, I have always replied in the negative. Having an interest in photography is one thing, and shooting for a living is another. From my various interactions with fellow photographers (amateurs and working pros), I have concluded that in India:

• Weddings are going to be your bread and butter, at least until you establish yourself. There will always be a client waiting for you as long as you are willing to sweat it out in big fat Indian weddings. But remember, wedding photography in India usually includes video and your client will expect you to give him a one-stop solution. So you may need to hook up with a videographer.
• Fashion/Ad/Product photography is also where the money is - but if you want to go in there, you'll be entering a crowded street with not enough opportunities.
• Gear will not bring you success any sooner. Talent, hard work, luck and smartness is what will get you were you want to go. I know lousy photographers who make a good amount of money only because they have the gift of gab. I know good photographers who are satisfied just shooting for themselves. I would like to stress again that being a pro has nothing to do with being good at your art, especially in the digital age.
• A camera will only be your first investment. If you really want to stand apart, you need to think about your lenses, lighting systems, tripods, computer....a long list. Be prepared to spend $$ on this if you are starting of solo. Else, you can think about becoming an assistant under an established photographer.
• Doing a course in photographer at a reputed institute will expose you to the industry and help you develop contacts quickly. Choose your institute carefully and don't expect miracles
• The market for photography as an art is really bad. In other words, if you shoot great photographs, print and frame them and expect to make a living selling in a local gallery, you will need to find yourself another job soon. You can only expect to shoot for clients - which many a times may not be what YOU want to be shooting. Doing self projects and selling in local art galleries may work well in other countries, but not here.
  

Here is the website of a travel photographer cum writer (who is also on IM and may reply here): http://www.paintedstork.com/ Go through his photos and see if you have what it takes to go pro.

Good luck!