Comments on: choices: starting a business on $2000 http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/ professional photo techniques for all photographers Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:28:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Neal http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-4994 Neal Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:25:15 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-4994 Hi Jim, First - excellent web site. I find alot of very usefull information here. I hope you keep it going. Let me start by saying my wife and I are the amature photographers some have been commenting on. Though we both have been taking pictures for years as a hobby, neither of us have any formal training and for the most part use the "auto" setting. However, my wife being a graphic designer and very well schooled in photoshop, and myself being an electrician and very apt at following any discussion about lighting, are maybe more suited to migrating into a more proffessional photographer position. Both of us it would seem have a good eye for photography and regularly recieve comments on our photos. We have done photo shoots in the past mostly for friends out of desperation. You see we come from a small town and of the 4 "pro" photographers only one takes truly excellent pictures. The other 3 could easily be outdone by almost any amature with a passion. Of course, unless you are planning 1-2 years in advance, good luck getting the good guy. As my wife already runs a succesfull graphic design business, and has much experience dealing with clients and charging for work, the business end should be easier. We made the decission to begin charging for our work and set out to equip ourselves in a more professional manner. Not wanting to blow the budget we carefully tried to select only what was needed to start. Our choices were as follows Camera: Nikon D60 with 18-55mm VR and 70-300mm VR - cost: $1199.99 I am not so impressed to this point with the 18-55, but the 70-300 performs exceptional and is almost all we use. I am already looking for a 18-135 lens. Bag and 2gb SD card included in kit. Lighting: Kit with 3 160w/s strobes, radio trigger/reciever, background stand, and 3 backdrops - white, black, and chroma green cost: $749.99 Nice package for portraits as we set up our studio in our house and don't have alot of room so no need for large amounts of light. Kit came with 2 24"x30" softboxes, an umbrella, 1 barndoor, and 4 gel color filters. All bags also included for storage and portability. We will be purchasing more backgrounds soon, and have yet to experiment fully with the chroma but look forward to it. Being an electrician, I also had some 2 head halogen work lights that we have incorporated into several shots. Computer/Software: Already have a very high end computer and full version of Adobie CS3 so no need to purchase anything else at this time. Had to download the upgrade to camera raw to process the Nikon raw images in photoshop, but only took a few minutes and works flawlessly. There you have it. We are starting with friends and family portraits and already have 2 bookings for weddings next summer. I anticipate with just what we have done and are booked for to cover the cost of our new equipment, however I am currently looking at duplicating everything so we have a spare of everything just incase. Especially for weddings. Will probably look at a higher end camera - probably the new D700 and sticking with Nikon for the lens interchangability. I find in our area there is lots of work for a professional photographer, however word of mouth is rampant and will either make you or break you. Quality and personal service mean everything. Also, don't underprice yourself. Thanks, Hi Jim,
First - excellent web site. I find alot of very usefull information here. I hope you keep it going.
Let me start by saying my wife and I are the amature photographers some have been commenting on. Though we both have been taking pictures for years as a hobby, neither of us have any formal training and for the most part use the “auto” setting. However, my wife being a graphic designer and very well schooled in photoshop, and myself being an electrician and very apt at following any discussion about lighting, are maybe more suited to migrating into a more proffessional photographer position. Both of us it would seem have a good eye for photography and regularly recieve comments on our photos.
We have done photo shoots in the past mostly for friends out of desperation. You see we come from a small town and of the 4 “pro” photographers only one takes truly excellent pictures. The other 3 could easily be outdone by almost any amature with a passion. Of course, unless you are planning 1-2 years in advance, good luck getting the good guy.
As my wife already runs a succesfull graphic design business, and has much experience dealing with clients and charging for work, the business end should be easier. We made the decission to begin charging for our work and set out to equip ourselves in a more professional manner. Not wanting to blow the budget we carefully tried to select only what was needed to start. Our choices were as follows
Camera: Nikon D60 with 18-55mm VR and 70-300mm VR - cost: $1199.99
I am not so impressed to this point with the 18-55, but the 70-300 performs exceptional and is almost all we use. I am already looking for a 18-135 lens. Bag and 2gb SD card included in kit.
Lighting: Kit with 3 160w/s strobes, radio trigger/reciever, background stand, and 3 backdrops - white, black, and chroma green cost: $749.99
Nice package for portraits as we set up our studio in our house and don’t have alot of room so no need for large amounts of light. Kit came with 2 24″x30″ softboxes, an umbrella, 1 barndoor, and 4 gel color filters. All bags also included for storage and portability. We will be purchasing more backgrounds soon, and have yet to experiment fully with the chroma but look forward to it. Being an electrician, I also had some 2 head halogen work lights that we have incorporated into several shots.
Computer/Software: Already have a very high end computer and full version of Adobie CS3 so no need to purchase anything else at this time. Had to download the upgrade to camera raw to process the Nikon raw images in photoshop, but only took a few minutes and works flawlessly.
There you have it. We are starting with friends and family portraits and already have 2 bookings for weddings next summer. I anticipate with just what we have done and are booked for to cover the cost of our new equipment, however I am currently looking at duplicating everything so we have a spare of everything just incase. Especially for weddings. Will probably look at a higher end camera - probably the new D700 and sticking with Nikon for the lens interchangability.
I find in our area there is lots of work for a professional photographer, however word of mouth is rampant and will either make you or break you. Quality and personal service mean everything. Also, don’t underprice yourself.
Thanks,

]]> By: Wedding Photographer France http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-4932 Wedding Photographer France Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:07:33 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-4932 Excellent idea. Here is what I would get if professional location portraits were my goal (for instance corporate photography): - Canon 400d - $500 - 85mm 1.8 - $300 - 50mm 1.4 - $300 - 8gb CF: $50 - 1 ebay transmitter and 2 receivers: $100 - 2 Vivitar 285HV flashes: $200 - 2 lightstands and umbrellas: $200 - photoshop elements: $100 Still $250 to spare - would probably upgrade my camera to a second had 40d. Or get Elinchrom skyports instead of the ebay transmitters. Excellent idea. Here is what I would get if professional location portraits were my goal (for instance corporate photography):

- Canon 400d - $500
- 85mm 1.8 - $300
- 50mm 1.4 - $300
- 8gb CF: $50
- 1 ebay transmitter and 2 receivers: $100
- 2 Vivitar 285HV flashes: $200
- 2 lightstands and umbrellas: $200
- photoshop elements: $100

Still $250 to spare - would probably upgrade my camera to a second had 40d. Or get Elinchrom skyports instead of the ebay transmitters.

]]> By: How to *actually* start a photography business for $2000 « clique http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-4836 How to *actually* start a photography business for $2000 « clique Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:54:39 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-4836 [...] came across this post the other day in my google reader. I was pumped for some guidance in this area, because I have [...] [...] came across this post the other day in my google reader. I was pumped for some guidance in this area, because I have [...]

]]> By: Jim Talkington http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-4801 Jim Talkington Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:06:57 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-4801 Good point, Shaun, but you can't do the work if you don't have the equipment to deliver the job. In the next $1000 I'd add office and legal necessities and also start exploring free or budget forms of marketing. Good point, Shaun, but you can’t do the work if you don’t have the equipment to deliver the job. In the next $1000 I’d add office and legal necessities and also start exploring free or budget forms of marketing.

]]> By: Shaun Krisher http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-4794 Shaun Krisher Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:43:04 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-4794 i'm disappointed with this list. I thought you were starting a BUSINESS. you spent 100% of your budget on gear and nothing on marketing. Are you starting a business or a hobby? i’m disappointed with this list. I thought you were starting a BUSINESS. you spent 100% of your budget on gear and nothing on marketing.

Are you starting a business or a hobby?

]]> By: Pestbarn http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-3522 Pestbarn Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:42:40 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-3522 This is a really nice article, very well written Jim! It's pretty interesting how decent gear you could get for such low prices. I actually just wrote a blog entry about my own photography gear, with wireless flashes and a Nikon D40x, which all-in-all cost me a little less than $700. <a href="http://pestbarn.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/complete-photography-gear-700/" rel="nofollow">Here's the entry</a> if you'd like to see what I've written. Keep up the good work! This is a really nice article, very well written Jim! It’s pretty interesting how decent gear you could get for such low prices. I actually just wrote a blog entry about my own photography gear, with wireless flashes and a Nikon D40x, which all-in-all cost me a little less than $700. Here’s the entry if you’d like to see what I’ve written.

Keep up the good work!

]]> By: Luis Becerra http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-3493 Luis Becerra Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:00:07 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-3493 Hi all, This is one of the best articles, if not the best, I have read about starting a Photography business, thank s Jim. First able I would like to tell you what I have and what I want to accomplish with the Equipment. Canon 40D 28-135 IS USM kit lens 50mm 1.8 70-200mm, IS USM 2.8 Alien Bee 400 Light meter 2 white with black back Umbrellas 1 Soft umbrella Background stand 2 background (Black and White, Poooor quality LOL) Few stick on a can and cheap lights you recommended on some of your videos from Home Depot. Some white board use as reflectors 1 reversible reflector Don't remember what else I have. What I would like to perform are, Portrait, some wildlife, landscape and in the future after Weddings (after few years of shooting and learning from other wedding photographers). Other then shooting a lot to gain experience and books that I have, for example understanding exposure and some others, what do you recommend me to do and what equipment am I missing other then the Flash which I'm planning to get next. Thanks Hi all,

This is one of the best articles, if not the best, I have read about starting a Photography business, thank s Jim.

First able I would like to tell you what I have and what I want to accomplish with the Equipment.

Canon 40D
28-135 IS USM kit lens
50mm 1.8
70-200mm, IS USM 2.8
Alien Bee 400
Light meter
2 white with black back Umbrellas
1 Soft umbrella
Background stand
2 background (Black and White, Poooor quality LOL)
Few stick on a can and cheap lights you recommended on some of your videos from Home Depot.
Some white board use as reflectors
1 reversible reflector

Don’t remember what else I have.

What I would like to perform are, Portrait, some wildlife, landscape and in the future after Weddings (after few years of shooting and learning from other wedding photographers).

Other then shooting a lot to gain experience and books that I have, for example understanding exposure and some others, what do you recommend me to do and what equipment am I missing other then the Flash which I’m planning to get next.

Thanks

]]> By: Jim Talkington http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-3456 Jim Talkington Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:19:34 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-3456 I'm already thinking about how to spend that next $1000, thanks for all the ideas. A follow will be coming... I’m already thinking about how to spend that next $1000, thanks for all the ideas. A follow will be coming…

]]> By: Chester Bullock http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-3447 Chester Bullock Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:53:56 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-3447 The next evolution of this type of list that I would like to see is what you would do with, say $1000, assuming you already have a camera, lenses, flash and a laptop w/ software. I guess that would basically be a list of essential lighting accessories (reflectors, soft boxes, strobes, etc.)? The next evolution of this type of list that I would like to see is what you would do with, say $1000, assuming you already have a camera, lenses, flash and a laptop w/ software. I guess that would basically be a list of essential lighting accessories (reflectors, soft boxes, strobes, etc.)?

]]> By: photographyVoter.com http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/09/24/2000-photo-business-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-3366 photographyVoter.com Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:13:39 +0000 http://prophotolife.com/?p=1377#comment-3366 <strong>Starting a Photography Business on $2000...</strong> What if you only had $2000 and wanted to start out doing light editorial or portrait photography on the side? Could a half decent kit be put together for that $2000? Jim Talkington thinks so!... Starting a Photography Business on $2000…

What if you only had $2000 and wanted to start out doing light editorial or portrait photography on the side? Could a half decent kit be put together for that $2000? Jim Talkington thinks so!…

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