Photography Question?

Question

I would consider myself a serious amateur. I will be buying a decent DSLR in the near future.

I am planning on starting a small 'business' specializing in boudoir photos. My reason for this is I love photography, and I've always been very interested in this style of photography. I think it is empowering for women of all ages, cultures, situations, to let loose and embrace their sexuality in such a way. I would love to help them feel more confident and capture this confidence for them. I suppose it is a weird thing to want to specialize in, but it also allows the freedom of being my own boss and working from a home studio.

My question is, for this type of photography, do I NEED to take college or Uni courses? I am taking tutorial type courses just to get familiar with the basics. The creative side of things I need no help with. I've heard different things about this. Basically I do NOT want to work for a large firm or anything. Just want to work for myself.

Oh and have to add, I have no plans of starting this any time soon, I want to hone my skills more and really be comfortable in my abilities before even attempting this. I have quite a lot to learn before charging people for my services. :)

Answer 1

You do not need to go to formal school to become a photographer but you have to learn it from somewhere be it from a class room environment or from you reading and doing things on your own.

1. You should learn the technical aspects of photography and your camera (composition, shutter speed, rules of thirds, depth of field etc), once you understand these you will be able to create better images.

2. Shoot in "M" (manual mode) because you will have more control over your camera and not the other way around. When you are in one of the "Auto" modes the camera will just read the highlights and shadow areas and try to get you a picture. The camera is not smart enough to know what you are shooting.

3. You can start reading all kinds of books on this subject and get information from the internet. This includes web based classes, manufactures web sites to personal blogs.

4. Buy the best DSLR camera that you can afford this also includes good lenses. Take out your camera and manual sit down and go over all the buttons and knobs etc.. this is the best way for you to learn what your camera can do.

5. Start shooting with your camera to get practice and from what you are learning from reading and doing you will get better. Practice does make perfect. Take notes while shooting and then look at your photos on the computer find the best one from that set and see what you did to get the shot and see what you did to get the shot and why you like it more than the others.

6. You can get yourself a job as a photographers assistant (be it payed or free) and learn from that person.

Since you have access to the internet here is a start: Some you have to pay for and some are free.. start with the free stuff of course.

http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/......
http://www.betterphoto.com/home.asp......
http://www.shootsmarter.com/
http://www.webphotoschool.com/

http://www.lexar.com/dp/index.html?cmp=e...

Studio Lighting info
http://www.photo-seminars.com/Portraiture/lesson1.htm
http://www.studiolighting.net/portrait-lighting-styles/

Photoshop classes
http://www.russellbrown.com/

Check this site out for other work by models and photographers.
http://www.onemodelplace.com

Just incase you need info on a degree
http://www.photographyschools.com/

Hope this helps,
Kevin

Answer 2

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Answer 3

College is not required. I am a pro photographer and have not taken any formal training in photography. I am self taught.

Make sure before getting into "business" that you have a firm grasp of the basics of photography and know how they interact with each other(Shutter speed, aperture, ISO = exposure and know good composition). For you posing is going to be a big deal. Most people will be coming to you and expecting that you have all the poses planned out.

Learn from every source you can, books at the library, internet sources. IF you can afford college classes or photography cl;asses of any kind, please feel free to take them, as they can only help you out.

Answer 4

DSLR photography doesn't need to be over-complicated. This online photography course has been developed for beginners - intermediate levels and will teach you how to make the best use of your DSLR camera. https://tr.im/PIfYa

Learning how to confidently use your DSLR will help you get full value out of this awesome camera you have already paid for!

This course has been developed after seeing many potential photographers give up far too soon, wasting good money they have spent on the purchase of their DSLR camera.

Answer 5

I used to have my own studio before the days of digital I used an old Hassleblad, But its just practice and I developed my own black and white and could burn in and under expose the prints but you cant do that with digital photography unless like me you have an Apple mac and you can do some amazing things with Iphotos.
Good luck. I hope it goes well if you are dedicated you will achieve your goals. Start taking pictures of people for free to start with as photography is not as expensive as it used to be . so you can practice more.

Answer 6

You dont need any fromal training as others say, I disagree personally, we are all different of course.

For me it was a number of night courses, full time two years, then 1 years fulltime at TV school. For me I found it much easier and faster to be taught be by the pros than trying to teach myself.

so the answer is whats best for you, are you in a hurry to learn? Personally I think people learn better in structured enviroments - like schools, its popular worldwide.

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

First, youre going to want to (have to) learn your camera's system inside and out, and then the MOST important part.... Lighting.... Light use and how to controll it to make it do what YOU want it to do, bi it Ambient or studio flashes... there is nothing I can think of that kills a great photo more than poor lighting techniqe.... learn to light and learn to controll it.

Answer 9

Listen to gryphon. And also email me with any questions :-) [e-mail]