What equipment do i need to start doing portraits?

I have been doing photography on my own for the past few years. I have done a few local weddings, a few friends senior pictures, sports pictures (indivial and team pics) for a local school etc. I don’t have any backdrops, lighting equipment, props or anything special for my work. I dont have a TON of money to just spend right now as I am getting married in the next 6 months but I also have 2 weddings to shoot next year and some other stuff coming up. Can someone tell me where to buy backgrounds, what color will be the best to buy that can be used for multifunctions and what lighting/flashes i should buy. Thanks.

Backdrops are cheap. Seamless paper or a muslin backdrop, canvas if you want.

Lighting is the expensive part. You’ll probably need a couple of 500w strobes with softboxes or umbrellas and a 300w for backlighting. Calumet (calumetphoto.com) often has some nice kits cheap. You can go with hotlights cheaper, but there are drawbacks. You can easily figure $1500 for lighting like this, or check craigslist.org (if available wherever you are) for deals of someone else getting rid of some of their gear.

If you want to stick to outside shots, bag the backdrops, consider a couple of hotlights or smallish strobes for fills and large filters/reflectors to soften natural light.

Studio Photography : Where Can I Buy Photography Backgrounds?


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