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What equipment do I need for "professional...

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That's where portrait photogs hang out.

This forum is for shooting dogs, cats, and blurry train tracks! :)

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peace.
 
That's a great shot Val - what lights exactly are you using? I'm moving in a few months and want to convert a spare bedroom into a "studio" but I'll be on a budget.
 
....need to be taken into account

I agree with the other posters that lighting is going to be important. One issue though is that small boys are perpetual motion machines.

Getting them to stop in front of a background and in the right position for your nicely set up studio strobes will be an art in itself. Not to mention avoiding them bringing the wired up stobes and stands crashing down on them, the cat, your Ming vases etc. A lot will depend on the personality of your kids here but both mine rarely want to pose.

Although studio strobes will give you the most power I would (and am) bringing them in further down the line. You might want to consider at hot shoe flash (or two). Make sure it has bounce. If you get two you could still shoot one from a stand with an umbrella (minus power cords etc) so long as the on camera one can act as a master (580EX, 550EX Sigma 500). Now if you mean taking portraits of adults (or if your kids are very co-operative) then the studio strobes would probaly give the best quality. Otherwise you may find that a hot-shoe set up is more portable and flexible.

You can use the hot-shoe flash out and about when visiting places, attending weddings, parties and other events and as fill flash when out with the kids.

Just another option to consider from one who has a 6 year old boy and a 3 year old girl.

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Andy

http://www.pbase.com/wislon
 
Don't know if you have the same sort of thing where you are, here in the UK there are a fair number of camera clubs. Not only are there people you can learn from but they also usually have some club equipment, studio strobes are normally one of the 1st things they get. My local club not only has portrait sessions where you can learn but will also let you hire the lights for a small fee [ which goes towards upkeep and new gear ].
 
Try some natural light location type shoots. Throwing money and equipment in the mix to get "pro" pics is foolish. Work on your creativity with the basics...a camera and lens. I started with a Pentax K1000 and still use it today. It has no auto modes for anything and it takes "pro like" shots as well as any DSLR. Really, the studio stuff will only cause you headaches. Too much to control when dealing with kids. Work on poses, expressions and other non-equipment based things first. The best lighting in the world won't make any difference if the poses and expressions are not there.
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Well, to me the main - and only, for me - reason to go with the 24-70 L would be for the better bokeh at f2.8. Moving kids and all that can be gotten by bumping ISO to give you the higher shutter speed at the same aperature. Hey, it's a CMOS sensor. =} Less noise.

To me the trade-off was more about having IS, so I could get lower shutter speeds handheld. I will miss the better bokeh, but... not that much. It;s still very nice on the f4.
 
Still only had two lamps, and one had burned out. And then the friend showed up and said, "let's do some pictures". She was warned that the lighting would be way off, but wanted to pose nonetheless.

Now I have a few spare bulbs just in case.

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Best regards,

Bruno Lobo.



http://www.pbase.com/brunobl
 
The Alien Bees are a great set for the price. I have a hodge podge set with some cheap SP Studio systems strobes and a set of Alien Bees. This works very well since I can illuminate the backgrounds and the subjects with a 4-light setup.

My biggest problem is space. You need a lot space to do this properly. Time to experiment, additonal add ons like light meters. Also with child photography they will not want to sit in front of a screen very long. It may be better to stick with multiple flash units where you can create a "studio effect" but follow them around. The canon speedlights can function as master and slave to simultaneously trigger. You can try to pick up some flashes used - B&H sells some EX flashes used, I got the 550EX for $200. Ebay you must watch the prices and not pay more than the unit is worth.

If your interest is mainly in child photography multiple electronic flashes might be best.
 
FilmNot said:
Well, to me the main - and only, for me - reason to go with the
24-70 L would be for the better bokeh at f2.8. Moving kids and all
that can be gotten by bumping ISO to give you the higher shutter
speed at the same aperature. Hey, it's a CMOS sensor. =} Less
noise.
Click to expand...
Actually another use of the f/2.8 is indoors. The 24-70 has replaced my 50/1.8. But even at 2.8, in my house I need to go to ISO 800 to get 1/60 or so shutter speeds without flash. So I don't see the f/4 being very useful indoors. True, the CMOS is good at high ISO, but I wouldn't want to make any large prints at any higher than 800.
FilmNot said:
To me the trade-off was more about having IS, so I could get lower
shutter speeds handheld.
Click to expand...
I am not missing the IS as much as I thought I would, but you do need to concentrate on being surgically still at 1/50 or slower towards the tele end.
 
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