Klaus dk

And some other self-appointed expert will tell you, that you're not a "real" photographer unless you shoot manual everything. Once you know exactly how your current gear is limiting you and why ...

Looks to me like a Godox Witstro AD600 with an 80cm octabox. The strobe is roughly USD 600-750 the octa is USD 50.

Reflections inside the lens or between lens elements and the sensor. The sensor is highly reflective, almost mirror-like. When the light source(s) are in the picture, it's really difficult to avoid.

IMHO, to get a pretty darn good picture, you'd need to expose for ISO 100 and use better light. Detail is masked by noise and smeared by noise reduction, and the specular reflections from the sofa ...

For those who have "hide signature" selected, you need to "show signature" to see the photo. I like it.

I'd still suggest the Nikon 60mm f/2.8. For portraiture, the 85mm is too dark, IMHO. I know it's a compromise, but nevertheless. The Tamron have a few drawbacks according to photozone.de: ...

The question to ask here is what kind of fashion shooting you are aiming at. Outdoors, especially for "street fashion", you can get great results with very little, whereas indoors in low or ...

Take a look at the OP's website. I was about to repeat my usual sermon on zooms and primes for portraiture, but decided a more humble approach were in order here.

As far as I can see from your gear list, you also have an 18-55mm zoom. You can use that for portraiture at the long end. The DoF may be a bit deeper than you wish, but there are other ways to ...

Here You might just want to read Rishi Sanyal's opinion .

Following the 7:11 progression in your exixting lenses, 135mm wouldn't be far off.

You need to learn that a small aperture (large f-number) will expand the depth of field and a large aperture gives you shallow depth of field, but lets in more light. The shutter can freeze ...

What is it about those pictures you like, and what makes you think a filter is involved?

There's a Digital Video forum, where you might get better help.

This is the beginners forum, you are here to learn, not to impress.

No need to be sorry. That is a fine lens for learning. I understand you find it a bit big, but that is the price for the large creative potential in it. Good luck and good light.

You are right in assuming that the positioning of the lights did not treat the girl nicely. A 24" umbrella does not soften shadows much, and outdoors, there are no walls to reflect from to ...

... and I'd recommend using full auto (P or Auto) to free your mind to composition, framing and shooting angle. The standard kit lens (not lense) for your camera is an 18-55mm zoom, but Nikon ...

For what it's worth, you're developing, but you've still got some way to go. When you shoot, make up your mind about what you want to show, and then concentrate on getting the best presentation of ...