Wondering about Portrait equipment

Hey all,

Just wondering if there are any portrait shooters here on the forums. I've recenlty been discussing with friends and family about doing portraits for them in the near future and i'm doing some research in what kind of gear I would need to do this.

At the moment I have my Canon digital Rebel XT, a 70-200mm f4 L for
outdoor shots, and i'm looking into getting either a 50mm f1.4, or an 85mm 1.8 for indoor shooting.

So what else would i need? A flash? what kind? the 580EX perhaps?
Backdrops? What sort of lighting equipment should i be looking at for indoor?

Obviously i'll have to work my way up to get all the gear, but what would be a typical set up to get me by for mostly outdoor shooting which i would start doing first?

any toughts and advice would help a great deal,

thanx in advance!

Erm.

Lens wise I'd aim for the primes for portrait work - the 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.8 are both excellent, although with the 1.6x crop factor of the 350D/XT I wouldn't go any longer (unless you have huge rooms!); depending on your budget the 35mm f/1.4 L would be a fantastic addition to a portrait line up - giving equivalent of approx 56mm, which is a useful length.

Starting out with flash, the 580EX is very good, but the 550EX is cheaper and just as good; the ST-E2 flash controller is a must to get the flash off camera. It's worth picking up a few reflectors to balance the lighting. I bought a couple of cheap secondhand 420's off eBay to act as slaves which meant I could experiment with the lighting a little.

If you really get into your portraits, it might be worth buying a simple strobe lighting kit (Bowens, Elinchrom etc) of just two heads, stands etc.

You can either improvise backgrounds in your garage or studio room with large thick sheets or canvas, or a painted white wall - or use a dedicated background setup - Lastolite among other manufacturers make quite a range.

Hope this is useful,

Dan

^^ im sorry, i disagree. you should NOT be shooting portraits on anything wider then a 50mm and that is pushing it, things start to look distroted.

most portrait lenses are considered to be 85-135mm in length.. your 70-200 will be great for doing portraits

if you do really want to buy another lens, consider one of the following:

85L f/1.2
100mm macro - very versatile
135L f/2

if you are starting outside, pickup a 550 flash and an omni bounce.

go to dick blick and get 2 pieces of 4x8' white foam core. while there, get foam core "hinges" - they are in their catalog if not in stock... tape all the edges w/ the gafers tape so the foam core will last a bit longer

the foam core will act as reflectors, very much needed outside.

avoid shooting between 10-4pm - shadows are way to harsh

try to shoot on overcast days, its natures natural soft box

when your ready to go indoors, i would not suggest getting several flashes, you simply don't have the control or the light output to do it well.

buy at least 2, pref 3 strobes, id recomend alienbees.com b800's.

get white ubmrellas, don't get the ab ones, get quality ones from lastolite or similar quality. buy your light stands from a local dealer who sells promaster - check promaster.com for a dealer, their 8.5' air cushioned stands are $50 or so... compared to bogen spring cushion for $135

id prob buy one of the shovels from ab though, possibly the light dish, although i built my own.

softboxes would be the next step

my studio was 25x30'... i couldn't image any smaller then that

backgrounds, paper will be cheapest... 9' rolls are around $55.. the 4' rolls are around $35

thanx to both of you for your in depth responses, just the info i was looking for and i appreciate it greatly.

This will be an ongoing project for me but now i know at least what kinds of equipment i should be thinking of getting.

thanx again and if anyone else has more to add that would be cool too!

Hi Mike, I've seen the work you have done and would certainly defer to your experience; however I should clarify the point I was trying to make above...

Of course, longer focal lengths - 85mm and up are ideal for portraits because they avoid distortion of the face and are often more flattering. However - I've never found this to be an absolute rule and have taken some good portraits with shorter focal lengths of 50mm and less. Of course you have to be aware of potential wide-angle distortion but this can be used to good effect for slightly off beat portraits if the subject's character or the situation lend themselves to this.

My point for Tyger was that with the crop factor of 1.6x on the 350D, a 135mm lens becomes 216mm; for indoor portraits I've often found my back pressed against the wall trying to get subjects into the frame with an 85mm lens on a full frame camera! In larger spaces this is obviously not a problem, I agree.

Of course, the 1.6x crop factor does not remove the distortion caused by a shorter lens such as a 35mm, even if the field of view is equivalent to 56mm, and I should have made that clear before - thanks Mike.

Dan

Rangefinder Magazine has devoted a whole section to Portrait lighting tips by some of the best portrait photographers.