https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:54:10 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1175607 Fri, 25 Oct 2013 22:10:49 +0000 MamaG 1175607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have the 50mm lens, but am seeking a zoom lens that I can use for photographing my LO from a distance. SOmetimes it feels easier to be further away (where she isn't so aware of the camera) because she thinks the best way to take a picture is with her nose touching my lens. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1061061 Tue, 03 Sep 2013 02:10:49 +0000 808love 1061061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I do Simon Says games or pretend sneezes for my active one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1061058 Tue, 03 Sep 2013 01:59:41 +0000 lamariniere 1061058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: The reason more serious photographers consider the kit lens to be crap is because they are not very fast, meaning, the aperture opening is not very wide. Most kit lenses are only like aperture f3.5 or f5.6 or something, which are ok for just general all purpose shooting. But if you want to either shoot in low light conditions, shoot movement, or create the "blur" effect around your subject, you will need a wider aperture opening. For example, I have 3 zoom lenses and they are all f2.8, whereas my fixed lenses, 35, 50 and 85 are f2, f1.4 and f1.8. </p> <p>@Mae: Really explained the magnifying factor well. It doesn't matter if you are shooting with a Nikon or a Cannon. Lenses on a non-full frame camera will give you a closer up effect than shooting with a full frame camera, which is probably why you like the results you get when shooting portraits with a 35mm. A full frame camera sensor more closely resembles what you get with an SLR film camera, from which, from what I understand, lenses are still rated for. Full frame digital SLRs are generally *much* more expensive than the non full frame cameras. The nice thing is that they are generally sold without a crappy kit lens that you don't need anyways :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060459 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:53:15 +0000 Mae 1060459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: haha crank your ISO up to get super fast shutter speed, don't bother with flash, and take 10,000 pictures. One of them has got to be good, right? :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060452 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:46:50 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: any tips for photographing squirly toddlers?! Newborns, maternity sessions etc are all crazy easy haha... but my 18 month old has no quality pictures to his name. ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060441 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:37:18 +0000 Mae 1060441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I recommend always starting with ISO because that is easiest to guess. Then set your aperture for whatever look you're going for. Then use your light meter to set shutter speed (and take a test shot and chimp to verify). Then if your shutter speed isn't going to be fast enough you can adjust your ISO if you guessed wrong. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060432 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:34:40 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: great - thanks!!</p> <p>I still "guess" on shutter speed/aperture/iso. My SIL is a professional photographer and she just knows how to choose settings based on light; but I'm not there yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060426 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:30:55 +0000 Mae 1060426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: If you upgrade to a full frame body, then lenses will look differently than you're used to. Everything will be wider. Different consumer grade cameras have different crop factors though. I'm not that familiar with nikon because I shoot canon, but I know my old rebel had 1.6, yours has 1.5, and I believe some have 1.3. </p> <p>As for my settings... yea I don't remember off hand haha. For the first one because it was landscape and I wanted the background mostly in focus, I'm sure I had it set somewhere around f8 and somewhere north of 1/200 shutter speed with 100iso since it was so bright. I do manual so just whatever my light meter was telling me. For the second, it was indoor with off camera lighting, so I probably had it set somewhere around f3.5 and 1/250 with iso of 200 or 400. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060425 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:27:58 +0000 loveisstrange 1060425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: You get presets with Lightroom too. You can download and install them, etc just the same. I just find Lightroom more stream-lined and easier to use overall. I would consider myself pretty adept with PS too and Lightroom was like a beam of light from the sky when I got it. lol. I love it. </p> <p>I have Lightroom 4 for Mac and PS CS6.</p> <p>But yeah, the Canon users are outnumbered around here, I think, so thats probably why. I have a Rebel. The 50mm was what was recommended to me by a couple of my photog friends, both of whom use a Canon, I believe. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060421 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:25:57 +0000 loveisstrange 1060421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: Same! I only use PS for stuff I cant do in Lightroom! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060419 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:25:16 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060419@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@loveisstrange: I think what I've noticed (at least from hellobee!) is that the 50mm is better for canon users, but the 35mm is better for nikon users.</p> <p>I've never used lightroom - but I'm pretty adept with photoshop. Actions are the best - I mostly use the coffeeshopblogs actions and really like them. It makes editing quick and easy.</p> <p>@Mae: ahhh I had never heard that before! interesting. So if I had a different body, would it be the same? I want to upgrade the body eventually since my screen broke (doesn't affect performance but I have to guess on the ISO because I can't see it on the screen). </p> <p>Thanks for the visuals! Do you happen to know what your shutter speed and aperture were set to on the first two pics (not that I expect you to remember haha!)? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060408 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:12:41 +0000 Mae 1060408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@loveisstrange: agree, I &lt;3 lightroom. I use it for 95% of my editing and only use photoshop if I need to do something I CAN'T do with lightroom. </p> <p>@Mrs. Pen: Mystery solved! I followed the link to your other post and saw you're on a d80 which means your camera has a crop factor of 1.5 That means that every lens you use, the actual focal length is 1.5 what it would be on a full frame. So, your 35 performs on your camera like 52.5 mm on my (full frame) camera. That being the case, I can see why you would love the 35, since I love my 50! :) I'll post some of my pics from the last month below, but the focal lengths will look different on your camera than mine. (I have a Canon 5d mark ii). </p> <p>The first is 35mm (You would need a 24mm to get the same effect). The second two are 50mm (which your 35mm should perform similarly). The last is an 85mm (which a 50mm would perform almost the same on your camera, just not *quite* as close). </p> [attach=4140/13/msio96.600x402.Screen-Shot-2013-09-02-at-4.55.44-PM.png] [attach=4140/13/msio97.600x480.Screen-Shot-2013-09-02-at-4.56.29-PM.png] [attach=4140/13/msio99.600x399.Screen-Shot-2013-09-02-at-4.58.24-PM.png] [attach=4140/13/msio9a.600x400.Wedding_Jeremy_Faye_1.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060398 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:04:46 +0000 loveisstrange 1060398@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would say Lightroom is an easier program to navigate than Photoshop for editing.</p> <p>I use both, but I would probably recommend Lightroom more.</p> <p>I LOVE my 50mm for portrait photography. Thats what I always used when C was modeling and I did pictures of her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060397 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 16:04:44 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060397@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: hmm... I just did a newborn shoot with my 35mm and I think it went well (first NB shoot though and just for my sister). I had started a thread awhile ago about 50mm vs 35mm and the 35mm came out the winner (<a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/camera-bees-another-lens-nikon-question" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/camera-bees-another-lens-nikon-question</a>).</p> <p>My kit lens is the nikon 18-135mm which has served me well the last 6 years! I was just curious what lens you'd use if NOT doing close ups.</p> <p>Are you a canon user? </p> <p>I would be curious to see the differences between 35mm, 50mm and 85mm!</p> <p>{pic deleted for privacy} </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060381 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 15:53:32 +0000 Mae 1060381@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: What I suggest for what? I don't use a 35mm as a portrait lens because it is too wide for me mostly and if you try to do newborns with it and get up close you can get distortion. It would be good for something like maternity photos if you wanted more of a landscape photo rather than a closer photo. </p> <p>For newborn photos I mostly stick with my 50mm 1.4. For outdoor portraits 50mm or 85mm mostly, unless I want some landscape-y ones. I could post some examples if you want, but I don't want to spam your board unless you're actually interested haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060372 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 15:44:11 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060372@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: @lamariniere: well I already have the kit lens and it's not bad, really. </p> <p>I have the 35mm and love it. I'm curious what you suggest if not using the portrait lens? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060276 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:27:55 +0000 lamariniere 1060276@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I'm something of a photographer myself. Your list sounds good, but the kit lenses are usually crap. I have a full frame camera and mostly use the 35 and 50 even though I have a few other lenses. You don't *need* a flash unless you are getting into some complex night shots. I have an external one but rarely use it. I occasionally use the on-camera flash in a pinch if I really need flash. I think a tripod can also be really useful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060273 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:24:56 +0000 Mae 1060273@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Either flash or off camera lighting, if you tend to do a lot of newborn type shoots. It's not as hard as it seems-- just takes practice! </p> <p>Also I'd ditch the kit lens. Your pics are only as good as your lens so it is really worth it to invest in better glass. You don't need pro-quality but getting a better quality lens isn't *that* expensive and makes a big difference. A 50mm lens is wonderful for portraits (I'd say 35 is too wide, I use mostly 50mm and 85mm). If you shoot canon, I highly recommend the 50mm 1.4. It isn't as expensive as the 1.2 and it creates gorgeous portraits. </p> <p>Good luck! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060267 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:19:24 +0000 stargal 1060267@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: yup I bounce it or tilt it slightly at a angle up. Its way to powerful to shoot head on. I have a canon camera and use a canon speedlite camera.flash, but I would invest.in a good flash and on cheap! Lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060171 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:18:35 +0000 citymouse 1060171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wedding photog here. I wouldn't say a flash is a must have for everyone, but I need mine for work and I like having it. Bounced flash is always going to give more favorable skin tones, and just a more natural look. The images @stargirl posted seem to have off camera lighting as well? See the rim light around their bodies from behind in the last two pictures? Unless they are standing in front of a powerful street light or something like that. That kind of effect requires two flashes, one from behind and one in the front. I would definitely get a tripod, simply so you can be in some pictures too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060164 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:15:23 +0000 Mrs. Deer 1060164@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I would say a tripod and wireless remote. It's so nice to be able to get things lined up and be able to step away from the camera for a second. It's also really nice for taking pictures of your own family too, that way you can all be in the picture, yet you don't have to go off a timer.. </p> <p>Remote (for our Nikon) - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006JGXOSY/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?psc=1&#038;redirect=true&#038;ref_=oh_details_o06_s00_i00" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006JGXOSY/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?psc=1&#038;redirect=true&#038;ref_=oh_details_o06_s00_i00</a></p> <p>Tripod - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001D60LG8/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?psc=1&#038;redirect=true&#038;ref_=oh_details_o05_s00_i01" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001D60LG8/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?psc=1&#038;redirect=true&#038;ref_=oh_details_o05_s00_i01</a></p> <p>I like holding the camera and moving around freely, but these are definitely fun items to have that can give you a bit more control and options :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060161 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:13:12 +0000 Navy_Mommy 1060161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: I wouldn't even know what to do with the one you posted, bahaha. All I have to do with mine is take a few test shots to see how strong I need it and I'm good to go. It can point any direction. It has a filter diffuser thingy for if you're pointing right at your subject. It functions, lol. That Nikon one looks waaaaay too complicated. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060151 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:10:00 +0000 Navy_Mommy 1060151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: My friend is a professional photographer and she uses the same one, lol. But, she primarily shoots outdoors so hers isn't used that much.</p> <p>But yeah, that sucker is always attached to my camera! I love it, wouldn't be able to take pictures in my house or in the Family Resource Center (where we take toddler classes) without it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060147 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:08:08 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Navy_Mommy: whoa I've never seen one so cheap!! and it's good?! I had this on my wishlist:<br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-SB-700-Speedlight-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0042X9L6A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&#038;colid=P676W2PJ0YTU&#038;coliid=I3UEH1D69CCNIY" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-SB-700-Speedlight-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0042X9L6A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&#038;colid=P676W2PJ0YTU&#038;coliid=I3UEH1D69CCNIY</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060142 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:05:06 +0000 Navy_Mommy 1060142@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is the one I have and it's super easy to use...</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-TT520-Speedlite-Digital-Cameras/dp/B004KV4DNK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1378145042&#038;sr=1-3&#038;keywords=tt560+speedlite" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-TT520-Speedlite-Digital-Cameras/dp/B004KV4DNK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1378145042&#038;sr=1-3&#038;keywords=tt560+speedlite</a></p> <p>ETA - it also doesn't eat batteries too quickly. A friend of mine bought a SUPER cheap flash and she has to replace the batteries ALL the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060141 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:01:48 +0000 Navy_Mommy 1060141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>OMG external flash is a MUST!! Especially if you have craptastic lighting in your house like me, lol. I always "bounce" my flash. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060135 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:54:46 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060135@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: wow those are incredible!!! love them! I definitely have no idea how to shoot night photos yet! </p> <p>@stargal: do you use the flash directly on the subject, or do you "bounce it"? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060132 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:50:06 +0000 Anagram 1060132@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: my husband is a hobby photographer, and we both thought the flash on a tripod that was used by the girl who did our engagement photos was a total game changer for night time photos. She got some amazing pics of us and the NYC skyline using it. </p> [attach=2976/13/msievk.600x400.AK-165.jpg] [attach=2976/13/msievm.600x400.AK-158.jpg] [attach=2976/13/msievn.600x400.AK-156.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060114 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:22:13 +0000 stargal 1060114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not a professional either but I would say your list is pretty good. I like to keep it basic without to many frills. Maybe add a tripod depending on if you also want to be in the picture and a wireless timer. And ya def an external flash too. It has been a lifesaver.for.pictures inside! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/photographers-must-have-equipment#post-1060110 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:16:00 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1060110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am by no means a professional - I just like taking pictures... I especially like gifting shoots to friends/family who otherwise would do them (like maternity and newborn)...</p> <p>A question for photographer bees - what would you say your minimal must have equipment is?</p> <p>With my limited knowledge I guess I would say:<br /> Body<br /> Kit lens<br /> portrait lens (35mm or 50mm)<br /> camera bag<br /> memory card and battery<br /> computer with photoshop</p> <p>Anything else? I want to get a flash eventually too, but I have no idea how to use it! </p>