Resources for Aspiring Photographers
We thought it be a good idea to create a resource (right here on Medium) that you could come back to for your photography needs. We recommend a few things to help aspiring photogs develop their careers and only recommend top products, services, and advice.
Please take a moment to see how these recommendations could help you on your path to becoming a top photog. Feel free to bookmark this page as we reference it often.
Cameras
Pro: Canon EOS 6D
Every online seems to always say the Mark III but the 6D is smaller, lighter, and less expensive. Costing around $1800 (Check for lowest prices). The 6D is certainly able to delivery professional results and works great in low light situations. Also, the 6D takes SD cards plus has gps for those outdoors and adventure photographers.
Aspiring: Canon EOS Rebel T1i
The Rebel T1i just barely beat out the Nikon D3000 for this spot. With a great price point, the T1i has 15.1 Megapixels, 3.0 inch LCD, full HD video capture, live view framing of images, face detection autofocusing and plenty of great features which makes it a great choice for any aspiring photog! (Check for lowest prices)
Lenses
Kit lens are great and I don’t think you should ever get rid of them because they are versatile and you can be a little more dangerous with them (like continue a shoot if it started to get misty out or wanted to take a long hike).
The first recordation is the 50mm f/1.4 because it can be used for just about every essential portrait shot. Plus, works well with dim lighting of indoor events and does distort the image is for back up super far to get everything in the picture.
The 70–200mm IS f/2.8 is next and seems to be in every protog’s wedding gear bag. The bokeh created with this lens is amazing and you don’t have to get super close to the subject to create that effect.
Bags
What you carry your gear in is essential. You need to protect your investment. We will regularly change our minds about style and proctection but currently we like these two choices: girls and guys bag. Though these are great bags they might be a little to conservative for some of you ladies so check out these cute stylish statement camera bags that some photogs adore.
Courses
The key to getting better is to never stop learning. Continue to read, take courses, and attend workshops. Josh Dunlop from Expert Photography has an excellent course known as the ‘Simplified Photography System’
Also, Peggy Farren from Understand Photography has a course called “4 Weeks to Proficiency in Photography”. This course covers the important basics like exposure and composure to the advance technical side like shooting in manual, metering, focal points and more, all in an easy to understand way. The course is normally $497 BUT enter the code ‘featuredphotog’ and receive $200 off instantly.
Editing
Post production is essential to any aspiring photog who wants to pursue a career in photography. Many newbies feel over whelmed with the options and think the cost for these programs are too expensive but let’s look into a few options that we feel would be perfect for all budgets.
Photoshop ruled the post-production market at one point but now Lightroom has taken over. You would still need Photoshop for certain effects or over-lay but if you are looking to create simple, stunning, clean edits then Lightroom is for you.
Lightroom is extremely efficient and can decrease a photog’s workflow by almost 100%. There are a ton of reviews and videos out there that can really show you the benefits and quickly learn to use this essential program.
After editing, Blogstomp is the preferred method to upload images to your website. The program can crunch images to the optimal size based on you site and even add your logo. If you have wordpress, you can link it directly and with one click your post can be created with all those images you just “stomped”. We use Blogstomp with this site and absolutely love it.
The other option that I have to mention is PicMonkey! It’s the perfect place to start and its FREE! PicMonkey is an online tool that anyone can use to do Edit/Touch Up, Design, and Collage. Plus, for those of you who want more functions, PicMonkey does have a premium version. If this seems a little to simple, believe me it’s not, its powerful and it might be easier for you to just check it out yourself.
Website
We use WordPress for all or website and we recommend you do too. WordPress is just the framework but you’ll also need a Domain & Hosting and for that we point you to Bluehost. We find it very convenient to get both the Domain & Hosting in the same place, plus they have the best customer service around.
Financials
Though tracking your cashflow may seem daunting or just plain boring, it is completely necessary. Our Basic Accounting Spreadsheets for Photographer is a simple yet powerful workbook will help you track income, expenses, and mileage.
Accurately tracking this information is a must. Failure to keep track of these records could results in potential fines or miss out on potential deductions. This download also includes a brand-able dashboard tab to give you all the details at a glance. It is even set to print out cleanly.
Closing
think we are missing something and have a suggestion? Let us know!
