10 questions about cameras, other equipment, editing and inspiration answered.
What camera and other equipment do you use?
I currently use the Nikon D750. As for lenses I use the Sigma Art 105mm + the Sigma 150mm in the studio. For other shoots I use the Sigma Art 50mm and my beloved Sigma Art 35mm. My favorite ones are the 105 and the 35!
What cameras are good?
Genreally, most cameras are good. Nowadays you can even take high quality photos with iPhones. For professional photography I would recommend a full-frame camera. The difference to other cameras is that you can fit more into the frame and the cameras are stronger when it comes to low light situations.
What’s more important – camera or lens?
Definitely the lens! Especially when you’re wanting to create a photo with a shallow depth of field a high quality lens is super important. These can be anywhere from €200-€1000. You don’t need the most expensive lens to get high quality photos, just do some research on what you need and get a lens that does what you need and doesn’t break your budget.
Does studio light need to be expensive?
Not really, it mostly depends on the light former. What I would not recommend are €50 ring lights from Amazon. These lights leave very weird and prominent reflections, especially in the eyes. Those are really distracting and look unprofessional.
I would recommend some sort of softbox or a (octagon) umbrella. These can be anywhere from €50 to well over €2000. Just like with the lenses do some research and make an educatd decision on what’s best for you.
What backdrops do you use?
For a white backdrop I use my white wall. For colorful backdrop I always use big pieces of paper. They’re very inexpensive, easy to store and there’s a big variety of colors which I love.
How do you stay inspired?
I have times where I’m super inspired, and times where there’s just no ideas coming to my head. Whenever I’m in my creative mood I try to make the most out of it. I create tons of Pinterest boards, categorize all of my ideas and try to expand my idea from the original idea to create more out of it.
When I’m not feeling creative I can always go to Pinterest and use one of my premade boards – I always have like 20 new ones, so I’m never really in a rut when it comes to concepts.
How do you plan a shoot?
First off, I create a moodboard or chose one from my premade ones. Then I make sure the Make-up Artist is on board with my idea. We then find a model who fits the concept and find a date together. That’s really all there is to it :)
What program/s do you use for editing?
I use Adobe Photoshop for retouching and Adobe Lightroom for color correction and batch editting. If you’re interested in learning how I work with these programs you can take a look at my Masterclasses here!
What’s the most important thing when editing?
For me the most important thing is keeping it natural. Don’t oversaturate the picture, don’t blur out the skin completely and don’t overuse the liquify filter. Make sure to look at a before and after every couple of minutes to know how much you edited and if you went to far.
Why is photography so expensive?
This question is mostly asked by private clients who don’t really know much about photography. It’s totally ok to not about this industry, so whenever somebody asks me this is what I explain to them:
I’ve been educating myself for about 10 years, I had to buy equipment worth about €10.000. The big things that make that number are camera €2500, lights €2500, laptop €2000, different Lenses €3000 + taxes, tax consultant, car and much more. I need to update this equipment all the time and keep educating myself. In order to make money from what I do I need to “work in” all of those things plus the time I spend on each shoot photographing and editing for hours after that. That’s what makes photography seem expensive, when in reality it’s very reasonalby priced.