I have this big urge to buy a film & digital camera-do a couple of photoshoots with some people i know & start advertising to do some small shoots or take some pics at a party of some sorts. I dont plan on it being super huge but just something to get me started. Any suggestions or advice?

Yes you can start a business with little equipment. Come up with a name for your business or maybe use your own name. Get a business license, cost is about $20. Take pictures of family and friends, pets, places, etc. Create a business facebook page and start posting your pictures and then as you start to grow and improve you can create a business website.

i am really into photography and would love to persue it as a career but i really don’t want to go to university. (nothing to do with the fees)
does anyone know of any photographers that have made it without a degree?
if you need a degree for this career, does anyone know of any college courses or online courses i could take instead?
P.S. I live in the UK!

Almost ALL of the top photographers got there without a degree. Only a small percentage of professional photographers have degrees in photography.

I have been thinking about a ‘full frame’ digital camera for some studio work.

I still have some left over canon lenses with adverage optics, from my amateur days.
50mm f1.8
70-300mm f4-5.6 III
24MM F2.8

the other option is a leica m9. with which, i already have an army of tiny little and beautiful lenses from leica and vogtlander.

In my mind, if i choose a 5d, id have to include new lenses that i wont really use outside the studio. While the m9 is more expensive.

which would you choose?

I have a couple thoughts.

1–It’s not a good idea to buy any body for pro use that you can’t afford to buy two of or at least a second, cheaper version. If your only full frame camera breaks or gets stolen before or during a shoot, you are screwed unless you can rent something fast. So if you can’t afford the M9 and a second full frame body, or something you feel okay with as a reliable back-up, I see Canon in your future.

2–Without knowing which M-mount glass you have, I imagine it’s still nicer than the Canon glass you’ve mentioned, which sounds mostly like amateur lenses. If you had the 50/1.2, 70-300/2.8 and 24/2, that might be a different story but a variable aperture zoom? That’s nothing worth holding out on a Leica for!

3–Do you have a Digital Leica repair tech you can trust and can you afford to have the RF calibrated for your longest/fastest lens? Having a tech in mind will be important to purchasing that camera since repairs will generally take longer and be more costly than the Canon. If you can hand it over to Leica in New Jersey, they will give you a loaner body though, so this can provide some cushion if you need a repair before a shoot, which you would not have with the Canon. Also, right off the bat, I think most Leica’s need to be calibrated to the longest fastest lens you plan on using on them. Since you’re doing studio, I imagine you will be using 75 or 90mm lenses. My M6 TTL needed to be calibrated for my 90 Summicron even though it shot beautifully with my 50mm wide open.

4–I’m personally biased towards Leica because I love the company, the cameras and the lenses and think everyone should aspire to shoot with their gear! However, for 90% of my paid work, I shoot Nikon because Nikon allows me to have multiple bodies and a much larger, more flexible lens kit. I also don’t mind putting the wear and tear on my Nikons as much as the Leica.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy whatever you land on!

I am a amateur photographer, still learning all the aspects of photography and the how-to’s and what to do. I have my own photo studio in my house, but I am have trouble with a number of things. Advertising my photography. Outside of my photo studio I take event photography, but I do not think that anybody is willing to pay someone when they already have a digital camera. Comments, suggestions, please be constructive.

There are ways to get payed at event photography.
Sure digital cameras are carried by everyone now of days. But remember this "ITS NOT THE CAMERA AS MUCH AS IT IS THE PERSON TAKING THE PHOTO".
I take club photos, low light, fog machines, strobeing/flashing lights. Its a task for point and shoot cameras to produce a great photo under those conditions. I take 150+ photos to promote the club on their web sight and on their social sights. The first two times I only did friends of mine, posted on the clubs social sights and promoted having a great time. The club owner offered me free cover for as many as I needed and a open bar for myself and my assistant (my wife). The photos increased his patronage, I then was taking photos of people dancing, drinking, posing, ect… Posting high quality small images on the sights but promoting my web sight and links to where a high quality image can be downloaded or printed and delivered (for a cost of course) But that took off Halloween, People bought those photos up like hotcakes! 324 photos and sold everyone at lease twice, some (group shots) sold over 10 copies. So yea event photography pays. Plus I like the club and the girls :0

I do go to the local Fair and take photos of the competitors, showmen, and general ambiance of the fair. Local papers have published my work and provided me contacts for doing photo work for clubs and organizations. I Last Feb I took photos of 3 venders, 2 were selling their vending trailers and wanted good photos to make it easier to sell, and the 3rd wanted to use the photos to promote how modern all its equipment was and get others to inquire about having units built for them.

Contacting Car Clubs is a sure fire way to making friends and making money. I have many friends in the car clubs now and if i need a specific kind of vehicle for a shoot all I need to do is ask. That’s nice.

I am not one for the home studio, not saying its a bad thing. I do run my business out of my house but I do lease a small storefront. Lease rates around me for the past 2 years is cheep. I’m paying only a third of normal square footage rates. Electricity is off unless I’m there, water is part of the lease. The other shops look out for my space and do hire me to take photos for them. I am looking to purchase a tow behind trailer to convert into an small portrait studio to travel to the customers.

Nursing homes and assisted living homes. Just saying………… Work is out there you have to look for it, think outside the box.

hi y’all,
ive loved everything around pictures all my life but never had any professional knowledge in the area. i don’t have too much in savings at the moment so school is not really an option…
do you know of a good course or series of courses on dvd covering digital photography? (camera, lighting, studio, portrait photography and photoshop)

If such a class existed, it would be called film making and would include a section on videography.which hopefully would include video editing

ive loved everything around pictures all my life but never had any professional knowledge in the area. i don’t have too much in savings at the moment so school is not really an option…
do you know of a good course or series of courses on dvd covering digital photography? (camera, lighting, studio, portrait photography and photoshop)

Go to Amazon.com and in the DVD section search on camera or photography tutorials.

Then look at the comments for each prospective DVD that catches your eye.

http://www.althephoto.com

I am wanting to purchase a high tech digital camera to start a photography business. I know there are many opinions and options about the best digital cameras on the market, but what I need to know is other’s opinion on what camera offers the best bang for my buck? Personal experience with cameras would be wonderful!

hahahahahaha

Oh boy, I love these questions.

You are going to start a photography business but have no idea about which equipment to get.

Boy, you will go far.

Go and buy a Hasselblad kit and associated accessories.
Don’t worry that you know absolutely nothing about photography, you will have a top of the range camera so you are bound to take great pictures and make your fortune.

Alternatively – GROW UP. Take the next few years to learn the business and trade and then IF rpt IF you are good enough you will maybe know a little bit and be able to THINK about starting a business on your own.

I just received a project for my digital photography class which is to create a collage using as many photos as possible. The collage is supposed to be of something which interests me. I am a business student and I am taking this class as an elective. Business/accounting/finance are my most prominent interests? Any ideas on what sort of pictures I should include?

Considering business/accounting/finance are your most prominent interests, I do think that you can choose some pictures linking to those field, like the successful businessman all over the world, some famous accountants you may interest, or people have a great influence worldwide. Of course, you should classify them in different files to make them clearly.
To make the photos more interesting and attractive you can use a collage to customize your photos. You can have a try the Collage Maker, which is free on the app store. You can easy to make beautiful collages within a few seconds. If you are a Mac user, you can go to the App Store to install it for free.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/collage-maker/id434548368?mt=12

Hope it is useful and helpful to you.

I’m a teenager and I’m very confident in my skills. I don’t need to worry about the quality of my photography. People love it.
Now I just want to make a small business out of it, part-time. I’ve already researched what to do in the business, although, I don’t have a lot of money to spare for it right away.
My main question is: Can I start my business just having my Kodak Easyshare digital camera? It’s brand new, and it takes amazing pictures. I’m just worried about people thinking I’m a huge amateur for not having a big expensive Nikon or Canon camera. I can’t afford one right now, though if my business takes off, I’ll be able to buy it later.
What is your advice for me?
(Help from a real photography would be great!!)
photographer*
I don’t plan on going pro at all right now, especially since I’m only a teenager. I’d just like to make a few extra bucks taking beautiful pictures xD

Off course you can, I mean you are confident, your "camera" takes amazing pictures and people love your work.

Go for it – you will end up rich and famous.

Careers in animal photography?
im really interested in photography, and traveling the world.
i love animals! i was wondering if there is some type of job for me to take pictures of wildlife,
like in africa, or the ocean ect.

you have to contact national geographic channel or animal planet also BBC prime.