Find What Equipment Works Best for You

What Equipment Should You Use?

No doubt if you have decided to embark on a career or hobby of photography, you probably already know that the equipment and hardware you utilise will influence the kind of photography you specialise in. If you plan to pursue photography as a career, it is vital that you have the correct equipment to help you achieve these goals.

Here we give you a breakdown on what equipment, hardware and software you need to be familiar with in order to kickstart your career.

Corporate Work

In starting out a career in photography, you may want to consider corporate work before branching out on your own. This can help create a steady income, experience, and growth. Advertising agencies can help open doors to photography for a wide range of clients, such as print and digital media advertising, as well as magazine and newspaper content. Online content has become particularly popular, and knowledge and skill about what formats and content work in an online digital space will be advantageous.

An example of the rise in popularity of “in-person” activities moving into the online space is online casinos, such as bingo.com which allows users to partake in a wide variety of games online. A quick visit to this site will show you the need for the use of photography to help bring the site alive.

Types of Cameras

• Traditional film cameras / 35mm – while digital cameras have become the new norm when it comes to photography, traditional 35mm film cameras are seeing a resurgence in popularity. This traditional form requires the photographer to exercise patience and specific skills to not only take a photograph but also develop the film. Fans of this equipment feel that no matter how far the development of digital cameras has come, nothing can compete with a traditional film photograph.
• Point and shoot – point and shoot cameras are most people’s starting point when purchasing their first camera. While relatively inexpensive, top of the range point and shoot cameras can help get you very familiar with the necessary aspects of digital photography, such as aperture, ISO and exposure. These cameras are also smaller and lighter, which make them perfect for travelling. We would, however, recommend that if you are serious about commercial photography that you save for a DSLR camera, which we discuss below, as this will be the best piece of equipment for your career.
• DSLR Camera – first and foremost, when considering purchasing a DSLR camera, bear in mind that you will need to invest in the camera as well as a lens. We touch on lenses in more detail below. This type of camera will give you the best quality shots, allow you to work in a variety of light environments, as well have better focus and shutter speeds, allowing you to take multiple photographs in a short space of time.

A DSLR camera will also enable you to isolate certain objects and change the depth of field. This will help give your photographs a much more professional feel than other forms of equipment will give you. Remember that DSLR cameras and equipment can be heavy and bulky, but that is also what helps make them sturdy for shooting, as well as solid.

Lenses and Accessories

As mentioned above, every DSLR camera will require the purchase of a lens. But you can purchase different lenses for different purposes. It is this that can push the expense of photography high. Make sure you do research on any prospective lenses, to make sure you get the lens of lenses that suits your needs best. For example, bird and wildlife photography requires a wide-angle lens, whereas a portrait photographer will require a lens to capture close-range photographs perfectly.

Software

Decent photo editing and photoshopping software is a must in any professional photographers arsenal. Editing software can transform a good photograph to a great photograph, and even out any small issues such as lighting, imperfections, or unwanted objects in your frame.