Inspired @ ireneabdouportraitsweddings.com » Gear Talk

Just getting started in digital SLR photography? Check out these gear recommendations…

Irene Abdou — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:26:19 +0000

Fishing villages co-mingled with tall palm trees line the beach between Benin's capital of Cotonou and the historic town of Ouidah. Women walk along the dirt road that connects Cotonou and Ouidah, carrying food and belongings on their heads.

I often get questions from people at a range of photographic levels on gear, whether it be camera bodies, lenses, flash, or other accessories. Today, someone asked me for recommendations for a first digital SLR camera. (Here’s to you, Mac!) Rather than continue to answer these questions individually, I decided to share my response with all of you! So if any of you are budding photo enthusiasts, check out this gear list!

I want to preface my list to say that you can certainly buy more expensive equipment than what I’ve recommended below, but before you get hooked on gear, think about WHY you need something more. Photography’s an awfully expensive hobby – and profession – and beyond the camera and lens purchase, there’s a LOT more that you can invest in, such as flash and lighting equipment, photo editing software, and even your photographic education (lessons/workshops, books, videos, etc). Before you spend out your entire photographic budget on an expensive camera and lens, I’d advise you to step back, pause, and be patient. An entry-level digital SLR is still a great camera, so if you’re not working professionally, you don’t need to have super expensive gear. (And if you are working professionally, you don’t need to read this post anyway.)

Let me say it again another way…IT’S NOT ABOUT THE GEAR! A GREAT CAMERA DOESN’T MAKE A GREAT PHOTO! IT’S ABOUT HOW YOU USE WHAT GEAR YOU HAVE! Therefore, I’d say buy less at the beginning, get comfortable and good with what you do buy, and take some time to figure out what aspects of photography you’re really passionate about. That will guide your future decisions about additional investments in gear.

Below, I’ve divided my initial gear recommendations into two sections: (a) mandatory first purchase; and (b) optional second purchase. Either the first purchase, or the first and second purchases, will get you off to a good start. (Click on the links below to view and purchase the products through Amazon.com.)

MANDATORY FIRST PURCHASE

$499 – Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm lens
$12 - UV filter to protect the lens
$14 – 4 GB Kingston Elite compact flash card
$13 - Compact flash card reader (if your computer doesn’t have a built-in slot)
$12 - Lens cleaning kit

Added bonus – they’re cheap and handy, so why not:

$11 - Lens pen cleaner
$3 - Alpine Innovations Spudz Microfiber Cloth in Black Pouch

Total: $564

That’s it! That’s the starter list! And the total is often less than what I find that people think they have to spend.

OPTIONAL SECOND PURCHASE

Now, for the optional second purchase, you’ll need to know what you like to photograph. Is it landscapes? People? Sports? Architectural interiors? Night subects? If you’re not sure, then STOP HERE! Don’t spend any more money! Wait a bit, use that 18-55mm lens that comes with the camera, and try it out. Take some time to figure out what you like about photography.

Now that you know, if you like to photograph landscapes, architecture, or night subjects, but not so much people or sports, then go for the tripod next, because this will allow you to use longer exposure times in low-light situations:

$130 – Manfrotto 7302YB M-Y Tripod

But if you like photographing people and sports, then go for the zoom lens so you can get close-up shots with nice blurry backgrounds:

$234 – Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens
$12 – Second UV filter to protect the second lens

Total: $130 or $246 or, if you buy everything on the list, then $376

MORE ADVANCED THIRD PURCHASE

I know, I know, I said I’d do two purchase lists. But I did get another question from a different person today who asked me for a wide angle lens recommendation. When I asked her what lenses she already has, she said she has an 18-55mm and a 70-300mm on a Canon EOS 30D. (I sold her this 30D, by the way, 1 1/2 years ago.) Well, my first thought was that she already has the 18-300mm range pretty-well covered. (The 30D has an APS-C size sensor, so this range is equivalent to around 24mm-450mm on a full-frame sensor.) Does she really need a wider angle (i.e. “ultra-wide”) lens? These can get pretty darn pricy, and there are so many other – perhaps more useful – accessories to buy. For example, does she have a tripod? Does she have an external flash? Does she have a photo cataloging/editing software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom? I need to go back and ask her what she’s trying to photograph, why she wants an ultra-wide lens, and whether she already owns these other accessories…

$130 – Manfrotto 7302YB M-Y Tripod
$250 – Canon Speedlite 430 EX II Flash OR
$395 – Canon 580 EX II External Flash
$10 – Sto-fen Omni-Bounce OM-EW Flash Diffuser for the Canon 430 EX/EX II Flash OR
$11 – Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce for the Canon 580 EX/EX II Flash
$299 – Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software

TOTAL: $559-$705 (excluding the tripod, which is included in purchase 2)

GRAND TOTAL, 3 GROUPS OF PURCHASES: $1498-$1644

So, in summary, you see what I mean, right? There’s so much more to photographic equipment/supplies than a nice camera. And I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg here… If you’re on a limited budget, think twice before spending your entire budget on the camera and a single lens.

Want more recommendations, or want to learn how to use all that gear you bought? I teach private photography lessons and group photography workshops in the Washington, DC area. One day, I will also lead a group photo tour in West Africa! But for the moment, download the brochure on private photography lessons at the link above. For group workshops, send me an e-mail at irene@ireneabdouportraitsweddings.com to find out what I’ve got on the horizon. (I don’t always announce my workshops, but rather match students interested in the same topics together, based on people who have already expressed interest. If you e-mail me, I’ll send you a questionnaire to let me know your photographic level and the kinds of workshops you’re interested in.)

And p.s., if you still have a burning desire to know what ultra-wide lens I’d recommend in the particular case above, here it is: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens at a cost of $720. And yes, this is as cheap as it gets…

Check out my new Black Rapid RS DR-1 Double Strap!

Irene Abdou — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:50:17 +0000

I’m a two-camera shooter, especially at weddings. I have to have those two bodies to allow me to quickly access at a minimum my wide angle and zoom lenses without missing any of the critical action – the look on dad’s face when he sees his daughter for the first time, the groom’s face when he first sees his beautiful bride coming down the aisle, the first kiss… But man, dealing with two big cameras hanging from your neck is hard! They get tangled up, so it’s hard to get the right one up to your eye, and the one with my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens is HEAVY! After a long shooting day, my back, neck, and shoulders can hurt for days. So I was very interested the first time I saw an ad for the Black Rapid RS DR-1 Double Strap! It distributes the weight of your two cameras across both shoulders instead of your neck, keeps them separated on either side of your body so they don’t bump into each other and get tangled up, all while allowing you to quickly draw whichever one you want up to your eye. So while you might think that spending $130 on a camera strap is over the top, for me, it’s well worth the money! Anyway, I ordered it a few days ago, and it arrived today! Here are some photos so you can live my excitement with me! I’ve got two shoots on Monday so will try them out for real then, but for the moment, I can say it’s COMFORTABLE! This strap is totally going to save…literally…my neck!

The RS DR-1 Double Strap is also compatible with several mods that attach to the front of the straps and hold cell phones, camera batteries, etc. I haven’t bought any of those yet, as I wanted to see the strap first, but a cell phone holder will definitely come in handy. I’m not sure if it will hold compact flash cards, but’s that’s also what I would want.

The Double Strap can be converted into a single strap, but if you’re a single shooter, check out Black Rapid’s dedicated single strap products:

Black Rapid RS-4 Single Camera strap, with pockets for memory cards
Black Rapid RS-5 Single Camera strap with zippered pockets and a compartment for larger cell phones. The area is closed up by a silent magnetic clasp, which I think is pretty cool.
Black Rapid RS-7 Single Camera strap, compatible with the mods I mentionned earlier (BRAD-BlackRapid Arm Defense MOD, Joey J-1 MOD, and Joey J-2 MOD)
Black Rapid RS WS-1, specially designed for WOMEN. This one isn’t available yet, but it’s coming this summer!

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Anyone try the Steadepod yet?

Irene Abdou — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:38:27 +0000

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, ISO 800, 1/60 sec at f/2.8. Canon EF 15mm fisheye lens with Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera

I saw an ad in Rangefinder Magazine yesterday for the Steadepod, a sort of monopod/tripod replacement. It’s basically a retractable stainless steel cable – you put the base of the cable under your foot, pull it to whatever height you want, trigger the locking mechanism, and it’s supposed to somehow give you a steady platform for shooting. Since it’s simply a retractable cable, it’s very small – it looks like it could fit in your pocket. If it works, it would be very useful in setting where monopods/tripods aren’t allowed. A few months ago, I did some shooting at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, and tripods aren’t allowed there. It was OK, but I had to boost my ISO to 800 or 1600, which made my shots a bit noisy. (I usually like to keep my ISO at max 400, and preferably below.) For the shot shown here, I was using a Canon 15mm fisheye at f/2.8. Had I been using a slower lens or wanted to zoom in, ISO 1600 wouldn’t have cut it. The Steadpod would have been useful there. You can order the Steadepod for only $24.99+shipping here. If you’ve heard of it or used it, I’d like to hear your thoughts, and what shutter speeds you used it at!!!

CASE STUDY: Lighting for On Location Corporate Headshots

Irene Abdou — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:13:11 +0000

I recently did a headshot job for an NGO that wanted photographs of their CEO for the annual report, as well as their staff for their website. Working with their Senior Communications Director, we decided that a location shoot would best capture the personality of the organization, which focuses on raising public awareness and promoting an end to the violence in Darfur, Sudan.

So I spent two half-days photographing 25 different people, using a combination of flash, light modifiers, and window light where there were windows. Much of the office was bathed in a green fluorescent light, which I needed to keep on, as otherwise, much of the office was too dark. So I had to make sure that my flashes adequately overpowered the fluorescent. (I did try gels, but there was just a little too much daylight mixed in for it to work well.) So in most cases (if there wasn’t a window), I used a combination of one off-camera flash (a Canon Speedlight 430EX) bounced into a silver umbrella and one on-camera flash (Canon Speedlight 580EX II), with the 580EX II controlling the 430EX. I also had a Stofen Omni-Bounce diffuser on my 580EX II. For the most part, there wasn’t a lot of empty space in the office, so I was limited to a simple light setup, but it worked out just fine. Also, I used a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro for all of the shots below except for the last two, where I used the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.

I lived in South Sudan for two years (though it was like a different country from Darfur) and have lived and worked in Africa since 1995, so I loved the posters and large mounted prints that they had around the office of people in Darfur. Ending violence against civilians and facilitating humanitarian aid and sustainable development are what this organization lives and breathes, so I thought it fitting to include some of their advocacy materials in the backgrounds of some of the shots. So I was mostly shooting wide open to get the blurry backgrounds, but I did close up a notch for the few where I needed a bit more depth of field for their advocacy materials. Here are a few of my favorites (not necessarily the ones they picked, but the ones I like best). (Click “View with PicLens” for slideshow mode.)

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Guys, it was great to meet and work with all of you – I look forward to working with you again! Great job – be proud of what you do! You’re making a difference!

p.s. Speaking of Sudan, I’ve added in a few shots of my own from my South Sudan days, when I worked for the NGO, Population Services International-Sudan, and lived in a tent in Rumbek! If you’re interested in Africa, international development, humanitarian assistance, or travel photography, you might want to check out my travel-lifestyle-documentary photography website too.

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You’ll laugh, but I’m so excited about my new Kata 3N1-20 camera sling/backpack, I can’t help myself!

Irene Abdou — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:44:10 +0000

I’ve been shopping for a new photo backpack, and after much searching (and some buying and returning), I just received my new Kata 3N1-20 backpack! And yes, call me geeky for being so excited, but I LOVE my new backpack! It has a dual sling AND backpack function! I was reading a lot of reviews about the Lowepro Slingshot bag – you know the one that goes from “carry mode” to “ready mode” in seconds, but several reviewers said the weight gets uncomfortable after a while, with the bag being a sling on just one shoulder. But I really liked the idea of a sling and being able to pull your camera out very quickly, since my current camera backpack is kind of pain to take equipment out of. (Have to lay it down on the ground first.) So anyway, the Kata 3N1-20 can switch from sling to regular backpack to a sling-backpack cross (the “x”). It’s very well designed! Having received it now, I really like the sling-backpack function – basically, the arms of the backpack cross over your chest in an “x” instead of the two arms going parallel over your shoulders. When you want to take something out of the bag, you unhook the clasp on one of the arms, and then it becomes a sling. Kata has some great videos to explain the various carrying modes:

http://www.kata-bags.com/product.asp?Version=Photo&p_Id=19773&mp_mID=20#p7GPc1_4

Anyway, the “x” carrying position is VERY comfy! The 3N1-20 is the middle size (they have three sizes, plus additional models that add laptop slots), and it’s perfect for my height. The backpack fits very snugly and doesn’t move around on your back. The back of the backpack also has slits so that the various straps can be tucked into the slit if they’re not being used.

Now, the 3N1-20 will NOT carry all my gear. I won’t be able to use this backpack on jobs (maybe I’ll get the bigger one later), since I’d generally have to carry more gear with me, but the 3N1-20 will be good for me when I go on personal shoots for my fine art work. I can carry: (a) my Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens (which is very long) AND my second 5D Mark II with 24-105mm L lens, plus a few odds and ends in the top compartment like a flash, remote wireless transmitter, etc.; OR (b) I could just carry one camera body and several lenses, flash, etc.

Another cool feature about this backpack that was one of the reasons that I bought it is that it’s designed to work with the Kata InserTROLLEY trolley, which is sold separately. The trolley fits through a section of the back of the backpack so that if your bag is loaded down, you can pull it instead of carrying it. Since I travel a lot, my heavy photo backpack with all my gear really weighs me down on those long trips, but I’ve never liked the idea of buying a rolling backpack, since that would just add to the weight of the backpack if I want to carry it. So I really like the idea of having a removable wheel base. The 3N1-20 isn’t all that big, and it doesn’t feel heavy even with all my gear, so I don’t think I really need the InserTROLLEY for it, but if I were to get the 3N1-33 later on (the 3N1-30 is the larger size, and the 3N1-33 is the 3N1-30 size + laptop slot), I would get the trolley.

So let’s compare this now with my current backpack. For the last 2 1/2 or 3 years, I’ve been using the Pro Urbangear N-120. It’s a good backpack, but I’ve traveled a lot with it, and it’s coming apart in the seams in one place. Plus, even though the backpack is a pretty regular size, it’s still kind of big and heavy, and I’m only 5’3″. I wanted to get a smaller backpack that I wouldn’t mind carrying around with me more. The good thing about it is that it fits a lot of gear and is pretty water resistent. One time, the backpack got VERY rained on – soaked – and the water didn’t sink in at all. I was quite impressed. It also has double protection, in that you unzip the backpack, and inside, there’s a whole second case that contains your gear. The inside case is removable and small enough to fit under the airplane seat. The disadvantage of the double protection is that you have to set the backpack on the ground and unzip the bag twice in order to get your gear out. It has all the various removable dividers inside so you can velcro and unvelcro as you choose to get the compartments you want. Anyway, it is a good backpack; I just wanted something smaller that I could more easily carry around with me when I don’t need quite as much gear.

So in my search (before I came across the Kata), I looked at various brands – Lowepro, Thinktank, Crumpler, Tamrac… Before seeing the Kata, I actually ordered a Lowepro DryZone 100 backpack (which is the middle size). Doing all the measurements of my Pro UrbanGear backpack, I figured that the DryZone 100 backpack would be smightly smaller, plus, I thought the 100% waterproof, float in water, thing was kind of cool. But to my horror, when I received the DryZone, it was even BIGGER than my Pro Urbanear, AND, it took me 10 minutes to get it open! When the waterproof zipper is “locked,” it can be difficult to open it! You really have to hold on and pull! Well, since I was looking for something that’d be EASIER to get my gear out of than the Pro UrbanGear, that Dryzone bag wasn’t going to work for me at all! Back to the internet search, and that’s when I found the Kata (which, by the way, at only $99 is half the price of the DryZone). Packed up that DryZone and sent it back where it came from!

Kata 3N1-10, 3N1-20, 3N1-22 (with laptop slot), 3N1-30, 3N1-33 (with laptop slot), and InserTROLLEY. Check’em out!!! (The 3N1-22 and 3N1-33 are new models and should go on sale soon.)