What equipments (tools) do i need to start a digital photography studio?

What Nihilistic said but I’ll go into a bit more detail. For the studio, you need a range of backdrops ranging from black to white and in between. The backdrops should not only touch the ground be have a good meter or two laid out on the ground for a seemless transition from the ground to the background.

The basic lighting kit (and this IS only basic) would consist of two strobes, two reflective umbrellas, one or two softboxes, a snoot (the fitting that turns the stobe into a spotlight, two strobe stands (obviously) and some reflectors.

Now - if you are setting up a studio, I suggest you purchase a very good camera, not just a “this will be ok for the job” camera. You don’t need to go terribly expensive but still prepare to spend some money. The Nikon D200 is excellent yet isnt the most expensive camera around. If you can’t afford that camera, then the D80 is a little cheaper. If you want to go Canon (lenses cost more) then try the Canon 400D unless price isnt an issue, then go with the 30D. The two top cameras would be the Nikon D2X and the Canon EOS 1Ds mark II. I prefer Nikon personally.

For lenses, I suggest spending some money on this area. You dont need to get Nikon or Canon specifically. Tamron has proven to be a very good lens. If you are doing studio portraits, be sure to have about 30ft of space to work with in your studio. And for the perfect portrait lens, you would be looking at the Tamron 90mm macro. That has got to be my favourite lens. It is very very sharp because it is a prime lens (fixed at 90mm focal length).

Get a decent computer with at least 1GB ram and if you go for a laptop, get an lcd monitor to go with it because laptops dont have adjustable screens built in. The reason for an external monitor is to adjust the colour to make it as accurate to the final print as possible. Adobe Photoshop CS2 is the software to be using. And while we are on computers, shoot everything in RAW (NEF for Nikons) format. That will give you the greatest control over your final results. A Nikon D200 for example, will produce NEFs with 14 stops of dynamic range which is huge. JPGs only give about 8 - 10 stops.

For printing, dont print your own. Have a professional photolab print your photos. There is no printer on the consumer market that can print a real photograph. And those thermal dye sublime whatever they’re called printers, they aren’t real photos.

Well I hope this helps. Visit my website and feel free to drop me an email if you would like more information.

http://www.straightshots.co.nz