Please recommend my next pieces of kit?

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Pinpho

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Danny
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I have a Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm (kit lens). I realise I need more equipment so if I am looking to ever do this as a side job (I don't intend to make this my main job at any point, unless of course I get exceptional). Just wondering what kit would be vital to me if I ever wanted to start making money from photography?

I love long exposures so I think my next purchase will be a tripod, and I will be buying a polarising filter at some point too. Then the obvious stuff such as spare batteries and memory cards. What next? Can anyone recommend me my next lens? Bear in mind landscape photography interests me as well - so I realise I will need greater than 55mm!

As an aside, I am really keen to shadow a photographer at some point, in any aspect of photography. Weddings would be cool so as to gain the experience, but any other style I would also love to experience. I would love to do this as it will give me a better understanding of what is required to be a pro.

Danny
 
Perhaps some filters, grad nd and nd's if you're after long exposure landscapes?
 
Pinpho said:
As an aside, I am really keen to shadow a photographer at some point, in any aspect of photography. Weddings would be cool so as to gain the experience, but any other style I would also love to experience. I would love to do this as it will give me a better understanding of what is required to be a pro.

Danny
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Where are you from? Posting on iPhone so can't see if it says.

Jake
 
Cable release as well as filters for your long exposures. Master your gear before upgrading would be my advise. But if you're like most, your cash will burn a hole pretty quick :P

John
 
JakeT1992 said:
Where are you from? Posting on iPhone so can't see if it says.

Jake
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I'm living in London at the minute mate.

Thanks, will look into getting some filters (want to get a few as even if I never use some of them, they're not the most expensive things and they could come in handy at some stage - and they should be fun to experiment with)!

As for a shutter release, would sticking it on a timer not effectively do the same thing? Bar the obvious longer than 30 seconds and when shooting things such as star trails etc.
 
Danny

From reading between the lines it appears you are just starting out in the photographic world judging by what you own and asking about. You understandable are unsure of what kind of photography you want to specialise in and that dictates to some extent what equipment to get as the next purchase.

You say you want to do it as a side job but again what in? portrait- animal- landscape-architecture- still life- weddings-family photos- astro photography -macro photography- aerial- under water- the list is almost endless.

If thinking about making money out of photography remember every other person you see has some form of digital camera nowadays ( compact camera sales have dropped 25% across the board according to reports). The chances of making any money from photography is getting slimmer by the day.

As to shadowing a wedding tog remember he/she will be thinking "if I let him shadow me will he in the future be taking work away from me?" I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Ok next

For anyone to point you in what lens to get next depends on how much you want to spend. You can get a lens say a Nikon AF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX Lens for £100 or Nikon AF-S 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR Lens for £16,000.

It again depends if you want a prime or zoom or macro lens. Same with tripods there is a tremendous range of makes and tripod heads and just as difficult to choose the one for your needs. Ask yourself which bit of kit will I get the most out of at present ,no good getting something that is only going to be used once in a blue moon so to speak.

Be aware of what memory cards offer, not just their capacity but the transfer speed. A card with a 30MB/s could cause a camera to "stall" when in continuous shooting mode .The transfer from camera to card may be too fast for the card to cope with.

My top tip would be learn to get the best out of the camera/lens you already have. Don't be afraid to put up photos on here and ask how they could be made better or where you may be going wrong. Think about specialising in one form of photography with others as a backup

don't be put off by some of the superb photos you see on here many members have been doing photography for many years we all had to start somewhere. Mine were absolutely terrible when I first picked up a camera.
 
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Small point, BUT, buy the best tripod you can afford, if that means overspending , do it, i bought a really cheap one ( £14 ish) and its pants, if your a bit skint, buy s/h, i did,
good luck,
Dave
 
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated :) I am still unsure as to what area I prefer which is why I would like to experience various different areas so that I can find out which ones I enjoy the most. As for taking someones work, I live in London so the likelihood that I will be taking their work is quite slim.

Please take a look at my Flickr. This is what I have so far :)

swb landy said:
Small point, BUT, buy the best tripod you can afford, if that means overspending , do it, i bought a really cheap one ( £14 ish) and its pants, if your a bit skint, buy s/h, i did,
good luck,
Dave
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Thanks for the advice, I have been looking at a couple on Amazon but I am unsure what makes a 'good' tripod, please could you explain? :)
 
I'm about 70 miles from you, if you ever fancy coming out on a landscape shoot you're more than welcome. I've got spare tripods and filters etc you could play about with. I wouldn't recommend a red snapper tripod from personal experience. They get a lot of play in them from regular use. I use a giottos tripod from amazon, was around £130.
 
JakeT1992 said:
. I wouldn't recommend a red snapper tripod from personal experience. They get a lot of play in them from regular use. .
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Funny you mention that, Joe at Redsnapper replaced my first one due to it breaking twice in the same place, but the new one is just as floppy, so I have changed my mind and would not recommend Redsnapper ever again.

Buy the best you can afford would be my advice.
 
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