Commercial
Photography Program

The Complete Commercial Photographer

Private Workshops: Studio Product

Private Workshops: Studio Portrait

Online Workshops

Required Equipment                                                                                             Professional photography requires the photographer to have a arsenal of equipment at their disposal to complete their assignments. You certainly of course, need quite a bit of equipment when you are in business, but during the course the equipment requirements will be less.  The following list of equipment is the minimum required to shoot the assignments. If you live in a large town with professional camera stores, inquire as to whether they rent equipment by the day. This often a valuable resource when purchasing is not an option.

First, you need a digital camera and computer. the camera should be a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses. We recommend lenses in the range of 17 - 35 mm, 28 - 80 mm or 35 - 70 mm, and an 80 -200 mm. All of these are not required, but it wont take long for you to wish you had them all. Canon or Nikon are the best! IMPORTANT: Make sure your camera body has a PC sync cord socket. For example, the Rebel XTi does not have a place to plug in this cord, so you MUST have a Safe Sync by Wein. Then the cord plugs into this socket. It is best to get the Safe Sync whether you have a PC socket or not. Or if you wish you can get a wireless setup like Pocket Wizard or Quantum.

The computer needs to be current enough to run Photoshop CS, CS2, CS3 OR CS4. You will download, edit, and process all your assignment images on the computer, so the faster it is the happier you will be.

You need a place to work, i.e., a studio. Working in the home is ok, we were all there once, but the more space you have the better. A studio is best, a double car garage is good, a single car garage is acceptable, but it wont take long for you to figure out that some techniques, to be done correctly, need space to work.

During the Fundamentals Module of this program you will need the following:

3 monolight strobes of 200 watt seconds or greater.                                                                          5 light stands for these lights (2 light and 3 heavy duty)                                                                       One 20 degree grid spot or the complete set                                                                                 One large lightbox approximately 36”x48”                                                                                      One small light box approximately 18" x 24"                                                                                 Two 32” or bigger white umbrellas                                                                                               Spring clamps from the hardware store (As many as you want to own)                                              10' wooden or metal pole to hold your background (from Home Depot or hardware store)   

Wein Safe Sync (attaches to camera to plug in your strobe sync cord. Prevents 'frying the electronics) OR Pocket Wizards. But be sure and check out Paul C Buff's  new remotes for their lights at http://www.alienbees.com/remotes.html

Lighting gels from Rosco: 3202, 3204, 3206, 3208, 3304, 3315, 3401 or 3407, 3408, 3409, 3410            (look at Rosco.com for dealers or your local pro camera store. Start with one of each gel.)

Flash Meter such as Sekonic, Minolta, Gossen, or other reputable brands. This is not mandatory, but highly recommended. Purchase from your favorite camera store or online.

A color meter will be useful but is not mandatory. You can look for a used Minolta which are great meters. Since Sony bought Minolta they are not making them anymore. Sekonic has fortunately stepped in to take the place so you can check out their meters. Purchase from your favorite camera store or online.

During the Advanced Module of this course you find many lessons showing the use of many more than 3 lights. We recommend that you purchase an additional:

2-3 monolight strobes (1 at 300+ ws)                                                                                                 3 more heavy duty light stands                                                                                            Umbrellas and light boxes as you feel you need.

HOWEVER, if rental equipment is easily available from a local camera store, then that is a great option as well.

If you wish a recommendation from us on equipment, we can tell you that we use White Lightning lights and like them a lot. Here is a lit of packages that they have put together for our students: