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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, or CS3. 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 stage 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) 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.
If you want a recommendation on
complete lighting kits suitable for this course, send us an
email
info@aspenphotoworkshops.com
During the Advanced
stage of this course you will need an additional:
2-3 monolight strobes (1 at 300+
ws)
3 more heavy duty light stands
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You'll never
know.....if you never go!
