Any photography folks on here?

[THE BIG SITT]

Bought my wife a Nikon D3200 for her birthday Monday. I just got her the camera and the lens, and her mom got her a bag and a memory card. Anyone with some expeirence able to recommend some good "accessories" for me to get her for Christmas? She will mainly be using this for portraits of the kids, I assume.

 

[451_Detonics]

Extra batteries...

 

[tatic05]

I will always to Uzibutton. Its amazing what he does with that camera.

 

[JollyMon]

^^^ +1 ^^^^

Basically the lens is the most important part in my opinion. For portraits, if the built in flash isn't good enough, you can always go for an external flash.

 

[poppy]

Good quality tripod

 

[bocefus78]

Filter(s) for the lens and a lens cleaning kit.

 

[MCgrease08]

As mentioned above, a tripod is essentially for portraiture to avoid camera shake.

I also get a lot of use out of my macro lens. It's great for up close pics of faces, and for stuff like flowers, insects, etc.

 

[TheUziButton]

For portraits, buy this lens if you have more money to spend...
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens 2180 B&H Photo

or this lens if you have less money to spend...
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens 2199 B&H Photo Video


For a tripod, buy this one if you have more money to spend...
Manfrotto 293 Tripod with 494RC2 Quick Release Mini Ball Head
Manfrotto 293 Tripod with 494RC2 Quick Release MK293A4-A0RC2 B&H

or this tripod if you have less money to spend...
Slik Sprint Pro II GM Tripod with Ballhead
Slik Sprint Pro II GM Tripod with Ballhead - Supports 611-849

 

[cook5oh]

If it came with the standard kit zoom lens, you might want to invest in a faster lens. F2.8 or faster lens is great for portraits. Either standard lens around 80mm or a zoom lens that covers that range. You get that creamy background blur and it works better in low light. 80mm will flatten the facial features a little better which creates a better portrait.

Photoshop Elements for the computer is a great accessory. You can edit and fix photos pretty easily.

 

[Tripp11]

My wife shoots in RAW and then edits in Lightroom and Photoshop (if needed). As the obsession grows, I'm assuming more people click off the Auto mode and go to Manual mode and start shooting in RAW. It's actually pretty interesting to watch her take a RAW photo file and just edit the hell out of it.

 

[THE BIG SITT]

For portraits, buy this lens if you have more money to spend...
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens 2180 B&H Photo

or this lens if you have less money to spend...
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens 2199 B&H Photo Video


For a tripod, buy this one if you have more money to spend...
Manfrotto 293 Tripod with 494RC2 Quick Release Mini Ball Head
Manfrotto 293 Tripod with 494RC2 Quick Release MK293A4-A0RC2 B&H

or this tripod if you have less money to spend...
Slik Sprint Pro II GM Tripod with Ballhead
Slik Sprint Pro II GM Tripod with Ballhead - Supports 611-849

I have seen that 85mm seems to be the go to for portraits. Any reason why you recommended two 50mm lenses? Money?

 

[THE BIG SITT]

My wife shoots in RAW and then edits in Lightroom and Photoshop (if needed). As the obsession grows, I'm assuming more people click off the Auto mode and go to Manual mode and start shooting in RAW. It's actually pretty interesting to watch her take a RAW photo file and just edit the hell out of it.

Do you use the $10 a month plan for the two programs?

 

[cromus]

I have seen that 85mm seems to be the go to for portraits. Any reason why you recommended two 50mm lenses? Money?

50mm is the standard field of view that you get out of your eyes. It's a great focal length for most portrait photography. I currently have a 1.8 and plan on getting a 1.4 whenever I get a bit more money. It is wider than your 85mm so you can get a bit more in the image or you can get a little closer to the subject as needed. The 50mm will be more optimal if she does a not more photography indoors where there isn't as much room to backup.

The 85mm is a great portrait lens as well. It helps to pull the subject out from the background and provides a bit better depth-of-field thanks to the telephoto nature of the lens. She'll need a bit more room to work with the lens since it does have that narrower angle.

Each has its perks and it really depends on your environment. If she's planning to do a lot of outdoor portrait photography, I would recommend the 85mm. If she's going to be doing mostly things around the house or indoors, I'd vote for the 50mm. Honestly, she'll probably want both at some point in time.

If you really want to drop some cash, look at picking up a 70-200mm.

 

[cromus]

Do you use the $10 a month plan for the two programs?

I originally obtained the programs back in college so I've been using them ever since. They're old and outdated. I was looking at upgrading to the newer versions and saw the program that you're referencing. It really is a pretty good deal when you consider the price of the software on its own. It would take years in order for the subscription to be a worse value than buying;however, by then there would be a new version out anyway!

I say start with lightroom and then move to photoshop. Since they're packaged together, go for it and get have fun adjusting all the little things to make the shot something amazing.

 

[cromus]

^^^ +1 ^^^^

Basically the lens is the most important part in my opinion. For portraits, if the built in flash isn't good enough, you can always go for an external flash.

Sorry for the thread spam :/ This is the best overall advice any beginner needs to hear. Lens upgrades are where you get the biggest difference in image quality/type. You'll be amazed at how pictures change depending on what "glass" (lens) she's using.

She'll want to do her best learning about how light affects her photographs. It's amazing what happens when move your light source(s) around your subject. The worst place you can have your primary flash is on camera. It washes out the subject and makes everything a bit more boring (subjective, I know). The built-in flash is generally really harsh and casts terrible shadows. Once she's comfortable with her current gear, look into upgrading to a better flash.

 

[THE BIG SITT]

Well that pretty much settles it. I'll get her the cheaper lens and tripod Uzi mentioned, and sign her up for the Adobe programs as well. If you have any more suggestions feel free to list them. I'm sure the rest of the family could use some gift ideas.

 

[THE BIG SITT]

Sorry for the thread spam :/ This is the best overall advice any beginner needs to hear. Lens upgrades are where you get the biggest difference in image quality/type. You'll be amazed at how pictures change depending on what "glass" (lens) she's using.

She'll want to do her best learning about how light affects her photographs. It's amazing what happens when move your light source(s) around your subject. The worst place you can have your primary flash is on camera. It washes out the subject and makes everything a bit more boring (subjective, I know). The built-in flash is generally really harsh and casts terrible shadows. Once she's comfortable with her current gear, look into upgrading to a better flash.

Ok then, what flash do you recommend for indoor photography of babies/toddlers on the go?

 

[cromus]

Here's a link to a youtube channel playlist that goes over many of the nikon lenses. LINK

Edit:

Ok then, what flash do you recommend for indoor photography of babies/toddlers on the go?

I don't shoot with Nikon so I can't really be much help on that specific question.

edit2: Strobist has a ton of information on flash/lighting setups. It can be overwhelming though. LINK

 

[cook5oh]

I have seen that 85mm seems to be the go to for portraits. Any reason why you recommended two 50mm lenses? Money?

The reason why most use an 85mm or longer lens is shallow linear perspective. If you use a 50mm lens you must move in closer to fill the frame. This causes two problems. One, the wider angle of the 50mm lens includes more background. Two, the perspective exaggerates distances making the nose and other features pop out more. With an 85mm lens you must move farther away from the subject. This will give a much more shallow perspective, which flattens facial features. You also have less angle which means less background image.

Remember, distance affects your perspective, NOT focal length. If you take a photo using both an 85mm and a 50mm lens at the same distance, their perspective is identical. The 50mm will just have a wider image than the 85mm which means you must crop the photo.

Every photographer owns a 50mm lens because they are cheap and optically razor sharp. They are also much faster (atleast f1.8) which works great in low light and creates excellent background blur.

 

[Tripp11]

Do you use the $10 a month plan for the two programs?

Fortunately, her current employer gave her a single use license for some full Adobe suite of products. I just know she uses Lightroom (95% using just this) and Photoshop in it.

For every hour she spends behind the lens, she will spend another 2-3 hours editing photos - and whatever else she does. I just know that she will show me before/after shots where she has edited them in Lightroom and the results are amazing.

She does a lot of portrait work too, and she has a 50mm prime and also an 85mm prime, but that 50mm is on her body 70% of the time.

I'm just an observer though. She's the photographer, I just fund her habit.