FatbeardMedia

and got these... The dry arid scenery does have a hidden beauty to it.

Hey, welcome to the "club" that first photo is jaw dropping, Love it!

Hi Paolo!

My goals are moreso networking, I need to push myself to meet strangers and expand my networking. My photography goal is to take one timelapse a week.

Wonderful capture, I absolutely LOVE Savannah, I have family that lives there. Love the original historic cobble path in the photo. Looks great!

I currently have an Atlas Bag 40L, it's HUGE and I need a messenger bag for just walking around with my body and the "holy trinity" of lenses. The ones I looked at recently lack padding. If you have one you like, please tell me what it is, I would like to check it out.

I've been playing with "lifted blacks" editing for a bit and so far it has been well received. I think I like the look for boudoir, but I still really enjoy boosted contrast in most situations. What do you think of this style of edit, and if you have any to share of your own work please do so below.

My niche is whatever I am getting paid to do, and as of recent that has been Boudoir for some reason. It seems a lot of Boudoir models have been hiring me for web work and photos so that seems to be where my "niche" lies.

Love the bull ones!

Also taken by me.

Playing with smoke bombs and a three light setup. The first photo is a picture of me (note the Sony) taken by my friend James Sasser, the second and third photo I took. James setup three flash units, one on the left pointing at subject, one on the right pointing at subject and a third pointing from the front center towards subject. I accidentally inhaled the smoke straight out of the stick, it is downright disgusting.

Love the photos, is the blue cast an artistic effect that you intended? As far as what to shoot, I like the white "dreamy" type of photos like your second and third photos. I love seeing subjects in contrast to their surroundings. I am not an expert of winter photography by any means, as I live in the Sonoran Desert, however, I have always liked landscapes with subjects over just landscapes. 🙂

I currently use a 70-200 for my portraits, and 24-70 for boudoir, however my FAVORITE portrait lens of them all is the 85mm F1.8 (SO SHARP). I prefer to switch lenses as little as possible as to minimize the need to clean my sensor. Therefore I keep the zooms on instead of my more favored primes. 🙂

Hi DeShay, If you are considering up close work (more wildlife) or portraiture an APSC sized sensor would do great to start out with. Such as the Sony A6600. It's tough getting started as photography is an expensive hobby. I tell other people to start out small, and replace equipment as their skill outgrows their inventory. For someone so new to the photography scene, jumping into a $5k setup might be a bit much as all the same functions are available on a smaller sensor camera. APSC sensors give you about 1.5X the "zoom" on a standard lens due to a crop factor, thus getting you even closer to the action. In comparison, if I shoot wildlife with my A7rIV, a full frame sensor, the most I am willing to crop is about 50%. If you have a cheaper APSC camera, the crop ratio brings you into the subject about 50%, therefore it's a trade off, just save money by getting the composition correct in camera. Since you specified a broader range of subject, a great all around starter camera is a good place to start, such as the A6600. If you were to profess a love for strictly landscapes, astrophotography and the like we would be having a very different conversation about using full format cameras (the expensive stuff). However, start off with something practical that will get your toes in the water and move on from there. Unless your looking to ramp up at an accelerated rate to do this professionally, I recommend you take your time and enjoy the journey. Truth of the matter is, you will need to learn these skills before you seriously outgrow your first camera: - Manual exposure, and evaluating light - Composition and framing of a subject (some technical, mostly your artistic flare. It takes a while to develop your style). - Editing RAW and work flow and let's be honest, most "professionals" have not outgrown the smaller and cheaper cameras. Get an A6000 series cam and jump into it, you have a lot to learn about yourself and your art before we can make a proper determination on what would best suit you. This time next year you will have a much better idea of what you mostly shoot, and through your discovery you will have a better roadmap as to what equipment you will be needing. TJ

If you are doing live streaming consistently, you will want a capture card and an audio capture device, like a Zoom recording/input device (many variations of this by Zoom). Although the mic is relatively ok on any camera, to get the pro audio sound you will want a more professional microphone setup with a recording input device. Getting a quality setup for consistent livestreaming will probably cost you about $300-400 in addition to the camera. However, if you need a stream in a pinch for work or whatnot this will do the trick. What I like about a capture card is that it treats the camera as a driver, like any other webcam. With this device the same is possible with the plug and play software. Other cameras though would greatly benefit from a capture card.

HAHA Thanks Drew!

I am still learning, but I'll try it out this week. Speaking of things, I met you at Kando AND enjoyed your timelapse class at the virtual event. Would love to connect and stay in touch! I really want to add motion to my timelapses but good lord, the SYRP genie system is such a PITA to setup everytime. There has to be a better option.

61MP is a fantastic resolution for 8k timelapse, it gives you an opportunity to crop in and fix camera shake. Who wants to discuss timelapses?

I came here to ask the same thing, mine hasn't even shipped yet.

Hey Luke, it is always easier to start out small and trade your way up to the super expensive gear. I reccomend purchasing a few primes as they are VERY sharp over purchasing a budget F4-6 lens. Some primes you should keep in your pocket to cover all ranges to get started are the following: Sony 20MM F1.8 Sony 50MM F1.8 Sony 85MM F1.8 (my absolute favorite) This will get you started with incredibly beautiful and professional looking results. As you save up money, work towards purchasing a 24-75 which almost covers the entire range of all three of those lenses. Once you have achieved your 24-75 start doing the same towards your wideangle (16-35) or telephoto (70-200) depending on where your photography is taking you. The 24-75 is the best starting point for the professional lenses, unless you already know what focal length you will need for your interests. When you start saving up for your pro second lens, do the same thing. Buy primes in the range of your next pro lens, once you save up enough trade in or sell the primes to cover a part of the pro lens purchase. That is how I amassed so much gear over the years 🙂

Followed from all three of my accounts. I haven't seemed to hack the social media code to getting more followers myself but I hope this helps. 🙂

Very nice indeed!

I really like the Atlas Pack 20L Adventure series. Check them out, lots of room for equipment, although you always look like you are going for a Trek.

Hey fellow togs. My name is TJ and I hail from Phoenix, AZ. I love short brisk walks along the beach, gazing over the mountains with a blank stare and my favorite past time is hand counting the pixels of my camera to ensure the marketing literature was correct. All kidding aside, I am a passionate photographer in all areas and love landscapes in addition to portraiture, but my true talent is in timelapse photography. Although I am newer to portraiture I have been shooting landscapes since I took a film class as a teenager. Since moving to the desert from Colorado, I have found a unique and charming beauty about the arid planes of the Sonoran desert. I am excited to grow in photography along with you. Oh yeah, I once went to Kando, and hope Sony brings it back. If so, I will see you there 🙂 Click Click, TJ P.S. I took the following photo, it's not of me.

85mm hands down.