Digital Boudoir Photography : A Step-by-step Guide to ... - Ken Gilbert

Some of the author’s cameras.
Step 3: Selecting Equipment
Now we come to the step that is the favorite of many photographers: choosing equipment.
Actually, you need little special equipment to do boudoir photography.
Creating great images is more related to technique than to equipment. Keep that in
mind as you go through this step.
An automatic electronic flash attached to the camera.
Cameras
The Steps
Obviously you need a digital camera. Most likely, you
already have one and are wondering if it will work for
boudoir photography. It really depends on the types of
images you want to create. Even a simple point-and-shoot
or compact camera will do an adequate job for many
images. A camera with five or six megapixels will be adequate
for most images you will create in boudoir photography.
If you need to purchase a camera, visit
www.dpreview.com and use their online selection tool to
input the features that interest you and see their recommended
cameras. A zoom lens that covers from wide angle
to moderate telephoto is very useful. If you haven’t done
much digital photography, start with a fairly inexpensive
camera. An excellent compact camera can be found for
around $300. If you will be doing any studio work or a lot
of indoor photography, a camera that accepts a separate
flash unit will be much more versatile and will allow you to
experience much better lighting. The built-in electronic
flash on most cameras does not work that well. The flash
units are not that powerful and the lighting they provide is
too harsh for most boudoir photography. However, it can
work well enough for a bit of flash fill either indoors or
outdoors.
If money is no object, then a digital SLR with one or two
lenses is ideal. The average body is around $1,000 by itself.
Again, use www.dpreview.com for information. There are
many manufacturers and models available. An SLR was
used to create most of the images in this book. Don’t forget
the possibility of borrowing a camera from a relative or
friend. This way you can check various functions and see if
they are important to you. It will help you to choose the
proper camera when it does come time to buy one.
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