Friday, January 16, 2009

Foto Friday #7- Great Photographs, For Rent

Rental


Yes. This Foto Friday post is actually posted on Friday. I apologize for the bitter disappointment that many of you must felt when you visited last Friday.

A great photograph is kind of like a stew. All the ingredients have to cook just right or else it's just soup.

One of the main ingredients to a great photograph is the choice and use of lens. Given the situation, the lighting, the background and the effect and feel of the photo that you are trying to achieve, the right lens can make all the difference.

One of the ways a new photographer can take their photos to the next level is to use great lenses. Now, while these lenses don't always have to be expensive (see my blog post about a few that aren't here), it's no question that the more expensive lenses are better than the cheaper ones. That poses a problem for new photographers, because the lenses are a substantial investment.

THIS WEEK's TIP- RENT Lenses. That's right, rent. Of course, work to purchase your own lenses and have a base of a few choice ones that you can work off of so you aren't always having to deal with renting, but renting lenses is a great option to add the feel of a certain lens to your repertoire for a shoot.

For those of you located in SoCal, a great option is Samy's Camera. Just this past weekend, I rented the Canon 85mm 1.2L lens for a couple of shoots I did this past weekend. It's a lens that would cost me nearly $1900 to purchase and I rented it for the weekend for $40! While I would love to have it, someday, for now, renting it is a good option.

Another option that I have not personally used but hear great things about is the website BorrowLenses.com. You can reserve lenses and they are shipped out to you and you ship them back. A little bit more expensive than Samy's, but if you factor that in to your costs, you can definitely make it work.

I'll leave you for now with one of my photos from the engagement session of Rob + Jolinda this past weekend. Shot with the 85 1.2. Look forward to the full post coming soon, real soon.

Have a great Friday!!!

Rob-+-Jolinda


2 comments:

Melissa Burns said...

Beautiful picture Billy! I can't wait to see the rest. However, as far as the post goes, I don't want to be sensible and patient, I want all that great stuff for my camera now! :)

kristin said...

I do all my renting from Calument in Santa Ana. They are great and dont actually put the $$ hold on your account like Sammy's does. :)

You need to post more then once a week!!!!!!!!