amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

1. As others have said, don't quit your "day job". It will take years to build a profitable photo business from the ground up. Until you achieve a profit, you will be feeding the business... It won't be feeding you.

2. Try to get a job as an assistant to an established, successful photographer. This might be part time (weekends) or it might be full time and become your "day job", as mentioned in #1. Working alongside someone who is already doing the work is an opportunity to learn on the job. Think of this as a potential shortcut to your own business, rather than spending years sitting in classes, reading books and learning by trial and error.

3. Start taking business classes such as planning, marketing, accounting & bookkeeping, taxes, legal aspects, etc. This is important! I'd estimate 90% of a typical photography business is the business side of it, while only 10% of it is taking photos. There are many successful pro photographers who are good business people, but only mediocre photographers. Conversely, there are many failed photo businesses where the photographer was very skilled with their cameras and lenses, but a lousy business person.

4. Be aware that as an amateur photographer (i.e., not getting paid to do it) you can shoot whatever you want, when you want and however you want to photograph it. But once it becomes your business or job and you are a "pro " (i.e., getting paid to do the work), you have to photograph whatever the client wants, when the client wants it photographed and in the manner they want it photographed.

5. The gear is really somewhat secondary. It's possible to "do photography" as a job or business with a very basic, budget kit or spend a small fortune on a high end setup. Aside from some limitations, in experienced hands, the results won't be all that different from using high-end, pro-oriented gear.

- The camera doesn't really matter. Ideally, though, you should have at least two... The 2nd camera serves as a backup in case there's ever a problem with one of them. The main considerations with the camera are a thorough knowledge of how to use it, it's durability and reliability under a range of conditions. A budget, entry-level camera may not hold up to the rigors of professional photography. But this is probably less of a concern with relatively low volume, slower paced work like portraiture. For ease of use, I'd recommend two (or more) identical camera models. This makes it easier to seamlessly switch back and forth between them. Having two also lets you to set them up with different lenses, ready to go. It also allows you to spread the work around so that they don't wear out as rapidly as a single camera would and insures the cameras will be able to share all the same accessories. (Personally I have two identical "primary" cameras, as well as two older backups for them that are very similar. Those are all APS-C "crop sensor" like your D3300. I also have a so-called "full frame" for certain purposes... However it was carefully chosen for a very similar control layout and sharing a lot of the same accessories with my primary cameras. I recently added a small mirrorless that will be another rather specialized camera, but am struggling a little with it due to a quite different control layout and ergonomics, plus because it doesn't share many accessories with the other cameras.)

- The subjects you shoot will largely dictate the type of lens(es) you'll need. I'd argue that lenses are more important than the camera they're used upon because lenses ultimately decide the "look" of images, where-as cameras merely capture what the lens is "seeing". Portraiture is usually best done with short telephotos. Those make for the nicest and most attractive rendering of people, with relatively little exaggeration. Less critical in a studio, a large aperture can be important for portraiture work on location. This is because in-studio you can control the background and use middle apertures. But on location you often will need to contend with less than ideal backgrounds and one of the best ways to deal with them is by using a large lens aperture that will cause the background to blur down behind the subject. Because of all this, among your lenses the 50mm f/1.8 will probably be the single most useful for portraiture. On a DX camera like the D3300 a 50mm lens acts as a short telephoto and I'm sure that lens' f/1.8 aperture is more than a stop larger than any of your zoom lenses. On your D3300 an 85mm lens with a large aperture would be desirable, too. Still a short telephoto, but a little longer than the 50mm, an 85mm can provide a "tighter" head shot or allow you to work from a greater distance. On a DX camera like yours, the approx. 50mm to 90mm range of focal lengths are the "traditional" lens choices for portraiture (on a full frame/FX camera like Nikon D750, this range is 85mm to 135mm).

- This is not to say that other focal lengths can't be used for portraiture. You also might be called upon to photograph small groups, couples, and individuals full length.... and may need a moderately wider lens like a 35, 30, 28 or even 24mm to do that. A wider lens also can be used for "environmental" portraits, where more of the person's surroundings are shown... such a person in their home or workplace. However, it is very important to not work too close to subjects with lenses shorter than 50mm, because doing so will exaggerate peoples' features... making their nose look big and their ears look tiny. It can be humorous... except when you're not trying to be funny! You also have to keep subjects away from the edges of the image area, because wider lenses like these naturally cause some "anamorphic" distortion. A person right at the edge of the frame will appear "stretched" and one of their arms will look bigger than the other, etc. So while these lenses do have their uses for portraiture, they can be a bit tricky.

- Even longer telephoto lenses... say 135mm and up on a DX camera like yours... also can be used for portraiture. You just need a whole lot of working space to do so. Long telephotos have a "compression" effect. This is popular for some types of portraiture, such as fashion photography. But if working in a studio, it will need to be a very big one! Outdoors you'll need more working distance too, which may make it difficult to interact with your subject and give them directions.

- Zoom lenses such as you have can also serve at times. They can be very handy with unpredictable portrait subjects such as kids and pets. The limitations of most zooms is their max aperture. The largest aperture zooms also tend to be quite large. A "fast" zoom like 24-70mm f/2.8 is a whole lot bigger, heavier and more expensive than a 50mm f/1.4 lens that's two full stop faster. Of course, many zooms don't even have f/2.8 max aperture... many are f/4 (one stop) or even f/5.6 (two stops smaller).

You have to be a bit careful with zooms, too. Watch that you don't accidentally go "too wide" with them. A wide angle zoom might have even stronger exaggeration than a prime lens at the same focal length. In other words, often a prime lens is "better corrected" than a zoom.

Also look for reviews/tests or do some testing of your own to see if they have some weaknesses you need to avoid. For example, I use a 28-135mm at times for portraiture (in a different system... your 18-140mm might be similar). It's been popular with various portrait shooters as an affordable, reasonably compact, convenient zoom with very good image quality at most focal lengths. However, I know it "goes a little soft" when used wide open and zoomed all the way to 135mm. Closing down the aperture at least one stop helps, but just backing off to a slightly shorter focal length (105 to 120mm) makes an even bigger improvement.

- Beyond the camera and lenses, for portraiture lighting equipment is probably the most important consideration. A single flash like you've got simply isn't sufficient (and should be backed up with a 2nd one, at the very least). In fact, lighting much more powerful than flash is needed in many situations. Studio strobes or their equivalent in other types of lighting are needed for many situations. Personally I have five portable monolights for on-location shooting. They are moderately low-powered units (320ws), but much more powerful than even the most powerful flashes. Strobes such as these allow for a lot more types of light modifiers to be used... large soft boxes, umbrellas, snoots, etc., etc. Between a basic set of strobes (minimum of three, but possibly more), light stands, modifiers, an incident light meter that works with flash, and some other necessary items for a lighting kit you should figure on spending $2000-$2500 or more. For higher output kits, the cost will be a lot more. But since you also plan to do on-location work, you'll need to compromise a bit for portability, too. If you need to use battery to power them, that will limit their power a lot. Able to power them with household current or batteries, I gang two of my monolights into a single large umbrella as my "main light", since they aren't powerful enough otherwise. That leaves me three others to use individually as fill, background, or hair lights. Most of my "location" kit fits into a very large roller bag that weighs about 80 lb. Separate are a nine foot wide background rig and a large boom stand for overhead lighting, along with some sand bags. Those are both way too big to fit into a bag! I have a second bag with six flashes roughly equivalent to your SB800, that can be used to augment the monolights, as needed. A third bag is just power cords, adapters, chargers, etc. I don't currently have any, but batteries for the monolights, along with chargers to use with them, would easily fill yet another bag.

The larger the space you need to light, the more powerful and greater number of lights you'll need. A friend who specializes in architectural photography typically shows up on location with a van full of lighting gear (much more than me!). He may spend two, three or five or six hours setting up the lighting to make a single image. Using lighting gear well involves a steep, complex learning curve. Back when they were still in business, Brooks Institute of Photography devoted around one quarter to half the classes in some of their four year programs to learning lighting. Studio strobes and monolights (like I use) are "old school" now. Even older are "hot lights", various forms of continuous lighting (as might be needed for video). Those have advantage of what-you-see-is-what-you-get... easier to set up than having to predict what the momentary "pop" of a flash, monolight or strobe will produce. But there's a big downside in the power "hot lights" consume, not to mention the heat they generate (try photographing ice cream with hot lights... been there, done that ). Today there are new forms of continuous lighting... so-called "cool lights" such as LED and fluorescent. Those need to be special "stabilized" types made specifically for photography (not something you buy at Home Depot), but might be worth exploring for all the conveniences they offer, although the cost may be high and they may or may not be as portable as some other types of lighting.

Hope this helps... And good luck with your efforts!

Silverrails

Wow, I did not know someone keeps track of all MY Postings, Thanks. You are correct I have not Posted any of my own Images here at UHH. But Why? I Really have No Logical Answer, except maybe I do not feel my Photography abilities will meet the expectations of my fellow UHH members. (I think they call it "Self-Confidence") Well, I have been told that by a number of well-meaning people, and I suppose, those individuals and yourself are, as they say in the Carpentry business, "You Hit the Nail On the Head" Pal.

User ID

No one has to “keep track of” your posts. The forum itself does that. Look into your profile. That makes it simple to see who you will be responding to before offering them any advice.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

I guess there is another side to photography... now we have Hog Hunting. ROFLMAO!

I would like a go back to my original post. An apology to the OP for my apparent terse remarks as noted by another hogger immediately following my post. My intent was not to be curt or insensitive to the needs of others. Mr. Shapiro actually expanded eloquently on the topic and relayed the essence of my short message, which I tried to convey. Sometimes when one is pressed for time and on the fly an immediate reply doesn't hit the bullseye and comes out as being non-woke.

Not looking for sympathy and not wanting to play the victim, my mind was distracted as I had just found out our family had lost the 4th family member in a year. None of these were COVID-19 related deaths but the pandemic played a role in them not getting the care they needed. It is because of times like this that I am damn glad I took plenty of "portrait" type photos of family together using various brands and types of cameras from film to digital. Olympus to Nikon and even an old instamatic here and there.

I wish the OP the best of luck and sum it all up with a quote from a professional photographer I knew whose opinion I sought. He said "Just go out and shoot your camera." Meaning, find the joy and learn from what you shoot.

Peace

tshift Loc: Overland Park, KS.

What is your problem!

Silverrails

Yes, I have watched many U-Tube Videos, from many Skilled, experienced Photographers, Also have had Classes on "Creative Live" Online too.

Silverrails

WOW, GREAT ADVICE and FEEDBACK, Lots to REMEMBER, Thanks for the LINK too.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Thank for the good news! Post some of your results, experiments, tests, whatever- in the Advanced and Pro. Portrait Section. Get some feedback, etc!

Keep up the programme!