30 tips to shoot on a budget
If you let it, photography can be an expensive hobby. Once you start investing in the latest camera bodies, lenses, lighting and accessories the £s soon start to add up. We all like to save a few quid here and there, and just because we don't have the ‘professional' kit or the money doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to get the shot. When times are tight and you're being squeezed left, right and centre out of your hard-earned cash, it doesn't mean that your photography should suffer. As long as you have a camera body and lens of some description then these tips will apply to you.
Over the next six pages – based on tips from AP staff, various photographers and members of the public – we've laid out 30 of the very best money-saving ideas so you can keep the money in your pocket while being happy with the results you get from a shoot.
Go vintage
Janet Broughton and Glenys Garnett ( www.ggcreativeimages.co.uk )
Both Janet and Glenys share their experiences using vintage lenses. Janet says: ‘Vintage lenses can be wonderful and very cheap; I regularly use the Helios 44-2 that only cost me £15 (normal retail second-hand around £35). Because they are manual, the adapters are cheap too.' Glenys advises: ‘Buy an adapter for your camera for £20 and buy some cheap vintage lenses. You can often find them for less than £50 and some of them are superb.'
