I have been asked to photograph a couple and their dogs. What do I need as far as lighting & ect.? They know I am not a professional and I am not looking to make money but I thought this might be a good learning experience for me.

That is really a difficult question. It depends on what you have, where you are shooting and what you are going for. I know that is annoyingly vague. I do my indoor portraits with strobes and usually only use 2. When I do outdoor portraits, I just time it where the sun is not overhead and occasionally use a reflector.

You could spend thousands, or you could use the flash on your camera. Your on board flash will give a more "flashed" look.

I'd head outside and photograph them under natural light using the on camera flash as a fill and catch light in the eyes.

Shoot them early or late in the day, or under lightly overcast skys and you'll get some great shots. I'd stay away from indoor portaits until you get a little more shooting under your belt.

Thats actually what I was thinking about doing. Thanks for the advice.

I agree with Tony. Purchasing lights is a great part of everyone's development. Having said that, it does not make sense to break the bank too early if you can avoid it. Get used to photographing in good light. As you feel more comfortable and want to expand your light set-up, that is great. They provide an element of control that you cannot otherwise match.

There are lots of affordable light sets out there (you might want to check out the Shop Talk forum where there is plenty on this sort of thing).

James