Sunday 27 January 2013

What's in my Camera Bag - Jan 2013

Any Photographers Camera bag is their Holy Grail. It's the bag that has some of the most expensive items I own in it, as well as holding pretty much everything that I need to obviously shoot, which of course is my profession. I think it's something I'd love to keep track of, and see how my kit may grow, or downsize as I go on in Photography.

My Bag(s)
It's only recently that I've started to pay more attention to my bag. I think an incident with a cracked UV filter with a lens jammed very tightly into my previous bag made me think about just HOW important a decent bag is. Especially when you spend so much on glass, and a body that to put it into a too small bag just seems really kinda stupid.

So, I got the Lowepro Nova 200 AW, pictured below. By far is it the prettiest bag, it's much too big for me as a person (I'm 5ft 3!) BUT it protects my kit pretty damn well. I can hold all of my lenses, without them banging together and that's what I need.

L1

Previous to that, I had the Lowepro Nova 180 AW, pictured below next to the Nova 200 for size comparison. I much prefer the Nova 180 because the size is pretty perfect for me. However, my kit has grown recently which lead to me cramming as much as I could be in some form of denial that it would all still fit (It didn't. Hence the UV filter incident!)
I just wish, as a female photographer there was a little bit more of a wider, affordable and size friendly option of bags.

L2

5D Mark II
My baby. Excuse the awful photo, my iPhone was the only available tool! The only thing I've done to this is put a screen protector (like on a phone or tablet) to stop the LCD from scratching.

Lenses
I love glass. I think it's so important to get good glass that people just over-look it as some unnecessary cost.

50mm 1.4 
The nifty fifty. I love this lens. For the price, it's fantastic and optically pretty damn awesome. I tend to use this more for Commercial or Personal work as it's a little too wide for my style of Portraits but the f1.4 has been fantastic in low light.

L6
85mm 1.8
Up until recently, this was my favourite focal length. I'd sell a kidney for the 85mm 1.2L (next on my list!) but this is a lovely length for Portraits. I think I've shot nearly all of my Fashion Editorial books on this lens. 
L4
24-70 2.8L
The heaviest lens I own - I can't use this lens for more than an hour without getting arm ache. I really love it optically, but I just don't like using it. I want to, I really do for the money it cost me, but I just don't.
I'm really not a Zoom kinda girl, Prime lenses have my heart so using a Zoom is just boring... I always feel less inclined to move around when I use this lens, so I see it as my 'safety blanket'
L3
135mm f2L
The 135mm is the newest addition to my kit. It's taken me around 5 months to pluck up the courage to bite the bullet... all I can say is I wish I did it sooner!
I am smitten with it. It's just brilliant and SO under-rated. It's the longest focal length lens I own which has completely made me re-evaluate the way I shoot Portraits.
L5

Flashgun.
If I can, I will always use Studio lights. I just don't like using flashguns as main lights, so I have this Jessops 360 Flashgun which is pretty cheap and cheerful, but it does the job should I need it. I also grabbed this diffuser off of Amazon for a few quid to just lessen the harshness of the light.

L7
Triggers.
These Calumet triggers have done me perfectly for the past 2 years. I know I could get some super fancy ones but right now, they do the job just fine.

L8

The 'Rest'
Other things I keep in my bag; spare body cap, a micro fibre cloth, USB leads, 4 mini clamps, as many CF cards as I can shove in and a spare battery. This is only a Hanhel one I picked up on Amazon so not AS good as my Canon one, however a spare battery is a spare battery and I cannot stress enough how important I have one!

L9

So, my kit as it stands in Jan 2013. I also keep my lens caps (for both L series lenses) on the camera and the lenses inside the grey lens bags they come with now, the main point of buying a big enough bag was to be able to take these lens caps out with me - never much use sat at home, when you're on location in the bright sun..
I apologise for the lengthy post, I forget how much kit I have! I may possibly do one of my studio kit in the future...

Friday 18 January 2013

A dusting of snow...

I've always shyed away from photographing snow because frankly - it's cold, it's all very white and pretty hard to expose, it never *quite* looks the same as it does in real life... and I am petrified of getting my camera wet.

Despite the cold here are some snowy landscapes, the snow acting as a brilliant reflector and a soppy couple portrait!

Jan 2013 4 Jan 2013 Jan 2013 3 Jan 2013 2 Mike Jan 2913
Me Mike Jan 2013

*images sharpened through Flickr