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.

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.

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.

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. 

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'

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.

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.

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.

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!

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...

Having a lens at; 50mm 1.4

I'm someone who tends to go through phases with things, my lenses especially.
Recently I've been using my 85mm the most after some thought and I hate having kit just sit in my bag, I really like to make the most of what I have - time to reacquaint myself with it!

I have the Canon 50mm 1.4 and previously had the Nikon 50mm 1.4G & before that, the Nikon 50mm 1.8. I will always say - if you can afford to, get the 1.4!
The price is SO good for such a fantastic performing lens and is light, nice & wide on a full frame camera and 1.4 which I adore. The difference in optics from the 1.8 to the 1.4 is astonishing, although I only can compare from the Nikon side of things I will imagine it's similar for Canon - let me know your thoughts!

Anyway, I took myself on a Photo Walk, with just my 50mm. The weather was pretty lovely and I've been so busy lately that I've barely had time to pick up my camera and I really have missed not taking any photos so it was glorious to just have time to take some summery photos below.



As you can see - it's a lovely lens! I adore the bokeh it creates and it's fairly wide for my preference of shooting especially for facial portraits, but I really love it as a walk around lens.
What do you shoot with your 50mm or are you someone who isn't fussed?

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Bristol Fashion Week SS'12

I love this time of year where we forget about the dark Winter days and embrace Spring/Summer with full force! I joined the lovely Gina Dyer at BFW this time, shooting some Street Style for the first BFW Bloggers Event at The Mall Cribbs Causeway - it was so lovely to see lots of gorgeously dressed pretty ladies!

We had the loveliest cakes and pink fizz before heading though to the show, where the lovely Gina bagged best seat in the house; end of the Runway, in the centre!

So Mark Heyes & Andrew Barton hosted the show, which was wonderful. I really loved the theatrical aspect to the shows, it was visually stunning with projections behind the Model's really giving you a feel for each scene.

 

 

  

I'm a very visual person so for me, it was wonderful! It was incredibly difficult to keep up with the ever changing lights but I like a challenge, and it worked incredibly well for the show!

Many thanks for the lovely girls who let me take their photo, and a huge thank you to Gina for letting me come along, and The Mall Cribbs Causeway for hosting the event.

To end, a very cheery summery photo of me & my lovely Assistant for the day, Rach before the show started!

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To Degree, or not to Degree?

It's been exactly a year since I didn't go back to Uni to complete my Foundation degree in Professional Photography.

To brief *my* situation - I had to find somewhere to take my final year to get my BA degree.

I applied to two Uni's - Gloucester Uni & UWE, with Gloucester stopping halfway through my interview and telling me, 'I honestly cannot offer you anything more, go and start up your own business' and UWE telling me my Portfolio was 'too commercial'.

Two opinion, poles apart.

There are both pro's & con's to University, I also think it depends on what kind of person you are.

Please bear in mind these are only *my* opinions on *my* experiences.

Pro's

- You learn.

I know we are technically learning all the time, however having someone stand up and tell you is a different experience. Having someone there to answer questions, and show you the theory is also a great plus, also Lecturers that specialise in Photography 99.9% of the time are at least a very enthusiastic amateur or have been a practising freelance Photographer. This adds to the fact that they can teach you things based on their own experiences, which is always priceless knowledge as we all know theory doesn't always work when put into practise.

- You have equipment to play with.

Photography is an expensive career/hobby choice. Being able to use such things as better DSLR's, Medium  Format Film cameras, Studio lights & Space, Film developing rooms is like gold dust.

In my second year at Uni I practically lived in the Studio's there. It costs you nothing, and you can really familiarise yourself with how a studio works, what lighting modifiers do what, and how to generally *work* in a studio.

- You learn Film.

Most people will disagree with this, but I found it really taught me the foundation of Photography. You can't take 60 images and tweak each one, you really have to think about your exposure, your composition to nail that shot. It's a pretty invaluable skill I think, and if you apply it digitally you won't waste time 'chimping' away.

- You meet people who have the same interest.

This sounds kind of stupid - sometimes I show my friends the creative work I'd done and they just looked back at me, kind of confused. I'd show the rest of my class, and they'd totally get it. If you have a creative eye, and you are surrounded by people similar, you embrace that. You experiment more because they are on the same wavelength as you. Those people will influence you more than you realise.

Con's

- The cost.

Tuition fee's are crazy expensive, especially from what I experienced in Uni, it was a waste. I had awesome tutors, but there is so much stuff for the Exam Board that is unrelated. We spent more time doing 'visual workbooks' than shooting. We had to draw/explain/influence what/how/why we were doing certain things. I used my student loan to buy my studio lights & modifiers, a backdrop, and most recently the rest of it to upgrade my DSLR. I got more out of that than I did the amount I paid for my course.

- There is no 'wrong' in Photography.

Technically - there is no wrong. You can over/under expose, you can be out of focus, have wonky composition and these days, that's perfectly acceptable. It's a form of Art so it's dependant on it's viewer to make the judgement.

One of my tutors was a Portrait Photographer, the other a Street/Documentary Photographer - both poles apart in what they liked & disliked. This made it nigh on impossible to please both, which I had to do because both of them would mark my work. One would give me a distinction and the other would fail me. I understand in Degree's such as Law, where the answer can either be Yes or No, but Art as a subject is so broad it's generally a 'Maybe."

- You learn things you will not ever use again.

I know I said as a Pro, you learn Film. Some will disagree, but as I said, this is just my view. I found that I spent so many seminars not actually ever learning anything of use to being a practising Photographer. We'd watch slideshows on Age old photographers & Art movements. Granted - I found a lot of Photographers I look up to, but more so I can barely remember the name of any of the people mentioned. 

- No Business Education.

Some courses may teach you the business side of things, my course didn't. Not once did we really have any information on setting up a business, aside from a booklet from the A-level centre. 

I think I can safely assume that 98% of people taking a degree in Photography will want a career & business out of it, so why do we never get taught HOW to do that?

- The Internet.

We pretty much live on the Internet these days, so why can't we learn from it? I learnt SO much from Zack Arias, a US Photographer who does Live seminars. I also learnt most of my Photoshop skills from YouTube. 

Aside from that, Books are super cheap on the Internet, I have several books from 'Posing techniques' to 'Lighting for idiots' that I've learnt more. Those kind of resources allow you to learn what you want to learn.

- Proof.

I don't think anyone I've known Photography wise has ever gotten a job because they did a degree. Photography is a visual art and your Portfolio speaks 1000% words.

If there was competition for a job, and one person has a Degree + a mediocre Portfolio whereas the other person has no degree, but a fantastic Portfolio, who do you think will get the job? The person that has the art down to magical images, or the person that KNOWS how to do it, but is alright at it?

I firmly believe the best thing that ever happened to my career was being denied access to Uni. I know what works for me, and I can choose how fast or how slow I want my career to progress.

If anyone is starting a Photography Degree, I don't want to scare you off! Remember that what you put in, you get out, and your experience may be opposite to mine.

If anyone has any questions or any more requested blog posts please don't hesitate to get in contact via Facebook/E-mail :)

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Burst Magazine July '11 Publication

I was published in the July issue of Burst Magazine; the photography issue!

My images from my 'Lost in Spring' editorial feature on the top right of the first Tearsheet & two images of the wonderful Victoria on my own section.

On a great roll so far this year, and extremely pleased that these images made a publication.

Thank you to Victoria, Lou & Mike for making it such a wonderful shoot!