Photography: My Essential Equiptment
Make up artist Abbi Rose at a recent shoot
I feel like I have been permanently glued to my camera of late. Two book shoots, 1 look book, a couple of pieces for magazines and a dear friends wedding means that my camera has logged over 4000 photos this year already. Its a strange ol' career I lead - one foot firmly as a crochet designer, the other as a working photographer. While the crochet was always intentional, up until recently, it felt like photography was something I fell into. I remember my first day of shoots on Crochet at Play, as I stood over the Beastie Feet absolutely quaking in fear that I would be found out as a fraud.
18 months + countless shoots later, I finally feel in the groove of this photography gig. I speak the language, have a better sense of my style and am beginning to feel like I know what I am.
I also really feel like I have my gear in a place that really works for me. I am predominately a natural light photographer. While I have a small set of studio lights, I can count the times I have used them on one hand. Its just not for me - some do it well, but I prefer the depth and shadows given by even the poorest of natural light and my gear reflects that kind of shooting.
My essential Kit:
Canon 6d - having shot now with a a 450d, a 7d, and all 3 of the Canon 5d series, I can say that the 6d is hands down my favourite. It is light weight, with great focus and good low light capabilities. Its resounding selling point though is its wifi-which I use connected to my ipad as a remote control and playback for my camera. As I only shoot in natural light, I need to use quite slow shutter speeds. This means touching the camera to set off the shutter is pretty much a no-go. The remote control and exposure preview of the Canon Eos App is a god send. I can shoot at crazy angles in the slowest shutter speeds quickly and easily. It is also AMAZING for shooting tutorials. Easily the best camera-related purchase I have ever made.
Manfrotto Tripod- hand in hand with my wifi controlled camera is my tripod. This is a good, sturdy tripod, that importantly fits into my suitcase for London-based shoots. Invaluable for getting crisp shots in low light and also for saving my back from holding the camera all of the time. It is a wee bit flimsy for a DSLR + Grip + L series lens, but its portability makes up for it.
Lens: Canon 50mm f1.4 - Love this lens. This is my walkabout lens in most situations. Its speed and clarity is just to die for. Its focal length is perfect on my full frame camera.
Lens: Canon 85mm f1.8 - lovely portrait lens - I use this for most close ups and any wedding I shoot, I will slip this on a crop sensored 7d for great closeups.
Lens: Tamron 70-300mm - this is a killer macro lens for close up stitch shots. Its not one I use frequently (and it is quite slow to focus, I must say) but its a fantastic long-range zoom.
Lens: Canon 16-35mm L - This is a beauty of a lens that (sadly) I don't own, but rent for every shoot I go on. Its huge diameter sucks in the light and its lens distortion is at a minimum.
(taken with a Canon 16-35L)
