While I don’t have a definitive camera bag setup, I’ve got a number of must-haves, as well as a few typical setups, depending on what I’m shooting that day. Want to see some of my favorite gear for landscape and commercial photography? Here it is!
Photography Life
If you want to develop black and white film at home, finding a developer may be just as difficult as picking a film. There are, of course, the classic developers such as Amidol and Kodak Dektol, which have been around since the days of Adams and Weston. Then there are newer developers, like Cinestill DF96 Monobath. Some developers can even be made with ingredients you’d find at home, like Caffenol or Beerol.
Photography Life
When I go to very humid locations for photography, like rainforests and swamps, keeping my camera gear protected from the humidity is one of my top concerns. Lens fogging, fungal growth, and water damage are all risks to your camera equipment in the tropics and similar environments. It’s not unusual for gear to cease functioning after prolonged exposure to humidity. In this article, I’ll give you the run-down on how to take care of your camera gear in humid conditions.
Photography Life
The title says it all – our new lens testing studio is operational! There’s a long list of lenses in front of me to review, and only so many days in a year. So, I’d love to hear what you want to see us review first at Photography Life.
Photography Life
When doing a small scale but lovely assignment such as this Printique book project about The Fountain Inn, I actually hear Jay Maisel in my head. “Everything has gesture.”
That’s not something I usually have to remind myself of. I’m a people photog, and people, well, they definitely have gesture. Or, perhaps more appropriately, gestures. Some not all that pleasant, some quite intriguing.
So, when looking at a building, no matter how lovely, I look for gesture, a poignant combination of light, angle and space that has a voice. I am also always reminded of notable Magnum photographer Burt Glinn’s reply to the question of how he found inspiration in the corporate hallways and factories he was famed for shooting. His reply, evidently, was something along the lines of, “Sometimes I just sit down and wait for the machine to speak to me.”
Entire to detail. Another good mantra to have in your head on a job like this. Putting yourself in the shoes and the eyes of the reader who has never seen the Fountain before. First, what does the whole shebang look like? And then, what are the details that make up this historic entity?
Creating a book such as Printique can readily print is the perfect vehicle to explore the notions and mantras of a job like this. Pacing is important. Light becomes the drumbeat to which you march the camera. And, it’s important to arrest the eye of the viewer. A good way to do this is lens selection.
I used Nikon Z 9 cameras on this job. (Also used Angelbird CF cards, which are the very definition of speed.) And a range of lenses: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8, 19mm f/4 tilt-shift, an F mount 28mm f/1.4 coupled to the Z 9 with an FTZ adapter, 105mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8, S series 400mm f/2.8 TC.
In other words, I brought the whole bag, basically. And a heavy duty Gitzo Systematic for the long glass and the long exposures. Not to mention I actually did a couple HDR images via Capture One Pro, but don’t let that get around.
Same garden, different light, different approach.
Along with lens selection, playing with white balance such as incandescent, seen below, can also throw the viewer a pleasant curve, and entertain their eye.
Choosing a type of light also adds page-to-page turning interest, hopefully.
And speaking of turning pages, one major tool producing a book gives you is control of the look of the spreads. (Laying a book out online is crazy easy with Printique.)
Angles, lines, shifts in color and tone….all are viable strategies to keep pictorial life in the pages.
It’s up to you to keep changing the pace, the lens and the light…right up to the edge of dusk.
More tk….
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