Brisbane based photographer Stephen Joseph gives us a run down of his current set-up…
First up, list the gear you have…
Canon 5dmk2
Canon 1n
Bronica SQ-A with 80mm f2.8
Canon 15mm f2.8 Fisheye
Canon 17-40mm f4L
Canon 50mm f1.4
Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L
Pocket wizard plus2 transceiver (x4)
Pocket wizard flex tt5 transceiver
Canon 550ex flash
Canon 430ex flash
Canon 420ex flash
Some cheap metz flash unit (x2)
A bunch of cords,stands and manfrotto tripod
Lowepro Vertex 250 Backpack for the camera stuff and a gym style bag for all my stands.
Rechargeable batteries or just replace them?
Rechargeable for sure, alot of the time I get too lazy and forget to charge them up the night before so I end up having to buy them. I really need to stop doing that.
What goes missing the most from your bag?
I made these little caddy things to hold my pocket wizards to the light stands and every time I put them in the bag they somehow manage to go missing. That and probably my lens cleaning stuff.
What lens do you use the most and why?
Probably between the 17-40mm f4L and the 70-200mm f2.8L depending on the situation. The 17-40mm adapts well to situations when a wider lens is needed and the 70-200mm is just so sharp and fun to use.
What program do you use for editing the photos after you have uploaded them?
I upload photos using Adobe Bridge and then all the editing is done using Photoshop CS4 and Camera RAW. I normally try and do as much editing as I can in RAW and then transfer over to Photoshop to finish the little things.
Is your gear insured?
Yeah. It wasnt until just recently, actually reading Michaels bagcheck made me realise that I really had to get something sorted out ha. It would be pretty heart breaking to lose all the gear I had worked so hard to get over the years just because someone else thought they wanted my camera bag more than I did.
Black and white or colour?
I think both have a time and a place, but colour will never compare to a good old fashioned black and white image.
How many flashes have you broken?
Just one, lucky it was just a ebay cheapo from back in the day. It was sitting on the ground and fell sideways and the whole battery compartment blew out ha. You can not expect much for $30!
Favourite websites and or mags out there that motivate you to go out and shoot photos?
I really like looking through skateboard/bmx mags and checking out the skateperception forrums. Ive also got this book called Photo wisdom and its basically an insight into what motivates a lot of famous photographers to keep shooting. If I am ever lagging on taking photos for some reason I just have a flick through that book and get amped to take some shots.
Best advice you can give someone starting out…
Don’t spend all your money on the best camera body straight up. Work your way up to it and try and collect some good quality lenses along the way because your camera will only ever be as good as the glass its shooting through.
