I had an assignment shooting some collateral stock photos for the IPC cycling health and lifestyle magazines a while back (Cycling Weekly, Cycling Active and Health and Fitness for Cyclists) and this one is the first to go to print and my first Cycling Weekly cover. A little different for Cycling Weekly I think and a sign that perhaps natural light images are coming back into fashion. The model is James Scawn who manages the Cycle Scene bike shop in Plymouth and the photo was shot near Postbridge way up on the top of Dartmoor.
I get a lot of questions about the kind of equipment I use on location, and although I’m not much of a gear-nerd I do find it interesting to see what other Photographers are using to get the job done so here’s a few details on the standard gear I use for most editorial and commercial work; additional equipment can always be hired as and when required but it’s rare that I have the need.
First up; good bags are essential. The LowePro Vertex 200AW has been my main bag for the past couple of years and I chose it because it was big enough to carry the essentials but small enough to meet the airplane carry-on requirements, while being relatively comfortable when walking or hiking despite the fully loaded weight of 20lbs. There’s also plenty of pockets for memory cards, gels, filters etc, as well as a pouch for a laptop which easily swallows the 13in MacBook I have for working on location. In here is a Nikon D3, a bunch of Nikon lenses and SB800 speedlights, Pocket Wizard and Skyport radio transceivers for triggering the lights, a Nikon D90 for video and production stills plus emergency backup, and loads of spare cards, cables, batteries etc.
My second bag is a LowePro Magnum AW shoulder bag which holds my Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kit: two heads, one pack/control panel and two batteries, plus cables etc. The Quadra kit came in a lovely purpose made hard case which looks pretty slick but I didn’t find terribly practical so it all went into the Magnum which works great although I’ll probably need to re-think it when I eventually get around to picking up a second pack.
Lastly I have a Kata lightstand bag which I bought after way too many times struggling with carrying stands (I’ve noticed that the new Manfrotto stands neatly clip together but sadly I only have one of those at present…) and houses a whole load of various Manfrotto lightstands, boom arms, and Elinchrom, Photek, and Lastolite light modifiers as required. Also on stand-by are rolls of seamless, various reflective panels and a Manfrotto tripod (important to have a good tripod although I’m not a fan of using them generally).
Any questions please hit me up in the comments and I’ll respond as soon as I can.
