Mocking Bird » Equipment

What’s In Your Kit? with Brian Ferry

Amanda — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:47:02 +0000

This week’s What’s In Your Kit features talented film photographer, Brian Ferry. Brian used to live in New York but currently resides in London and thankfully for us has continued shooting with his film cameras and sharing them on his blog, The Blue Hour.

I first discovered Brian’s work through his blog and was instantly blown away by the power in his low key images which focus on the details and intricacies of everyday life. His images are full of the most delicious tones and textures and he manages to find light that bounces of his subjects in all the right places.

Brian answers my Kit questions below.

MB: What is your camera of choice?

Brian: A Pentax K1000, hands down. This was my first 35mm film camera, and it has been such a pleasure to shoot with … it’s the reason that I shoot mostly film these days. The K1000 is a tank, and I love the deep ‘click’ of the shutter and the heft of the camera in my hands. It’s also quite a conversation-starter; I’ve been stopped many times on the street by people with fond memories of this camera.

MB: Which lenses are your favourites to work with?

Brian: A prime lens of any sort, especially the 50mm f/1.7 lens that I have for the K1000. The fact that you have to physically move around with a prime lens (closer or further away from your subject) makes me feel more engaged and mindful of the photo I’m taking. I also love the depth of field I can get.

MB: Name a camera you love to just have fun with.

Brian: Right now, I’m having fun with a Lomo LC-A that I recently purchased on Ebay. I am still figuring out how to work it, but it’s compact and light, and the photos it takes have the best tones.

Thank you for sharing your equipment with us Brian. Another user of that popular camera the Pentax K1000!

You can see more of Brian’s work at The Blue Hour, his portfolio site and purchase his book here.

What’s In Your Kit? with Elizabeth Messina

Amanda — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:00:50 +0000

Dream like, magical and yet like nothing you’ve seen before is how I would describe Elizabeth Messina’s wedding photography. Any girl would die happy to have Elizabeth shoot their portrait and to have her present on your wedding day would be absolutely dreamy.

Not only are her portraits incredible but she shoots weddings with a story telling vibe and captures all the little details with care and the perfect light. She writes the gorgeous blog, Kiss The Groom where she shares her latest wedding sessions. I can get lost on Kiss The Groom for hours and I always leave wanting to go out and buy a fancy pair of heels. She shoots the hell out of heels! Elizabeth’s stylish work can be found in many wedding and style magazines.

I was so happy when Elizabeth agreed to share her equipment with us.

MB: What is your camera of choice?

Elizabeth: Contax 645

MB: Which are your favourite lenses to work with?

Elizabeth: I always like to be close to my subject. On my Contax I prefer the 80 mm Zeiss lens. It’s perfect.

I asked Elizabeth which lenses she likes to shoot for portraits and she said she likes the 80mm mentioned above.

MB: Name a camera you just love to have fun with.

Elizabeth: I have a wonderful collection of film cameras. Some of my favourites include my Holgas, Polaroid sx70′s, Lubitel’s, the new Fuji Polaroids.

Film is so beautiful…so luminous. I love the mystery of film. Film is an intrinsic part of my style & imagery.

Thank you so much for playing Elizabeth! To hear that some of the best photographers in the business are still shooting with film makes my heart sing.

You can find Elizabeth’s work here on her portfolio site and of course at Kiss the Groom. Get thee there now to leave her fabulous comments of love.

Lighting Experiments

Amanda — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:00:35 +0000

When I started my Winter Shooting Challenge Series, I briefly spoke about one piece of equipment I had purchased to help out with the low light problem on wintery PNW days. Oh, yes, I did just write PNW. If I’m going to be a Vancouverite, then I’m damn well going to start using terms like “Pacific North West”. I digress!

So the piece of equipment that I purchased was the Lowel Ego Light from Amazon. I have used it with my digital camera and my Polaroid cameras and I’m pretty pleased with how well it works. I wanted to share some of the results of my picture taking with this little light.

I shot the Polaroid above on a fairly overcast day. I set my shot up on the kitchen table next to a window to allow as much light into the shot as I could. However if I had shot it alone, I would have ended up with a blurry picture. I set the lighting system up on the opposite side to the window light, turned on the light and fired away my Polaroid. I was pretty pleased with the result.

This digital shot was also shot under similar circumstances. However, it was shot in a different room in the house and I should have used the reflector on the opposite side. As you can see, I got some heavy shadow beside the nest. In my next shoot, I will make sure to use the reflector to see if that helps with shadow.

If you are someone who likes to shoot indoors or late at night after the sun has gone down, then this little item may be something you could use. If you don’t want to fork out the cash, then you could probably fashion yourself something similar with items around the house. Don’t ask me how to do that however, I was lazy and bought one!

Have you got any lighting tricks you like to use when shooting indoors?

p.s. I finally got back a roll of black and white film that I shot in the snow. More on that later.