What’s in my bag

Testbench

YOUR KIT

What’s in my bag

Emma Finch is an award-winning and internationally published photographer. Influenced by femininity and elegance with a vintage edge, she specialises in female portraiture

Send us an overhead photo of the contents of your camera bag and you could win a year’s subscription to AP. Don’t forget to add a list of what’s in the picture, and a few words about each item. Email your flatlay pic and list to ap@ti-media.com Win!

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Mark IV and my second body is a Canon 5D Mark III. My Wonder Woman strap is always a talking point! Average used price £1,150 1

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L My ‘workhorse’ 24-70mm f/2.8, which is a superb and versatile lens. I use this all the time when in my studio. Average used price £799 2

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L When shooting outside, I use this 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, as I love the separation. As a portrait photographer it’s important that the person is the main focus of the image. Average used price £499 3

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 I also have a 50mm f/1.4 lens which I use for details work. 4 3

1

Pixapro Pika200 TTL I need my lights to be portable and reliable. I use Pixapro Pika200 TTL. I recommend them to all the photographers attending our workshops. Average used price £200 5

Pixapro ST-III TTL for Canon I have two triggers. When shooting I use the Pixapro ST-III for Canon. It’s superb to be able to change the strength of the lights without touching them. Average used price £100 6 5

7 Pixapro Pro AC My second trigger is a Pixapro Pro AC universal which I use at workshop events. The fact that it’s universal is useful as everyone brings a different camera. Average used price £100

2

4 9 11

12 6 10

7

13 8

8 Canon Speedlite 430EX II I always carry a speedlite, especially if I am shooting an event. I have the 430EX II and usually bounce it off the ceiling. Average used price £150

9 iPhone

My life is very hectic so being able to take my admin with me on the go is very helpful. Answering e-mails and posting on social media while in the school playground makes better use of my time.

ALSO PICTURED 10 iPad 11 Pen 12 Business card 13 Sunglasses

The misty docks of Bristol, 2019, by Matt Walkley

future With a resurgence in recent years, analogue Back to the © TEREZA CERVENOVA

photography is in vogue once again. Peter Dench speaks to four current exponents of the craft

My 15-year-old daughter recently purchased an analogue camera (with my money). She has expressed an interest for a career in print magazines. I should perhaps sit her down and have a frank chat. Or should I? The digital era hasn’t been as widely embraced as many would believe. ‘Slow-news’ has a renewed level of credibility. Magazines are being revalued. Likewise analogue. Some who have always used film are holding on; increasingly, young practitioners too are discovering its magic. It has become a premium product, a USP. I shot exclusively on mediumformat rangefinder film before going digital in 2007 when budgets nosedived. The last time I used film was a few years ago at the request of a client. I shot the first roll with the lens cap on. It felt a chore changing a roll after 10 to 12 frames. I don’t know how I coped for so long having to guess focus distances in nightclubs before blasting in a Metz Flash that I hoped would burn something onto the film’s surface. There’s a carrier bag of ageing undeveloped film in my desk drawer with notes scribbled on the surfaces: process +1/2 stop, DEV Normal. I was terrified of ‘pushing’ film above ISO 800, opening the camera back in direct sunlight and sending film through airport x-ray machines. Thousands of rolls of film

© MATT WALKLEY

in acid-free sleeves are stored in

ugly filing cabinets that block light

from my apartment. A contrast to

the small, neatly stacked hard

drives for my digital archive.

What I did like about film is that

after a long assignment, your job

was done. All that was left to do was

sling the bag of exposed film over > >

the counter at the processing lab, pop next door for a bottle of wine, pick up the film, chinagraph an edit on the contact sheets and courier them to a client –no sitting in front of the computer checking pixels. Film users often argue it pushes you to rethink how you shoot. It forces you to plan and create the image mentally before you do the shoot. They believe that this process can result in more artistic and authentic images so I talked to a few to find out if this was still the case. Above: Woolacombe beach by Matt Walkley

Tereza Červeňová

Left: A portrait of artist and 2012 Turner Prize winner Elizabeth Price by Tereza Cervenová

Far left: One of Tereza’s images from the project June, an autobiographical response to the June 2016 referendum A 28-year-old, fulltime freelance film photographer and visual artist, Tereza Č erve ň ová has shot one-and-a-half commissions on digital. ‘I tried digital and decided I would rather be poor for a while and do the work that I knew I would like in the end. That was when I first started, I stuck to it and a few years later, it started to pay off. I couldn’t take all the work that clients approached me with and still have to say no to some assignments.’ Tereza’s photography is often portraiture led, she was shortlisted for the prestigious Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize in 2013 and in 2015,

she won the The John Kobal New Work Award. ‘Digital made me feel very anxious, I didn’t trust it. It freaked me out that there was no physicality to it. I need to have some time between making the work and seeing it. I really like to be in the moment, especially when doing portraiture. If I shoot on digital it’s there so you see it, you start to be critical before completing the job, I find it distracting. I understand the light much better, it’s something visceral. I get into the zone where I feel good and immersed in the process. I never had those feelings with digital.’ Tereza’s pictures, preferably shot on a Mamiya 7 or RZ, appear regularly in magazines. She doesn’t demand a client pay for film and often shoots it at her own expense. However, the

TODAY’S FILM PHOTOGRAPHERS

‘Film has an added personal value. It takes a little more time to produce good images and prints’

publications understand the photographers they work with and choose suitable commissions accordingly; they know that working with Tereza, there’s a different schedule and they can’t see the pictures ‘in the moment’. Even when the turnaround is tight, it’s not a problem. ‘It’s happened to me where I had a shoot in the morning and sent the digital edit in the afternoon. It’s not that hard, if you rush the processing [pay extra to have it done quickly], you have it in two hours and then I just scan and send the contact sheets.’

Matt Walkley Influenced by the photography of Ansel Adams, Don McCullin, Tony Ray-Jones and more recently, Matthew Finn, 37-year-old amateur photographer Matt Walkley, while not exclusively shooting film, is using it with increasing frequency. Being an amateur means he has the luxury and freedom to work to his own timetable and much of it is scheduled for printing the landscapes he shoots with his Leica MA, Hasselblad 500cm, Rolleiflex T and Chamonix C45H-1 cameras. ‘Film has an added personal value to my images. It takes a little more effort to produce good images and prints with film, so I have had to expand my knowledge when it comes to using the camera, processing the film and making a print. Shooting film is far more hands-on and this manual approach is something that really appeals to me. It’s far more satisfying to see an image appear in the developing tray under the red safelight of the darkroom than it is to press print on the computer.’ Matt used to edit digital files to try and get the look of film before deciding to embrace its imperfections rather than remove the perfections of digital: ‘When it comes to my choice of 35mm film I’m pretty settled, Kodak Tri-X 400 suits my needs and is very flexible. It has a gritty look that I love and looks good even when push processed up to ISO 3200. I also use it for medium and large format or I use Ilford FP4 plus.’

Emma Case

Emma Case, a 39-yearold professional photographer, is obsessed with the nostalgia that film photography can trigger and in particular what Polaroids can induce. ‘I adore Polaroid. It stems back to the classic handful of Polaroids from my childhood that tell the whole story in tiny squares, that’s all I need. If I was running from a burning building, they’re the ones I’d save.’ Emma often uses it in her professional practice. ‘I bought a Polaroid SX-70 online and started taking some at weddings and giving them to the couple. I know that’s the one they’re going to put on the fridge, like a small piece of artwork that can’t be replicated.’ Shooting Polaroid is a challenge, reacting differently to changes in temperature and environment, but Emma is undeterred: ‘You have to court your Polaroid camera, spend time with it, take time getting to know it and accept it will throw the odd curve ball.’ For Emma, her whole process changes when shooting film. ‘I treat each camera differently, particularly my film cameras. With my digital cameras I know I can get the job done and cover lots quickly but you’re not necessarily telling the story better with the infinity of images digital allows. With film I try to slow down, I know what quirks they can bring to the job. I feel the results they provide deserve to be on the wall more.’ In addition to Polaroid, Emma uses her ‘workhorse’ Canon A-1 35mm which allows her to move quickly for her documentary photography, a Pentax 67, Mamiya 645 and the Lomography Diana range. ‘You get the best light leaks, which to me are like gold!’ All are loaded, where possible, with a roll of Kodak Portra 400 film. Sometimes she doesn’t use a camera at all. RED is a community project of hers that shares Liverpool football fans’ personal photos and stories, created alongside the fans and shared through exhibitions, books, interviews and events. It’s almost exclusively reliant on film, and nostalgia. Above: A selection of Emma Case’s Polaroid photographs. Clockwise from top left –Morocco, a laundromat, a wedding couple and Liverpool FC’s fans (part of her RED project)

Naomi Goggin

A 33-year-old, self-taught, full-time professional freelance wedding photographer, Naomi Goggin has been taking film photos since she was 11. ‘Growing up you just understood you didn’t get to see the pictures until later, that was the excitement. A huge inspiration for

© EMMA CASE

TODAY’S FILM PHOTOGRAPHERS

Around 95% of her clients want an element of film photography included, which has its challenges: ‘You only have 36 exposures on a 35mm roll so when it’s coming up to the church ceremony, you want to change your film at the right time so you have enough for each situation.’ It’s also a lot heavier shooting both film and digital. She shoots weddings with two Nikon 35mm film cameras (one loaded with colour Kodak Portra 400, one with Kodak Tri-X 400 Black and White, often pushed to ISO 1600 or 3200) and one Canon EOS 5D Mark III (with a back-up body). She often adds at least one other film camera into the mix –this changes as to what she happens to own or be borrowing, which have included a Holga, a Plaubel Makina 67, Rolleiflex 2.8/3.5 and Hasselblad 500cm. As more clients are wanting film, more wedding photographers are bringing it into their practice. ‘I tried to replicate film with digital but there’s just a different quality to both. I think for a long time digital was trying to be as good as film and now it’s just gone down a different route. It’s like comparing watercolours and oils, they’re different mediums that react differently. In some situations I can get quite similar results but others not. With digital, sometimes people are a bit literal with what they’re photographing and not more representative. A blurred film picture of a bride or flower girl is still a bride or a flower girl, it’s more about that image as a memory and symbol of the day. Film brings a different focus, I shoot with my heart more. I look that little bit closer.’

Quick tips to start shooting film

1You can’t hide when shooting film. Everything will appear on the contact sheet or Polaroid.

2Film may be expensive but like any luxury, you have to make sacrifices. Consider your shots carefully before taking them, plan ahead but don’t let it become disabling! If it does, just do it and embrace any mishaps.

3Try different cameras, get to know them –don’t discard them if the results weren’t exactly what you were expecting.

4Involve your subject in the process of shooting film, make it a shared experience.

5Explore the printing side of film photography, get in the darkroom and let your imagination run riot.

6Invest in good film stock, try to keep your choice consistent and revel in the glorious latitude that film provides.

7Stop down; depth of field on 35mm film cameras is shallower than digital APS-C or Micro Four Thirds cameras.

8Check in camera exposures against an external light meter. Remember, you won’t be able to rely on metadata so take notes of your settings. Build a relationship with a film processing lab.

9Finally, take a moment to appreciate the sensation of winding on the film –film photography is a choice; love, learn and always have fun.

me was spending hours as a kid rummaging through my family photo albums.’ Naomi initially shot her client weddings on digital. ‘I’d been doing weddings for three years. All along I liked the idea of shooting film at weddings. I think it suited a wedding but I was too nervous to suggest it. I thought it would be too risky with all the things that could go wrong.’ After one client asked for film, Naomi now always offers it. Right: A wedding couple by Naomi Goggin

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Sigma and AP host memorable fp event

It may be small, but it packs a full-frame sensor and a lot more besides. Sigma and AP help some key influencers get acquainted with the new fp mirrorless camera

Back in early December, Sigma and AP joined forces to introduce a select group of high-profile photographers, film makers and social media influencers to the Sigma fp and the wide range of lenses now available for this innovative L-Mount camera. The event took place at Henry Wood House, near the heart of London’s West End. As regular readers will know, the fp, which stands for fortissimo pianissimo (‘very soft but loud’), squeezes a 24.6-million-pixel backilluminated CMOS Bayer sensor into an ultra-compact and robust body.

Despite its diminutive size – it’s the smallest and lightest full-frame camera ever built – the fp is packed with features: the sensor provides an ISO range of 100-25,600 (expandable to ISO 6-102,400) and relies on contrast detection for focusing, with an AF working range of -5 to 18EV. It has a 49-point AF system that supports Face/Eye detection as well as an AF tracking mode. The fp’s video specification is impressive, too, with 4K UHD 24p recording being supported in 12-bit format to an external recorder or direct to an attached SSD drive. There’s 4K UHD video at 24, 25 or 30p in 10-bit or 8-bit too, although internal recording is restricted to 8-bit and support for playing Cinema DNG footage incamera is not yet available;

© GEORGE WHALE

this will follow via a firmware update at a later date.

Whale of a time

The Sigma fp camera is ‘simply

amazing’, enthused one of the

guests, freelance photographer

and film maker George Whale.

‘What first caught my attention

is the size – it’s tiny! It’s crazy

to think that a camera with

such high-end specs can easily

slip into one’s pocket. And, if

you are a videographer, this

camera is an absolute beast

when it’s fully rigged up. A

couple of things that really excited me about this camera is its color modes. There is a wide range of profiles to choose from (12 in total), my favourite being © PAUL MONAGHAN

the black & white mode. Also, its frame rate of up to 18 Photographer George Whale was impressed by the fp’s size and high ISO performance

images per second is pretty epic, making it an ideal camera for shooting GIF/moving images. Its autofocusing system is rather snappy for a contrast AF system and its noise handling at high ISOs is really impressive. For instance, I shot those portraits at ISO 3200 and there is next to no noise in the images. My verdict

on the Sigma fp is that ultimately it’s a camera that will work better for filmmakers than photographers, but that is not to say that this pocketable full-frame camera can’t match the still image quality of any of its rivals – it definitely can.’ George’s comments were backed up by Edmond Terakopian, a distinguished freelance documentary journalist and winner of British Press Photo and World Press Photo awards. ‘Being a Lumix S series user, I am already a fan of the L-Mount,’ Ed explains. ‘Now I’ve used the L-Mount Sigma Art lenses and the Sigma fp, it’s opened my eyes to the possibilities of the L-Mount Alliance. I have also used the fp with Leica Summicron lenses and again, the results are great. I’m a fan of the groundbreaking design, too. It’s a huge departure from the Leica SL and Lumix S.’

PRICING AND ACCESSORIES

The Sigma fp is initially being sold in two configurations. It costs £1,999 (body only) and will also be available with the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens for £2,399. The camera is compatible with the growing number of L-Mount lenses in Sigma’s lineup, as well as those made by Panasonic and Leica, who teamed up with Sigma to form the L-Mount Alliance in September 2018. There’s nothing to prevent users mounting Sigma SA mount or Sigma EF mount lenses to the Sigma fp either, though this requires Sigma’s MC-21 adapter. Accessories include an LCD Viewfinder (LVF-11), which mounts over the LCD monitor to cut out extraneous light, and a BPL-11 base plate (£80) that allows standard video shooting accessories to be attached via a 3/8in thread. There are also two handgrips available. The smaller HG-11 (£60) and larger HG-21 (£100). These attach to the side of the camera and have been designed to provide more comfort and a sturdier grip.

Readers of Amateur Photographer

...receive 10 % off second-hand bodies & lenses!

Up to £150 discount per item. Quote ‘Amateur Photographer’ when placing

your order by telephone or in store.

Payment made by fi nance is not included in this

Technique BOX CAMERAS

Adrian Gray AP reader Adrian is a scientist in the week and at weekends likes to take photos of appropriate subjects with his worryingly large collection of antediluvian cameras. Should you meet a walker in the Lake District toting an ancient folding camera, it’s probably him.

Boxing clever

Box cameras are common but iconic vintage finds, and many can still be used. Adrian Gray is your guide to this democratic classic

Box cameras were the mainstay of popular photography from the first Kodak in 1888 into the 1950s. They epitomise no-frills photography with a high ratio of satisfaction to effort expended, and the results can be surprisingly good.

For use, my favourite is the Kodak No 2 Brownie. It has a metal tab with three apertures of approximately f/10, f/20 and f/30, so huge depth of field in bright light, and takes No 2 Brownie film – the modern 120, still readily available. If the winder turns and the shutter opens and closes reasonably promptly you will almost certainly get an image. Open the back of your camera, point at a light, and press the shutter. A brief flash of light means all is good and you can use the camera.

There are many other options available – Kodak’s cardboard Hawkeye range is common, as are the all-metal May

LOADING YOUR BOX CAMERA

ALL PICTURES © ADRIAN GRAY

Even if you can’t find a working example, box cameras make an attractive display

Technique

BOX CAMERAS

How to use a box camera

ALMOST all box cameras have a waist-level viewfi nder –you peer into it from a long way above. Because of the slow shutter speed they are prone to movement blur, so must be held pressed tightly against your body. You will also need to work out your own workfl ow for winding on as there is no double exposure prevention –always wind on just before you take a photo or just after, but don’t forget which you choose! Practise before you actually put a fi lm in it until you can remember all the quirks. They often have a ‘fl ip-fl op’ shutter that presses down for one exposure and up for the next. Many have a tripod bush that fi ts a modern tripod, if you can’t hold it still enough. Some have a little pull-up tab that holds the shutter open until you press the release a second time, making long exposures or pinhole photography possible. You can use a pair of rubber bands to hold a fi lter over your lens for things like cloud effects. Many models have a tab with an extra lens that decreases the distance at which the focus is set –these often have ‘Portrait’ in the model name –and there were push-on accessory lenses doing the same job.

38 Fair camera, the All-Distance Ensign and the Ensign Ful-Vue, with its huge viewfi nder, almost four centimetres square, compared to the No 2 Kodak’s thumbnail-sized fi nder. Post-war cameras usually have larger viewfi nders and some come complete with pop-up sunshields, a boon in bright conditions. If you want to collect them, the 1920s and 30s saw many manufacturers launch art deco front plates in new materials like chromium. Coronet produced plain metal cameras in Britain but cardboard ones with very attractive and colourful fronts in France, and colours ranged from black to green, brown, red, blue and even silver. Plus, being box shaped, they stack on shelves!

Which fi lm should I use? Don’t use fi lm faster than ISO 100, there are several suitable options on the market. Cover your red window with a piece of black insulating tape, lifting it only to wind your fi lm on having made sure that it is out of direct sunlight, otherwise you may fi nd the fi lm numbers imprinted on your negatives. It is worth cleaning the rollers on the end of the cone that the fi lm travels over as any dirt or corrosion may scratch the fi lm. You can also try using colour fi lm. In most box cameras the lens is set well back behind the shutter, so is well-protected from lens fl are.

Negatives and prints A 6x9cm negative is big enough that a straight contact print serves as a photograph, and can be enlarged to a size that will go on the wall that, unless you pixel peep, will still look good. My fi rst photograph ever printed in AP was taken with a 1930s Coronet box camera, so you get a great sense of satisfaction. So how do you get it on that wall? You can still get 120 fi lm developed and Don’t expect digital-camera levels of quality from scanned-in film images. It won’t be long before you discover that it’s both fun and satisfying

printed, less commonly now on the high street, but easily by post. Or you can do it yourself –everything to develop fi lm is still available and negatives can be scanned on a transparency scanner and treated as digital fi les. If all you want to do is play with your box camera this is a big investment but, if you intend to use fi lm more, you can set up for home developing, scanning and printing for less than the cost of a mid-range DLSR.