The things I can’t work without, including a camera

Part of feeling like I’m progressing in my work is getting the same results or better with less effort. Some of that is developing your eye and knowing what works, and getting there sooner, but some of it is just about removing physical barriers like weight or setup time. So here’s some things that make my job easier than they could be, and why.

A Canon EOS R5

The R5 is like every other camera I’ve used, only more so

The new mirrorless cameras are a revelation compared to the earlier models. The electronic viewfinder shows you not just what the lens is seeing, but more usefully what the final picture will look like, which seriously shortens time spent tweaking in post. The autofocus abilities of these cameras are amazing too, and for portrait photographers the Face Detection AF rarely misses. I used to overshoot knowing 30% of my wider aperture portraits would end up in the recycle bin due to in-focus ears instead of eyeballs, but now it’s almost a 100% hit rate.

The Profoto Softlight Reflector

The Profoto Softlight reflector goes to every job.

I love beauty dishes for many reasons. Unlike soft boxes there’s no wind up; they fit straight onto the flash head with zero faff and they’re ready to go. There’s no hot spot, providing flat, even light but with nice contrast and edges. It’s modifiable with a grid for higher contrast, a sock for softer edges, or both for another look. Since it’s a hard dish and doesn’t collapse down, it’s not as transportable as a brolly or softbox, but it more than makes up for it in versatility and quick setup time.

A Macbook Pro

All I can say is ‘worth it’.

Every 4 years, I buy the best one I can. They’re insanely expensive but I offset the cost by selling the old one, which plenty of people seem to want and will pay decent money for. This is because MacBook Pros are ludicrous machines that can take a real beating every day and rarely give you any trouble in return. The 2021 model I currently have has a battery that can survive an all day shoot without needing a charge, a calibrated and richly detailed display you can really trust, and the M1 and more lately M2 chips are as capable as a £15000 Mac Pro was just a few years before.

Profoto Flashes

The Profoto B10 Plus - if they make it smaller I’ll pay for it again.

My first location flash was a Bowens Esprit 500 that was really designed for studio use, but Bowens sold a massive lead acid battery for location use that could pull your arm from its socket. It was (I was told) the same battery found in motorised wheelchairs and you could actually take one of those at far lesser expense and modify them to power your flash. I went from those to Elinchrom Rangers which were much smaller and lighter, but a cumbersome cabling system between the packs and heads became a drag. I also came to really dislike the Elinchrom mounting system and would frequently have large modifiers just fall off during shoots.

When the Profoto B1 came out however, the battery plugged directly into the head, so i didn’t have to mess with cables any more. The flashes had much more consistent power and colour temperature. They were pretty bulky still, but then Profoto magicked that package into the B10 range - an even smaller, more efficient flash with longer battery life. I can fit two in my roller case along with two cameras and three lenses. So less bulk, less stress, more power, happier Phil.

Google Maps

The only way I’m ever arriving on time.

I’m not joking - I very nearly considered making this entire blog post about how important this app is to me. When I began working in local news in 2007, I was frazzling myself using an A-Z while driving to find my way around 8 different locations in as many hours. If I was offered jobs much further out of Manchester I’d have to factor in getting completely lost into my arrival time. If there was a crash on the motorway en route to a job, too bad; you’d get so stuck in it that sometimes you’d miss the job altogether. Nowadays I just get in the car, stick a podcast on, do what Google tells me to do and arrive at my job on time (mostly) and stress free.

On Instagram @philtragenphoto