As we find ourselves in week three of Adorama’s original reality web series, “Top Photographer with Nigel Barker,” we are now left with only two contestants to battle it out for the win! (Don’t worry, we won’t give away any spoilers, here…you’ll just have to watch to find out who got eliminated this week!) Since the show began, we’ve had many of you join the conversation at #topphotographer dying to know what gear the judges themselves use on their own shoots. So, just for you, we’ve sat down with the judges and asked for a peek inside each of their gear bags! Here’s a glimpse of what each Top Photographer judge won’t be caught without on a shoot. Perfect timing, too – with the holidays fast approaching you might want to add some of this gear to your own wish list!
Nigel Barker
- A super air blower – “Dusty lenses, sand all over your gear, all these things are a photographer’s nightmare and to know that I can safely remove the unwanted debris from my camera and lenses at any time, without needing to check whether batteries are dead or the Dust Off can is full. Not to mention it’s soft and squishy and easily fits or squeezes into my camera bag (or pocket). One more thing as it’s not a pressurized can you have no issues flying with it either.”
- Sekonic Flashmate L-308S-U – “Basically a pocket-sized light meter. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to meter my own light and set my camera rather than guess the light and then fine tune on the camera while looking at the camera back. Especially in daylight situations where you have areas of sun and shadow being able to meter the light and know the exact range of light readings help you control and sculpt your image by setting your exposure and shutter speed accurately.”
- Knee pads – “I spend a lot of time on my knees and often on my stomach as a photographer trying to get the perfect angle and capture the shot. After one rather long day shooting in the Meat Packing District in NYC 7 years ago, my first assistant bought me a pair of knee pads that I often wear under my trousers so that when I need to drop to my knees to get the shot I know I am protected and can easily and painlessly capture the shot!”
- Black cine-foil – “Time and time again I have needed my roll of cine foil to slightly change or modify the direction of the light from a beauty dish or reflector. I even mold shapes with the cine foil to cast shadows on my subjects to create that dappled effect in studio. Due to the foils ability to be molded into any shape you can think of it basically means you can create an endless variety of light modifiers for virtually nothing.”
- Cable release – “As a portrait photographer the ability to talk to my subject or just look at my subject face to face to reduce the pressure on them is very helpful and a cable release enables me to do just that. They are normally used for long exposures when you don’t want the camera to shake but setting your camera on a tripod, setting focus on the subject and then repositioning yourself away from the back of the camera so you can actually look at your subject face to face can really help capture a believable moment.”
- Wish List: “A waterproof point and shoot has to be on the top of my list, whether I am shooting by the ocean, in the sea or quite frankly in the rain, it’ll be really helpful to have a water proof little point and shoot to get the shot no matter what. During Cycle 6 of America’s Next Top Model I was shooting on the beach on Phuket and a wave came out of nowhere and splashed me and my camera, resulting in a rather nasty electric shock. Luckily I didn’t drop the camera in the surf but a waterproof camera would have been perfect then…”
David Bergman
- Canon 5DsR body – “This 50-megapixel monster is my go-to camera body for portraiture. You can never have too many pixels, and shooting such a big file should future-proof my work for at least the next 10 years.”
- Canon 1DX Mark II– “This is my concert and sports action camera. It’s a workhorse, and the 14 frames per second virtually guarantees that I won’t miss any fast-moving subjects on the stage or the playing field.”
- Black gaffer’s tape – “I use this stuff for so many things including taping lens hoods to the lens, attaching gels to strobes, and making sure remote cords don’t fall out. I use gaffer’s tape specifically because it doesn’t leave any sticky residue like other kinds of tape do.”
- Ear plugs – “I have a set of custom molded ear plugs that drop the sounds levels down 20 decibels, while still letting through the full dynamic range. These are vital for concert photographers because it can be incredibly loud when you’re right in front of those giant speaker towers every night.”
- Extra AA batteries – “I usually have at least 3-4 Canon Speedlites with me and they all take AA batteries. I use Eneloop rechargeables, but I always have a set of regular alkalines in my bag just in case I need them during a shoot. It’s a big relief to know I always have extras.”
- Wish List: “Hmmm. I pretty much have everything.”
Emily Soto
- Leica M7 – “I love the quality of the camera and the ease of focus. I shoot a lot of 35mm film and love the results with this camera and that it has both Automatic and Mechanical modes.”
- Canon EOS SLRs – “I love the Canon EOS as I am able to use all of my favorite Canon lenses with it. It is one of my favorite film cameras to especially with the Canon 85mm 1.2, I love the results of the two with 35mm film.”
- TRI-X – “My go-to black and white film is Tri-X film and I tend to use it at every shoot. I love the classic feel it gives along with the grain and always have it on hand.”
- Portra Film – “My favorite color film is Portra and I use it often with the Leica M7. I love the grain and colors it produces.”
- Canon 85mm f/1.2 Lens – “This has been my favorite lens since early on in my career as I love the depth of field and shooting at a low aperture. The lens gives such a beautiful, soft feel to the images.”
- Wish List – Hasselblad X1D
Tom Jauncey
- DJI Mavic Pro – “This is the smallest, most nibble, and best drone on the market right now. It can literally fit in your back pocket so makes for the ultimate item in your gear bag. Within 30 seconds of set-up you can have a completely different photo and video perspective from the air!”
- Lume Cubes – “On-the-go lighting has always been a tricky one, especially when trekking the outdoors or urban exploring. I’ve never found a good, portable and compact way of lighting up a scene until Lume Cube came along. I always have 3-5 of these in my gear bag which allows for completely new perspectives when shooting at night. You can connect up to 5 on your smartphone allowing you to sync specific lighting scenarios (strobe, constant light, flash etc).”
- 10 Stop ND Filter – “This is one of my go-to pieces of gear as it allows me to create long exposures during the day. This is perfect when you want to create traffic/people streaks & blurs at iconic locations when they are normally overcrowded during the touristy times. It also allows you to create great content when the days light may be too harsh. I always carry around a few different sizes (72mm, 77mm, 82mm) so I can fit on multiple lenses.”
- Joby Gorilla Pod – “This is the most versatile tripod on the market that is compact and easy to carry on the go. Its flexibility allows you to bend the legs in any direction and most importantly wrap around any structure. The Gorilla Pod has been the perfect Beautiful Destinations sidekick when shooting long exposures from awkward places. We’ve connected it to lamp posts, cranes, and countless rooftops to get that stable shot that is not possible from just handheld.”
- Lenskirt Anti-Reflection Portable – “This is a great item that allows you to shoot through glass without the glare. It blacks out all light reflections allowing you to get those unique angles where glass would otherwise ruin the shot. This is particularly useful if you have permission to shoot from high rise buildings but are not allowed on the roof. Tokyo & Hong Kong were a few locations that this was a life saver in.”
- Wish List – “As a gift to myself I’d love to own a GoPro Hero 5. It shoots photos in RAW which is a huge upgrade and also allows for easy voice activation, taking the selfie to another level. A few weeks back I was lucky to climb the spire of the Empire State Building and one of my colleagues had the Hero 5. We caught this leveraging the voice activation which was definitely a new perspective that no one has seen before.”
