Inside My Camera Bag | Tomirri

Hi, My name is Tom Kurek and I’m a photographer based in London. I started the idea of Tomirri Photography over 10 years ago now. When I started playing with photography I only dreamt of one day making money from it. After all those years of hard work and lots of luck, the dream is finally becoming a reality.

I always loved cars and architecture so naturally, my photography work gravitated towards those. Today I mainly shoot cars, interiors and architecture but I very much enjoy also trying portrait and fashion stuff (which I think is the most creative field in photography) as much as travel and landscape whenever I have a chance. Basically anything that lets me create an interesting image giving viewers a snippet into how I see the world…

Since I was a kid I always loved visual arts and I started drawing and sketching. Only later moved into more “technical” and digital arts. For me, it was always more about imagery in general than just photography. That’s why I always loved the idea of Photoshop. Saying that I do believe that perfect photographic image requires both: great photograph first and tasteful quality retouching after. You can’t rely just on one of them.

When it comes to equipment, first of all I don’t think that you need the best gear to get the best result. You can create the most amazing results using the most simple stuff like a small digital Kodak with 4 Mp which was my first camera. Until today I think that I created one of my most creative work using that thing 10 years ago! Today I use Nikon gear and after a Nikon D200, Nikon D300 and a Nikon D3, now I’m using a Nikon D800 with those ridiculous 36 Mp.

I use Nikon today but I don’t really subscribe to Nikon-Canon-whateverelse-is-best-fight-talk way of thinking. I reckon you should be using gear that best meets your needs and way of working.

What you can see in the picture are almost all the essentials that are with me on nearly every shoot. Nikon D800 with battery grip, two Bilingham shoulder bags which I absolutely adore for their highest quality which came handy quite a few times on so many of my travels in different conditions, Manfrotto 055 4-section carbon fibre tripod + light duty ball head which is very easy to travel with but very well built, solid and great to use. Dell XPS12 with its carbon fibre shell which I just had to have ;D and LaCie portable 1TB USB 3.0 hard drive – very well built and fast (not only because it says Porsche on it ;D)… Nikon SB900 and Nikon SB800 which I use with Pocket Wizard TT5+TT1 set. Hoya Polariser and Nikon remote release cord.

And of course the most important – the lenses: Nikon 28mm f/2.8 (cheap, light and most importantly very small), Nikon 50mm f/1.4 (for its depth of field and small size), Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro (I got it about 7 years ago and very rarely used it but like to have it just in case), Nikon 85mm f/1.4G (a beautiful lens, I love its depth of field and the quality of the image) and the one lens that I used more than all of the above put together. Times two. Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. It’s an ideal lens that I barely ever take off the camera cause it’s so universal, reliable, quick and very sharp. Definitely the best lens I’ve ever used.

Today’s world of photography is a very competitive one but to whoever wants to succeed in it without killing the passion for photography I want to say this: work hard, be open minded, get inspired by looking at other photographers’ work but NEVER EVER compare yourself to anyone, put your head down and keep doing what you love doing and remember that every now and then you will have enough of it all and won’t feel inspired but remember that INSPIRATION is a bitch but she always comes back. ;D

www.tomkurekthephotographer.com