My Camera Bag | Prue Platt Hepworth

Hi, my name is Prue and I am a Sydney based photographer. My inspiration and approach to photography are greatly influenced by my background in design.

Initially, I trained as a graphic designer at the National Art School in Sydney. I then went to London and retrained as a fashion designer where I exhibited my own label at the British Designer Show. I have always loved photography and textiles and it wasn’t until I started to fool around photographing my collections that I really started my journey in photography.

After living in the UK for 26 years I came back to live in Sydney. I enrolled in some photography courses and have been exhibiting my Fine Art/Conceptual Photography for the last 10 years or so.

In my work as a photographer, I love to use the human figure as a way to explore the emotions of self-discovery. I am very drawn to dark, moody, conceptual and surreal types of photography. It is not in my DNA to do flattering portraits! Other people’s discarded rubbish, which litters our landscape, become my props, my supporting cast. I love rubbish!

After experimenting with different genres and a variety of lenses/cameras (Pentax – Nikon – Canon) over the years, I now realize that I am very much a studio photographer and a “Canon lady”.

I try to keep my ideas and set-ups as simple as possible. Having said that I seem to have acquired quite a lot of gear over the years, but I always seem to end up using a couple of my favourite lenses. I am not a very technical person (see my tip at the end) and prefer to use my imagination. No amount of equipment is going to make me a better photographer.

Camera

Canon EOS 5D Mark III – I love my full frame. I graduated from my Canon 400D to a full frame quite a few years ago. It does everything that I want it to and I love the multiple exposure feature. It is a heavy camera by today’s standards so when I am not in the studio I carry it with a fabulous strap worn across the body. This alleviates the weight from around my neck.

Lenses

Canon EF 24-105mm f/1.4 IS USM L – This is my go-to lens and I use it an awful lot. It’s very versatile, a good all-round lens.

Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L USM – I use this lens when I want something more unusual. I love the distortion when photographing people up close.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM – This was my first lens when I started photography. I loved the huge zoom feature. It is a fabulous travel lens. This lens gave me the opportunity to experiment and to see what depth of field I was going to enjoy.

Canon 50mm Prime – Takes a bit of getting used to after zooming but great for a natural more classic look. A timely reminder to ‘move the feet’ and take a little more care with composition.

Canon Macro EF 100mm IS USM – A great lens for portraits.

Lighting

Elinchrom BRX 500/500 Softbox to Go Set

XLite 90cm Deep Parabolic Octa Softbox – I love this huge softbox which opens up like an umbrella making it very easy to assemble. Great size for portraits and with its removable velcro grid and diffusers you have the opportunity for creating soft moody shots.

Tripod

Benro C-158m8 Carbon Fibre Tripod – I hate tripods in general. They kill my sense of freedom and creativity. If I have to use one (and I do occasionally) I have learnt to appreciate my Benro as it’s light, stable, has a ball head and is easy to handle. It is also a good size and weight for a travel tripod.

Bags/Straps

Lowepro Flipside 300

Carry Speed camera strap – A must.

Hardware & Software

NIK Collection

Adobe Lightroom Classic

Adobe Photoshop CC

Apple iMac

Misc.

A little, valuable tip for those photographers starting out in the studio with flash photography. Leave a light on somewhere in the studio so you don’t crash around in the dark smashing and tripping over valuable equipment! No need to have a ‘Fawlty Towers’ moment. The light from your flash will overpower the ambient light. From someone who has learnt the hard way!

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