Inside My Camera Bag | Stefan Soell

Hello everyone, my name is Stefan Soell, I am a photo artist from Friedrichshafen at Lake of Constance in southern Germany. I have long been fascinated by nude photography as a passion, art form, and profession. I live in a very original, rural, varied region.

The big lake, the pre-alpine river landscapes, and the Alps are right on my doorstep. I grew up here, and here, I am at home. I am very close to nature and feel most comfortable in the twilight, the narrow area, the short time between light and shadow.

So my favorite genres and traits quickly grew together. With my interest in mythologies, scenes are created in which my models and the landscape are in an imaginative context.

Self-designed props interact with the model and the surroundings. One of my best-known properties is the sensitive use of light. It takes a lot of patience and observation to create the perfect light in photography.

I visit my photo locations many times at different times of the year and day to recognize the optimal light for the shot which often lasts no longer than 10 minutes.

For example, one of my most famous books “Alpenglühn” represents a large number of my unique, irretrievable photographs from my homeland.

On my long-term trips abroad, I visit fascinating landscapes for many years. Books such as “Volcanic Girls” on the Canary Islands or “Atlantic Sirens” in the southwest of Portugal.

To bridge the long and cold winter months, I realize subtle photo sequences in a historic barrack area in my photo studio.

The illustrated books “Elysium Girls” and “Celestial Girls” represent these nude photographs, which are very strongly focused on shapes and bodies.

I have been working with Canon equipment since the beginning of digital photography. The Canon EOS-1DX Mark II is currently my main camera.

The sheer limitless dynamic range and sensitivity to light of this camera hardly set any creative limits for me.

I use a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II as a backup housing and as a studio camera. It already has more than 250,000 triggers and continues to work reliably.

In the photo studio, I mainly shoot with the Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens which leaves nothing to be desired in terms of image sharpness and freedom from distortion.

When it comes to outdoor photography, I don’t burden myself with a lot of equipment because my camera bag is stuffed with model equipment.

Also, too much equipment would take away the spontaneity and lightness of my photography.

So, it is only my two Canon zoom lenses Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 which I have with me. With this focal length range, I am very flexible and can, therefore, cover all shooting situations.

Both lenses are very reliable, robust, and precise in focus and sharpness. The image stabilizer of the telephoto zoom lens helps me a lot in low light conditions.

Actually, I don’t need to take a spare battery with me because the Canon batteries are very durable, but it’s a bit of a superstition if I take one with me.

www.stefansoell.de | @stefansoell