You and I have quite a different philosophy when it comes to equipment.
How important or relevant do you think it is?
It is relevant, but at the same time,
we know that great photography can be done with minimal gear.
It’s rather ironic, though, because I have tons of gear.
One of my favourite Edward Weston quotes is,
‘In matters of equipment, I had to have the best. In every other area of my life, I went without.’
I relate to that.
I love cameras and I like to use equipment I’m totally confident in.
I think a lot of it is confidence.
If you enjoy using the cameras
and you feel confident they’ll be able to deliver what you see,
then it doesn’t really matter what it is.
I love large-format gear, because I love the performance and the process.
But for your travel-based landscape work, lighter gear is a better bet, isn’t it?
Lighter and flexible, so I can react to different situations.
In one session, I could be photographing a landscape, wildlife or doing a travel portrait.
That portability and flexibility is very important to me.
We were showing each other some prints, and you have fabulous images.
It all comes down to the pictures.
At the end of the day, the camera is just a tool.
In a way the size of the original file doesn’t matter.
You figure out how to render the light and the tones,
and as long as it’s tolerably good quality, you’ll produce a beautiful print.
That’s the main thing.
Of course, a better-quality file gives you a more immersive experience.
This is why I prefer to work with a higher-resolution camera.
But I’ve seen amazing pictures made with iPhones and the like.
If they’re well printed, who cares?
Some of the technical advances over the past few years
have enabled us to tackle subjects we simply couldn’t have previously.
I was showing you the picture of the night sky over Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada.
Ten years ago, I couldn’t have made that picture.
It’s opened up a whole new avenue of photography that’s been tremendously fun to get into.
When you think of the Northern Lights tours there are nowadays
that’s a byproduct of digital technology.
If it weren’t for digital technology, countries such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland
wouldn’t have the booming tourist industries that they have today.
Because a lot of that is driven by photography, incredibly.
It seems funny but it’s true that photography can have that effect.
Tell me – how many cameras do you own?
I don’t know! I couldn’t tell you.
I can’t remember how many I have, either!
I have three that I use on a regular basis, but I probably have 15 or 16. I think…
Same here, I think.
And don’t ask about lenses – that would be even worse.