About
Stephen Haynes, Photographer
I have been a photographer since 1969. Most of that time my work was in film, first exclusively in black and white, and then increasingly in color. Until 2000 I worked at various levels of intensity while concentrating on other, non-photographic careers. Since October 2000, however, this has changed. Now I work with digital media, currently the Canon R6 mirrorless digital SLR, and fine art photography is a frequent pursuit.
Camera Gear
Acquisition of the Canon D30 digital camera in October 2000 initiated a steady accumulation of camera gear, such that carrying it all is often no longer a simple matter of stuffing a shoulder bag with the camera and one or two additional lenses. What I describe here is the complete set; on some occasions I may only carry what I call my "walk-around kit."
For candid photos, I used to carry the walk-around kit in a simple shoulder bag. For more extended or crucial shoots, however, I carried a more complete set of lenses and accessories in the Tamrac Model 759 Photo/Computer Backpack that carries not only all the necessary photo gear, but also has a dedicated slot to accommodate my laptop and/or iPad (and I may carry the shoulder bag as well).
Finally, for recent work I have been using the Canon R6 DSLR, Canon's new top-of-the-prosumer-line 20 megapixel mirrorless digital SLR.
On our 2007 trip to India I took both the 28-300mm "L" and the 70-300mm DO. Much of the time I used one of my prior DSLRs with the 28-300mm, since the optics are better and it eliminates need for a middle-range lens. When doing more "pure" street photography, however, the lighter, more compact and less conspicuous 70-300mm lens serves better.
The gear:
Canon R6 mirrorless digital SLR camera body
(Canon 5D DSLR body, available as a second body if necessary)
17-35mm f/2.8 "L" USM zoom lens
28-70mm f/2.8 "L" USM zoom lens
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO USM zoom lens with image stabilization
28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 "L" USM zoom lens with image stablization
135mm f/2.0 lens (superb for portraits)
50mm f/1.2 lens (for low light)
50mm f/2.5 macro lens (closeups)
500GB iPad. I can download directly from the R6 to the iPad for backup, field processing and archiving while traveling.
Various Speedlite external flashes and ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter
Multiple filters
Extra batteries
Multiple 32GB Sandisk SD cards.
Bogen carbon tripod w/ Manfrotto ballhead
Monopod (like a tripod, but only one leg) & ballhead attachment
Mini-tripod
Manuals
And a bunch of other stuff.
One negative: although the Tamrac 759 backpack is good for transporting the combination camera/computer gear that is key to today's serious digital photography, it is a lousy backpack. I cannot recommend taking it in the field where carrying for long periods of time over rough terrain is important. From a backpack ergonomic standpoint, quite simply, it sucks! (Moreover, I have now opted for a slightly more compact case with rollerwheels, which also means that I carry only a subset of the lenses shown above.)
Workflow
Under normal conditions, my workflow consists of recording images on a 32 GB Sandisk SD card, then transferring them to my desktop computer.
Once on my desktop the images are managed using ThumbsPlus, which I have used for years and find to be an excellent tool. I never change the original images (RAW format images). I archive original images to duplicate external hard drives. Likewise, PSD files, are archived to two external hard drives to which I mirror PSD files on a nightly basis; they are never deleted, and as the hard drives fill I will just purchase a new one.
With the R6, I photograph in RAW + Small/Fine JPEG mode, which for each image stores not only the .CR3 file but also a JPEG image, which I use for review and selection of final images to process. (It is also easy to supply those JPEGs to clients or models who wish to review the photographs.) Thumbs+ also permits review of the RAW images, but having the separate JPEGs is more efficient. From that review I can determine which files to convert -- those are converted in Photoshop’s Camera Raw plugin. Any work in Photoshop is saved in PSD format. I always save a PSD file before resizing or sharpening; in that way I save alterations in layers using levels, curves, color balance, hue/saturation, etc., but before physically changing image size or applying the unsharp mask. Those latter changes are applied before printing or saving as a JPEG for web presentation. Working with 16-bit (RAW) color images in Photoshop is now a breeze, since Adobe has extended layers functionality to 16-bit images.