articles/Review/des-gadget-page4
Published 01/06/2014
Steve Allen
Canon TS-E 90mm
Having to start your photography portfolio virtually from scratch on four different occasions would be enough to drive most photographers into an office job. But Steve Allen has proven that he will not be defeated by the rise of technology!
'My first portfolio of stock images was on 35mm transparency' says Steve when I ask about the origins of his business. 'But of course that really is quite low quality so everything I shot on 35mm went into the bin and I upgraded to medium and large format to shoot my second portfolio. When the early digital cameras came about some of my larger format work was scanned but most of it went in the bin too! And then of course digital technology improved so fast and the early pictures are just such low quality in comparison, so I'm now on my fourth stock portfolio!'
Of course its not all doom and gloom, Steve did point out to me that the agencies have little to gain by pressing for even higher quality images now so we should all be safe from throwing our recent images away for a little while yet!
Essential to Steve's stock photography is the Canon TS-E 90mm lens. 'Most of what I shoot in the studio is conceptual table-top work and much of it is quite close up, especially subjects such as food. To be able to control the depth of field in the same way as when I was shooting on 5x4 I need to be able to control the perspective and the depth of field, which a shift lens allows me to do.'
Steve combines the lens with extension rings and a Canon 5DMkII body. This combination gives him the flexibility required to shoot many different subjects and the quality asked by all the major stock libraries. For the time being anyway, until the industry decides it is time for Steve to start work on his fifth stock photography portfolio...
www.steveallenphotography.com
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