This monthly feature gives you a sneaky peak into the Billingham bag belonging to one of the North’s top photographers – Dan Kenyon is April’s photographer of choice…
Originally from Hull, Dan picked up a camera when he should have been studying Art History in Brighton. He shot some fashion for a local shop and never looked back.
After assisting some very good photographers in London for three years and a four year spell at Getty Images as an Art Director, Dan returned full time to photography in 2000 and has been busy ever since.
After 20 years in London Dan and his family moved back up North to near Liverpool and has been working with a broad range of clients across fashion, portraiture and advertising.
He has featured in the Creative Review Photography Annual and his work is also with the National Portrait Gallery Collection.
When not taking photographs Dan spends most of his free time on his road bike. He races for the Liverpool Mercury CC, coaches for British Cycling and has recently co-founded a bi-monthly northern road cycle online magazine called Spin Cycle. It had over 20,000 readers for its first issue and Dan hopes soon to make it available as an app through Apple’s News Stand.
Visit Dan’s website here.
So what’s in his bag?
1. I use a bigger flash normally but try to keep this Canon Ex 550 when I have to shoot quickly and simply.
2. I have really taken to these small chrome memory sticks that look like keys. I can stick a whole job in my pocket and they make great gifts for clients.
3. This American Quad battery is perfect to power the Canon 580EX and saves me buying too many batteries.
4. Even after 28 years of taking photos for a living I always carry a notebook and pencil. Not just as scraps of paper always get lost, but to jot down sketches with clients and record my lighting setups, as it’s easy forget just how you lit something after the event.
5. Pola filters. Good for reflections and giving dramatic skies in camera.
6. Charger for the Quantum battery pack.
7. Charger for the Canon
8. Spare batteries for the Canons. After years of heavy pro cameras it’s great to have such light cameras and loads of spare batteries.
9. Pocket Wizard Transmitter/Receiver for flash sync. I have loads of these dual units and as they can send and receive they are very versatile.
10. I bought this Swiss Army penknife the first week I moved to London in 1986. It’s a bit battered but still the best.
11. Pocket Wizard sync. This is a bells and whistles flash sync and does all sorts of clever stuff.
12. Flash card case. I have two of these but with Jessops now gone I hope I can get new ones somewhere.
13. Head Torch. Out in the woods with a deep camera bag and no torch is no good.
14. Canon 24-105 lens. I have a few lenses but this is my workhorse lens. Great at all focal lengths and not too heavy.
15. Canon 24-105 lens. So good that I bought a backup for those trips to isolated locations.
16. Lens cleaning pen from…Jessops. Sob.
17. Lens brush and blower.
18. Crocodile clips.
19. Foundation compact. Always good to have some shine remover for models – even with Hair and Makeup on hand.
20. Canon 5D MKII and Canon 5D MKIII. Great cameras. I never had a camera fail on a job but I still never do a job without two cameras. After hanging over a 17 story building recently, I have both fitted with detachable shoulder or wrist straps.
21. Gaffa tape.
22. Business cards for Spin Cycle Magazine.
23. Business cards for Dan Kenyon Photography.
24. Found this in the back pocket. The pull tab from a Fuji FC100 Pro Polaroid. Showing my age now.
25. I always carry a mini brolly for clamping to a light or for my assistant to hold over the camera. The plastic bag is from Keshi Colour – a brilliant film lab from the days of film. I’m not superstitious but I suppose I keep it as a talisman, and it keeps the camera dry in the rain as well.