Stephen Banks Photography

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/

http://500px.com/DorsetScouserPhotography

 

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?

 

Nikon D800 with Nikon 50/1.4, Nikon 20/2.8 and Samyang 14/2.8. Fuji X100 for street photography.

 

 

What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

 

I love the resolution and low-light performance of the D800. Pushing it to 6,400 ISO with such little impact on the noise in the image is very satisfying. The Fuji X100 is a trickier beast. I love its design and the quality of the images it produces. But it is very fiddly and seems to have a mind of its own sometimes!

 

 

What is your favourite lens, and why?

 

Surprisingly the Samyang 14mm, despite its complex distortion patterns. It’s massively wide field of view makes it perfect for impactful landscape astrophotography, which is what I love. Plus it lets a lot of light in at f/2.8, but stays sharp throughout the picture. It really is a great lens for £300.

 

 

When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?

 

Everything I can fit – I have a large bag, so it’s usually all of my gear. However, when walking around the streets of fishing towns in the Algarve on a recent holiday to Portugal, the X100 performed admirably.

 

 

What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

 

I do a lot of work in Adobe Lightroom 5, as well as stitching and the occasional bit of HDR in Photoshop. A good deal of time is spent editing the astro images I take to bring out the clarity in the Milky Way and other celestial features.

 

 

How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration? How do you take your pictures?

 

I have been taking pictures for some ten years now, and properly got into it at university when I was 18 (now 24). Only got into the stargazing stuff in the last year or so, after making two time-lapse movies (Bridport by Night: http://youtu.be/cbjeXWMNZ5s and Dorset by Night:http://youtu.be/tpqcRqhDjFY – feel free to embed these). I find inspiration from the Dorset coast that surrounds me. We have so many iconic landmarks, usually set in rather dark skies – the perfect mix for astrophotography. I take my pictures by driving to these locations (usually early in the morning) and not getting much sleep, as you can probably guess!

 

 

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

 

I like landscape astrophotography because it gives me the chance to portray iconic and well-known scenes in a way that very few people have seen before.

 

 

What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

 

I am aiming to win Astronomy Photographer of the Year and it’s going well so far – I’ve made the shortlist for 2013’s competition!

 

 

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? Please provide a link to the picture.

 

It’s hard to choose because whenever I go out, I seem to shoot better and better pictures. At the moment, my favourite is ‘Archway to Heaven’ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/8960710721/) because of the clarity of the Milky Way, the successful lighting up of the door, and the fact that it is probably my most favourite spot in Dorset.
Does your work fit into any one or more distinct genres (nature, landscape, long-exposure, black-and-white, infra-red, urban, artistic, macro, vintage, vernacular, social, street)? If other, please specify.

 

I’d say landscape astrophotography, or general landscapes during the daytime. I try to be out as much as possible to have the best chance of capturing extraordinary weather conditions.
Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

 

Flickr and 500px, as I have accounts on both. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/ and http://500px.com/umboody

 

 

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

 

Persevere. If something isn’t quite going to plan, keep shooting anyway. It will be different to what you anticipated and could well be better!

 

 

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

 

More astrophotographers!