About Keith's Gear

My climbing and photography gear bags are frequently on the ‘large side’. As a climber and a climbing photographer, it’s even worse! My ‘studio’ is all too often way up a vertical or overhanging cliffface, above some yawning void and I’m usually hanging off a nylon rope the width of a small finger and spinning like a kid’s top! This is no game for the faint hearted. It is often difficult (or impossible) to get into exactly the right position, yet this is where I need to be to capture my images. As a climbing photographer, I have to trade in rope-access, climbing, field IT operator and creative photographer all at the same time. Yet when it works well, boy is it an awesome buzz…

Being in the right place, at the right time and with the right gear is, without a doubt, the foundation for all photography. Knowing the right place is about knowing your subject for which there is no substitute for experience. Timing can’t be bought and is often largely a matter of luck. “I’m”, as Thomas Jefferson is famously quoted for; “a great believer in luck and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it…”. Finally then, is the gear part of the equation. In today’s marketplace, gear is in plentiful supply. I get loads of questions about the gear; “what should I get” being the most common of all. Consider your needs, build in up-grade paths if possible, research the market including some ‘hands on’ sessions if at all possible, then consult the bank manager and only then take the plunge!

Imaging Gear…

Photography gear I think is a bit like life; you only get out what you put in! Somewhere along the way you have to reach a compromise between the three principal variables; weight, cost and performance. Usually I throw weight and cost to the wind so as not to compromise performance; hence the big camera bag and approach shoes with holes in the soles! Try explaining to a picture editor why you weren’t using the best kit and he’ll show you the door!

For action photography in the climbing arena, this means pro-spec SLRs, lens, flashguns and a myriad of accessories. I use Nikon and have done so for the past 15 years or more. Pro-spec Nikon is neither lightweight nor cheap but I find it bomb-proof, intuitive to use and it delivers come rain or shine! If I fail to get the shot that I envisaged, it’s usually down to pilot error or else the weather!

For most of my photographic life I have shot colour reversal film (a.k.a. slides). In 2006 I crossed the Rubicon and entered the digital world. The first few weeks of being a digital photographer is like being on a never ending roller-coaster ride; it’s a real blast but your head spins! To be fair, the capture side isn’t massively different but it’s in the back-office where the real bitter-sweet kicks-in as you wrestle with downloading, uploads, workflows, colour profiles, colour spaces, and file types. Eventually things settle down and you are left with a dawning realisation that although there are massive benefits of shooting digitally in this ‘shoot-it, use-it’ age, there are downside as well – like having the IT requirements of a medium size business without the budget!

Camera Bag Kit…

Here’s what (currently) in my camera bag…

Ancillary Kit…

A range of ancillary kit is also needed, both for field and office use. Here’s my current kit:

Climbing/Access Gear and Camera Bags…

And last, but by no means least, my climbing/access kit and camera bags are by: