See the light
Leading commercial, fashion and beauty photographer, Clive Booth, on why the EOS R is the future of photography
A studio shoot with top photographer Clive Booth
Following a career change over a decade ago, to follow his life-long ambition of becoming a photographer and filmmaker, Clive Booth has worked for a number of high-profile brands on advertising campaigns, commercials and short films. With a proven track record of creating dynamic, standout images, Clive’s recent commission with the Birmingham Royal Ballet resulted in another powerful performance. Not only was he tasked with creating an emphatic series of images to publicise its new programme, Fire and Fury, but he also had the new Canon EOS R to put through its paces.
Being a dedicated Canon user, Clive was intrigued to see what this latest mirrorless system had to offer. ‘I’ve been with Canon as a brand for over a decade now and I’ve been very fortunate to see many firsts, but this does feel different. It feels like they’ve taken the camera away and completely reinvented it.’
As well as a studio shoot, Clive shot behind the scenes during a dress rehearsal. ‘Both were a very good test of the low-light capability as one was with continuous light and the other was from the side of the stage in almost complete darkness.’ What really impressed Clive was the quality of the EVF. ‘It’s unparalleled, I’ve never shot with a camera that’s as capable in low light. And with the EVF, you can literally see in the dark – it’s incredible.’ This along with the EVF’s exposure-simulation preview was paramount to Clive working efficiently in low-light conditions. ‘What I loved most is that when you shoot a frame, it’s pinging it up. You’re not taking your eye from the subject and risking missing a shot.’
With only four hours to nail the studio shots, Clive was eager to customise the EOS R to his go-to set-up. ‘ The customisation is incredible! At the press of a button I could switch between the EVF and the rear screen. I also set the lens control ring to adjust exposure values, which is brilliant especially when you combine that with the new EVF.’ Clive continues, ‘ This was really useful for behind the scenes as I was continuously racking it up and down to compensate for the constant light change.’
For the studio shoot Clive wanted to create the impression of dancing flames using long pieces of silk. Given the complexity of what he was trying to achieve, he was impressed with the performance of the AF system. ‘For a prosumer camera, it’s great. With its staggering number of focus positions, a total of 5,655 to be precise, it covered 88% of the frame horizontally and 100% vertically, which is unheard of. With all this real estate for focusing, it is a big advantage.’
For this campaign Clive paired the EOS R with the new Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM, RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM lenses. ‘ The 28-70mm is an extraordinary lens as it’s f/2 throughout. It could easily be the only one you carry around with you – it’s that good.’ But the one lens that really stood out to Clive was the new 50mm f/1.2. ‘ This is a whole new deal; with an additional aperture blade the bokeh is improved. There’s also a reduction in chromatic aberration, and edge-to-edge sharpness is enhanced even at the widest apertures. Some of the files are the best I have ever seen from any Canon camera. I think they’d give any lens of any brand a run for their money.’
In addition to this, Clive says, ‘What’s great about this new system is that, using an adapter, you can take your existing EF lenses over to the EOS R and get better results. It’s a big benefit for Canon users thinking of switching systems and [who] don’t want to lose any current investment made.’
Having spent time shooting with the EOS R, Clive says he was astounded by how far Canon has come with image making. ‘Picking the EOS R up feels like a progression – you can see that this is really the future of photography. And when you start to use it, you realise just how capable it is.’ Clive continues, ‘A product like this reinvigorates you and it gets you excited about photography in a new way.’
To find out more about the new Canon EOS R system, visit www.canon.co.uk/eos-r