Brett Ferguson

My name is Brett Ferguson and I am a portrait photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. I have been taking photographs since my Grandmother gave me her Box Brownie camera when I was around 12 years old.

In 2006, I purchased my first digital camera and my work improved exponentially through the ability to get instant feedback on my images. After starting a family, I became interested in capturing my children and started to experiment with storytelling through photography.

This new genre resulted in me starting my studio lighting journey around 2014, where I became interested in using shadow to create mood and depth in my work.

Most of my work is shot in-studio, however, I have recently begun shooting more natural light portraits. I tend to shoot with a great amount of shadow in my images which allows me to communicate the mood of the image to the viewer.

I have recently used family clothing (some of which is 100 years old) in my imagery which has provided a lovely link between my family history and my own children.

I shoot mainly Canon and my current camera is the Canon 5D Mark IV whilst I await news on the Canon R5 or perhaps the R3.

My portraiture work usually involves the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L or occasionally the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L II depending on the subject.

For my natural light portraits, I prefer to use the lovely depth of field of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 ART. My bag also contains the Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro and the Canon 16-35mm f/4L, but these are not generally used in my portraiture.

Gear List

Canon 5D Mark IV: Canon reproduces skin tones the way I like. I love the MP count for editing details.

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8: Sharp and lightweight.

Canon 16-35mm f/4

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8: Great for outdoor portraiture.

Canon 100mm f/2.8: Also creates some amazing portraits.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 ART: Heavy but bokeh to die for.

Manfrotto 055 Tripod: The aluminum one, strong and sturdy.

Studio Lighting – Elinchrom ELC500 Pro x5: Workhorses (never let you down).

Outdoor lighting – Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite and Canon 580 EX Speedlite and Yongnuo YN568EXII (outdoor portraits).

Hahnel Captur Remote Trigger (radio not optical so long distance is possible).

Various light modifiers including XLITE strip boxes, and XLITE 1.5m softbox.

Lowepro CompuTrekker AW bag

Custom backdrop

Software

I use Lightroom to catalogue and make minor adjustments then into Photoshop for final adjustments. If you are doing serious editing then 32GB of RAM is a minimum requirement in my opinion.

www.brettferguson.com.au | @brettfergusonphotography

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