ABOUT ME
Jamie Kavanagh
I picked up a camera in January 2023 at the age of 35, during a time when I was searching for ways to rediscover joy and peace in my life after the trauma of having gone through cancer twice in my 30s. What began as a small step towards healing quickly became a passion - a way to slow down, reconnect with the world around me and find beauty within it again. Through my camera, I aim to capture not just landscapes, but the quiet sense of resilience and wonder that comes of truly appreciating life.
Alongside my photography I take great pride and joy in trying to create videos that represent the calming and grounding feeling that photography and the outdoors can bring to us all, so please do check out my youtube channel.
My Gear
MY CAMERAS:
Canon EOS R (stills)
After much chopping and changing this year (thanks MPB), I’ve finally settled on the EOS R being my main camera for stills. Previous cameras I have used for photography are the Canon 250d, Canon 6D, Canon 5Div and Canon R6. The one I regret trading in most is the 5Div, it’s an absolute beaut of a camera and I really wish now I’d traded a way to keep that in my setup, but alas, my tendency to be impulsive at times has meant that’s not to be. After going back to the 6D again when I started using my R6 for video, I decided I missed the dynamic range and extra scope to crop the 30mp on the 5Div gave me, so after doing some research I settled on the EOS R as it’s basically the mirrorless equivalent of the 5Div, though i have to say in my experience the 5Div does produce a better image, which is subjective of course. However, I am a tech nerd of sorts, so the slight loss in quality is certainly made up for with the tech advancements that mirrorless cameras bring you. And the flippy screen, the lovely flippy screen!
Canon R6 (Video)
Ah the R6, I love this camera! Not only is it such a beautiful thing to hold in your hands and look at, the images and video that this produces are just lovely. I initially bought this in early 2025 to be my stills camera as I was using the Osmo Pocket 3 for video, but after testing out it’s video recording abilities and deciding to lean into this relaxing/cinematic style of video I’m trying to figure out and present to people, I opted to place this as my main camera for recording video and haven’t looked back. It comes with it’s limitations as this is the Original R6, but for my style of recording it works perfectly. For the nerds like me I record in 4K IPB light, Canon log-3, Cinema gamut and edit/grade my footage in Davinci Resolve.
Previously I have used the Osmo Pocket 2, Sony ZV-E10 and as I mentioned, the Osmo Pocket 3. All equally good cameras, but they can’t match the quality of 10-bit 4K from a full frame camera in my opinion. If i was to suggest one of these for someone who needs to be more budget conscious but wants to get into creating video, I’d say the Pocket 3, it’s honestly unbelievable how good the footage is that comes out of something so small and handy, and it also comes with it’s own bluetooth lavalier mic that gives brilliant audio for speech.
MY LENSES:
Canon ef 17-40 f4L:
My most used lens for stills. I often dabble with different focal lengths, but as someone who loves to mostly picture what I call a post card shot, so something you’d see on a walk rather than going in and being overly creative with a perspective, I find myself constantly coming back to this focal range.
Canon ef 24-70 f4L:
A decent walk around lens. I previously had the f2.8 version but found it a bit too big and bulky for my purposes, I like the f4’s size and it’s perfect for those long walking days here you don’t want to carry too much bulk, but you want some choice in focal length. I wouldn’t say it’s the sharpest of lenses, though could just be my copy, but it’s perfectly acceptable for me.
Canon ef 70-200 f4L:
My telephoto. I’ve recently put this back in my bag after it gathering dust on my shelf for a while, I’m interested to see what different perspectives it can offer me on days where I’m struggling for inspiration. As I’ve said, I do prefer to capture what the eye can see when walking, but sometimes that can be a struggle if the conditions aren’t to my liking so the 70-200 range offers me the opportunity to see something different. I do have an itch to buy a 100-400 but right now I can’t justify, so this lens more than suffices for my current style of photography.
Canon ef 20mm f2.8:
My main video lens. This was initially a budget compromise as you can pick it up for a bargain price used, but I’m starting to quite like the immersive and wide perspective it offers me for video. When i first started recording on the R6 I’d use the 24-70 f2.8 mostly at 24mm, but that lens is so big and bulky I got fed up with it’s impracticality for my uses and decided to get a prime for convenience in size and weight, I wanted the 24mm but it was way more expensive than the 20mm so I opted for the 20. It’s an old lens so I manual focus with it because it’s auto focus is terrible at tracking me, but that’s perfectly fine for my style of video and that age does give me a slight imperfection in sharpness which I quite like for my videos.
Canon ef 50mm f1.8:
The nifty. Gotta have one right? I barely use it, but would never sell it. I think every photographer has to have that one lens they never use but would never sell.
Photography tripod: K&F Concept X-Series 68 inch
Video tripod: K&F Concept 64 inch with Smallrig fluid video head
Camera bag: Shimoda Explore V2
Variable ND for video: NEEWER 82mm True Colors Hard Stop Variable ND Filter ND2-32
Filters: Freewell M2 Magnetic Quick Swap 5-pack 82mm