Kase Pro Partner Q&A – Phil Starkey

Kase Pro Partners Q&A – Phil Starkey


Here at Kase along with our ambassadors we also like to partner up with photographers that work at a professional level in the industry. Our Professional Partners are pro or semi-pro landscape photographers, capturing the beauty of the United Kingdom and beyond as well as empowering others to learn more about the beauty of the landscape through their workshops. Kase UK work closely with and support these great photographers who use our products so that they can demonstrate our excellent system to their clients and take amazing images themselves. Our pro partners are also very knowledgeable of Kase products and always willing to help and give great advice. If you want to see our gear in action and learn how to take stunning images, then make sure you book yourself a workshop with one of these talented photographers. Check out their website for any exciting events they have planned.


Tell us a little about yourself. What started you in photography, where are you from, what achievements etc have you gained?

I’m Phil (Philippa) Starkey and I live in Plympton in Devon, but previously I lived in Cornwall for many years. I’ve had film cameras, predominantly the 110 cartridge types, since I was very young, but only started to take photography seriously about ten years ago when I turned thirty. I then turned to 35mm film and decided to teach myself a few skills and quite quickly identified that I really enjoyed photographing landscapes. I’ve always been an outdoorsy type of person, I like being in the midst of the natural world, and so it was quite a natural genre to gravitate towards. Finding the processing of film quite expensive I decided to go digital and haven’t looked back since. Ten years on, I now thoroughly enjoy regularly venturing out to photograph the landscape and I also like to throw a bit of intentional camera movement into the mix too.  My work has been exhibited nationally and locally, has been published in a number of magazines, newspapers and online publications, and I’ve done well in a number of small competitions. I’m also a member of the Landscape Collective UK (LCUK) group of photographers, am a Vanguard UK Ambassador, and a Kase Filters UK Pro Partner.


Do you have a photography style and what are your favourite locations or things to shoot?

I tend to shoot in a traditional landscape style, and I do favour a wide-angle lens and the big expanse, but then again I also like to divert to intimate landscapes and intentional camera movement at times too. I think my more traditional landscapes always tend to convey a sense of peace and calm, whereas my intentional camera movement abstracts are much more lively and playful. My most favourite location to shoot is Dartmoor, it’s only ten minutes down the road from home and has so many subjects within its three hundred and sixty five square miles to offer that there’s always something to photograph.


I’ve been using the Kase system for almost eighteen months now and I honestly still can’t find anything that I don’t like about it. It’s brilliant!

What or who has influenced you most in photography?

Walking has influenced my photography without a doubt. I’ve always been a moderate walker, but in recent years I’m walking much longer distances and this gets me to areas that I haven’t been to before, which is always really exciting. I can’t honestly say that one person in particular has influenced my photography, but I can certainly say that there have been many that have. I love to view other photographer’s works; it gives me new ideas, new tools, new things to aspire to. I also think that photographing with my partner Alan Howe has inevitably influenced my photography in some ways, and certainly for the good. The way I look at it is that everyone has their own way of doing things and it’s good to try a little bit of everything to see what suits you, it’s how I keep myself changing and progressing.


What do you shoot with, what are the tools you use to make stunning images?

I’ve been shooting with a Canon 60D up until just recently when I decided to try mirrorless and got myself a little Canon M10. Have to say that I absolutely love it; it’s a great little camera. I have an adapter that I use with it so that I can continue using my 10-22mm, 50mm and 70-300mm lenses, and use a big mother of a Sirui tripod, the R-3213X. It’s such a solid tripod and perfect for using on those big Dartmoor Tors. Bag wise, I have a Vanguard Alta Sky 45D that I use for smaller trips, and an insert for my 65 litre Osprey backpack which I use for longer moorland trips, wild camping trips and also when the weather is more adverse and I need to carry other clothing and equipment with me. It goes without saying that I of course have my Kase Filters Master Kit with me at all times. I’d feel like I had a limb missing if I was without that!


Why Kase filters, what do you love about our products, how do they help?

Kase filters really are superb quality. I’d previously used another very well known resin make but they were rather tiresome to clean, especially if you were working amongst sea spray, and they were also prone to chipping quite badly if they got dropped at all. Kase are so neutral that there’s absolutely no cast and no need to colour correct in post processing. Because they’re made from top quality optical glass they are crystal clear and don’t affect the sharpness of your images in any way, they’re tough as old boots (well nearly) and can withstand a fair knock or two which is always a big plus point when you’re spending out on this type of gear and using them in the locations that I do. They’re so easy to clean that with one swipe of the cloth whatever is on there gets gone and there’s no smears, the holder system with the magnetic polariser is a joy to use and the polariser itself isn’t too strong either. What more can I say! I’ve been using the Kase system for almost eighteen months now and I honestly still can’t find anything that I don’t like about it. It’s brilliant!


What professional services do you offer, and where can people find out more about them and see your work?

I give talks at camera clubs, sell prints and calendars, run bespoke Dartmoor 1-2-1’s and workshops both independently and alongside my partner and fellow landscape photographer Alan Howe, and my work can be found on my website, Facebook and behind the scenes wanderings on instagram.

Phil’s Website

Facebook

Phil Starkey is a landscape photographer based in Plympton in Devon. Her work is concentrated around the south west of the UK and consists of traditional style landscape images, although she enjoys shooting in other photographic styles also.