My Gear #11 - John Ishii

Hi Matt, I'm off to do an assignment here in HK so this is what I'm taking. I got to shoot some feature shots so this is all I need.

I'm originally from Seattle Washington and spent many years in the US and somehow found myself working in SouthEast Asia in the the mid 90's. I started photography in the 70's with a Canon FTb which my mom bought me.

I went to the University of Washington and studied Photography and Political Science.

My photography career started when I started to shoot for AFP and French wire agency and was exposed to wire photography where I shot mostly news therefore I had to be good in all types of photographic situations from press conferences to every sport you can think of. I also worked for AP and was the first photographer in the world to cover the asian tsunami in 2004, I just happened to be on holiday in Phuket when it hit and I survived with my D2x and 28-70 2.8. I was the first to get the images out to AP's Tokyo office.

I'm a born photojournalist I can smell a news story from miles away. I love being a photojournalist its probably the most stressful form of photography period. Its dangerous at times and flat out boring at times. I've been kicked, punched gassed and shot at but I gotta get the picture. Something commercial photographers will never understand I guess. My published work has been in USA Today, CNN, BBC, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and many many more.

I only rely on Nikon gear as it has never failed me in every news job I've ever done. From the Nikon F to the F5 to every pro D series I've owned everyone. Nikon lens are spot on and extremely accurate. When I go out I'll generally use the holy trinity zooms, but now have paired it down to my 14-24 and 24-70. I can't afford to miss a shot and my Nikon lens always comes through.

Yes I've used Canon before and its just not me, I find the Canon menus to complex and their pro cameras up the 1dx has always been a crop factor which I found to be very annoying.

When I go out on assignment I've already shot the picture in my head, and I know exactly what the picture editor wants. The pix editor is a God! He can make or break you. That's why they call me, I'm very good at what I do, its simple accurate tells the story of the text and I'm on TIME!

Hope this helps

I enjoy your vids.