Chris was one of the first people I met when I came to London which happened to be on the first shoot of One More Brew with the Aversion Crew. The session ended by the sketckest 3 mile cycle back to the station in the pitch black, pouring rain, into the wind, down a 60 limit mid winter, fighting oncoming cars, fearing for our lives.

For you kids who want the big names, he was the lad that shot the Harry Mein blow up cover and has written the article “how to take a bmx photo” featured in the photographers edition of ride uk coming out soon.

You should check out Chris’s website as well at Quis.cc its pretty sweet!

Name:

Chris Hill-Scott

Age:

22

How many Years have you been taking photo’s:

Three, with any intent.

What was your first camera:

Some kind of plastic 110 film camera I got when I was four.

Film or Digital:

For the photos I take, digital. For other people’s photos, I don’t mind.

Are you happy with your setup at the moment:

Yup. I feel like getting anything better would mean adding weight to the bag, which means I’d be less inclined to take it out. It’s a good compromise at the moment.

1: Nikon D700 body. I’ve had this about 6 months and it’s what’s finally got me off the digital/film fence and into the fully digital garden, so to speak.

2: Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D. This is one of the sharpest lenses going, and probably my best photography bargain. I paid £250 for it on eBay and knocked the guy down a further £30 when it arrived with a small dent in the barrel. It’s condition has worsened in my hands, and it might be twenty-odd years old, but I still use it for three quarters of my BMX shots.

3: Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-S. Recent acquisition. I’ve had a 50mm ever since getting my first SLR, and this is probably the best one you can get now. Buy nice or buy twice!

4: 3x Nikon SB-28. Maybe the best of the older Nikon Speedlights which most UK BMX photographers seem to use. Powerful, compact and pleasant to use. For really fast moving stuff the duration on full can be a bit long, but bumping them down to half power fixes this without actually reducing the power by half.

5: 1x Nikon SB-800. A little known feature of this flash is the built in optical slave, which is sensitive enough to be used at distance in full sun. It also has a short enough flash duration to be used on full power without hesitation, and is slightly more powerful than an SB-28 . It’s always handy to have a TTL flash for those rare occasions when you need to put it on the camera, and it comes with a neat little stand.

6: 4x Pocket Wizard Plus II. Considering these are just flash triggers they’re expensive, but you can’t fault the reliability. I wish the build quality was a bit more professional, but that’s a complaint you could level at any of the competitors’ offerings.

7: 3x Locking PC cables. These connect the flashes to the Pocket Wizards. Unlike the cables that come with the Pocket Wizards these screw into the outside of the PC socket, which has so far put an end to loose connection hell.

8: 2x Portaflash LS2 lightstands. These are fairly bulky to carry around, but it’s a tradeoff which I think is worth making for the extra height and stability.

9: 2x Hotshoe adapters. Standard stuff, but it’s well worth getting ones that give you tilt.

10: Spare batteries. I’m too disorganised to use rechargeables for the flashes. TK Maxx and Maplin usually have good deals on 24 or 30 packs of AAs.

11: Tamrac Cyberpack 8. If you’re buying any camera backpack, get one with chest straps. Much more comfortable, especially if you’re going to be riding with it on.

12: Bike lights

13: iPhone

14: Oyster wallet.

Vince Mayne airing the Bognor Regis half pipe, taken on the 21st March 2009 at 50mm, ƒ5.6, 1⁄2500s and ISO200 (quis.cc)