Did your mum ever catch you sniping gold coins from her handbag? Loose change was fair game, but unbuttoning the purse meant incarceration. You can really profile someone from the contents of their carry; precisely why mum said it was rude, precisely why we love it. Returning to form, we shake down Jackson Jones' Hi-Fi Camera Sling.
Photos: @jacksonn_jones // @pixelpalace-666.
If you stick around long enough for the credits of your favourite surf brands’ surf flicks, Jackson Jones is a name you’ve likely clocked. Former, Ritual Vision, RAGE, and OCTOPUS – Jackson has bagged footage for 'em all. If you can't kick it with the team, you're not getting the jobs. In this edition of Bag Raid, Jackson surrenders his two cents, his loadout, and someone else's car keys. Read on.
Bag Raid w/ Jackson Jones
Rolls of film - I always try to have my bag loaded with five rolls of 35mm and two rolls of 16mm for a trip.
Mini DV - I love this camera for its accessibility. It's easy to pull out and film lifestyle and bullshit that happens on trips.
Spare RED batteries - Never have enough, as they drain quickly.
35mm Zeiss lens - I got a 28mm, 35mm and a 50mm; all Carl Zeiss prime lenses. I love primes; you get so used to the lengths that there’s no second-guessing yourself.
Mini mags - Once again, never enough. Reds chew the data.
Allen keys - Handy for everything; I always keep them on me for my water housing screws and rigging up my camera.
Whoever’s surfing's car keys - Everyone seems to palm their keys off to me before surfing, and I can make sure they are safe in my Hung Supply bag.
Jackson, for anyone new to your work – how do you usually describe what you do?
I pretty much just follow my mates around the world filming them surfing, can’t complain.
You're based on the East Coast of Australia – what's your relationship with that stretch of coast?
Yeah, growing up on the South Coast is a blessing. The waves are really good, but you’ll still find yourself driving around all day doing your head in.
How did you first end up behind a camera rather than just in the water?
I guess I just grew up watching surf movies since I was a kid and was obsessed with them, but figured out I was never gonna be good enough to do that for a living, so just chased my mates around with a camera, trading them footage for my beer tabs, and kinda just grew into work.
What was your first camera?
I think my first actual camera was a Canon 7D. I got it for my 15th birthday and was so chuffed with it because I could capture photo and video.
You still shoot stills and motion – sometimes on the same job. How has your kit evolved from that single Canon 7D?
I'm always carrying six cameras everywhere I go, haha. Wade Carroll and I are always laughing, saying how easy it is to travel for photographers. We always seem to have shitloads more stuff. I wouldn’t change it for the world, and all respect to photographers on that note.
You're shooting for a bunch of different surf brands. What's the difference between shooting for legacy brands versus those that are more rider-owned and operated?
Good question. I feel like all the rider-owned businesses are my friends, so it’s such an easy relationship. The bigger companies, you feel more pressure about the work you’re doing, but regardless, you’re always trying to film your best, show good work ethic and also have fun. I feel as though there are so many good filmers out there, but if you can’t kick it with the team, you’re not getting the jobs.
What's the loosest team trip you've been on?
There’s been a couple. Everyone seems to pull their head in if the waves are good, but if you’re getting skunked, it’s pretty hard to not play up with your mates. I mean, I’m halfway across Australia on the way to the desert to shoot waves with my best mates, on my Birthday. They can all get a little loose at times, but at the end of the day, the surfers, filmers and photogs all have a job to do.
You and Chippa have clearly got a rhythm going – what's it like shooting someone you know well?
Yeah, it’s been amazing. Chippa taking me under his wing, he’s like a big brother I didn’t know I needed. It’s never serious. We can get no waves on a trip, and I’m starting to stress about how little we’ve accomplished, and every time, without fail, he reassures me it’ll be alright and goes and gets a whole movie part the next day.
It’s beyond a joke how consistent that man is on a surfboard, and it’s an honour to call him my best mate, great surfer and even better human. He just got hitched and got the call-up to be groomsman... hyped for him and Brinkley.
You've just landed back from Indonesia with Chippa – how'd that trip go?
Yep, another one of those Indo trips. Lacklustre waves for the first 7 days. Ended up breaking my foot doing karaoke. Swell on the last two days, ridiculous walk through the jungle waist-deep in buffalo shit for about 2km with a broken foot, and we ended up getting a pretty smoking left tube with no one out. When you’re just about to give up on those trips, push a little harder, and it’ll give it to you.
You travel all over the world for work, usually to some pretty remote places. Any chaotic stories from abroad – any moments where you thought, I'm in trouble here?
Yeah, lots of travelling, that’s for sure. I’d have to say an Indo boat ride across the Mentawai crossing in a little fishing boat. Never been so vulnerable and scared for my life.
What's your go-to camera setup right now?
Running the RED with a 600mm for all surfing stuff, plus a Krasnogorsk K3 16mm, Canon 514 Super 8, Canon Mini DV Handycam with a fisheye, and Canon EOS 5 with some Zeiss primes for 35mm stills.
Film or digital?
Can’t beat film.
What's your favourite film stock?
For motion, I've been loving Kodak 50D 16mm and Ektachrome Super 8. For stills, I’m a sucker for black and white, so either Ilford HP5+ or Portra 400.
Does shooting film change your relationship to getting the shot? Shooting surf can be pretty unforgiving, let alone on 16mm.
Yeah, I don’t do it much because the surfing budget isn’t like the fashion world. Usually the moments you think you blow somehow come back better than expected and make the cut.
What's one random thing in your bag that has nothing to do with photography?
Nail cutters. I hate long fingernails, and it also works as a flathead screwdriver for my baseplate.
If you could only take one camera for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Jeeeez, that’s tough. Honestly, probably just a point-and-shoot if I had to retire from all formats. I’d get no joy from just using the RED without shooting film.
What's the wildest thing you've done to get the shot?
Fuck, it would have to be the hike into that wave in Indo with Chip with a busted foot. It sounds like I'm being sook, but on the way back I was fully crying, covered in mud, and my foot was purple and blue – it felt like it had its own heartbeat, haha. We got some clips, though. They should be in the Monster movie coming out later in the year.
What's one thing you're trying to get better at - behind the camera, or just in general?
Eating healthier on surf trips.
What's coming up? Anything we should be keeping an eye on?
There’s been a bunch of films dropping lately that I have bits and pieces in, which is really nice to see them on the big screen. I've got some stuff in the Ritualistic Tendencies movie, also Former's DEFECT recently premiered around Australia; excited to see my footage in that.
I’ve always talked about doing my own, but I ended up making about 30 mins of it, deleting it all, and having a crisis because I hate it, haha. I just got to finish one, drop it, and never look back.
Carry like Jackson, cop a Hi-Fi Camera Sling.
