| ‘The Grace Project’ dancer: Joy Isabella Brown
Leica M (Typ 240) | Leica Summicron-M 35mm F2 ASPH. | F11 | 1/750 sec | ISO 400 |
Josh S. Rose has been capturing visceral reactions since the 1970s, when he wandered around a racetrack park as a kid to explore the event. He found himself hanging out at the photo booth and loved to watch a team develop film after each race, calling up the winners to the announcer upstairs, then hearing the crowd wildly react. His career kept him intrigued by those early moments of capturing scenes on film.
We virtually sat down with Josh to see where that early racetrack experience took him. His experiences and photos are gathered below.
This story is part of our What’s in your bag? community spotlight series. The series showcases the diverse gear and photography of our community, and shares their stories of how that gear helped them to capture the perfect shot.
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| ‘LA Dance Project’ Dancer: Anthony Bryant
Leica M (Typ 240) | Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm F3.4 ASPH. | F3.5 | 1/180 sec | ISO 100 |
Meet Josh S. Rose
Home base: United States
Favorite camera and lens: Josh’s main setup centers around the Hasselblad X2D with 25mm, 38mm and 90mm f/2.5 lenses for his more artistic and environmental work. When shooting live performance and dance, he switches to the Nikon Z9 paired with 14–24mm, 24–70mm and 70–200mm zooms for speed and flexibility. A Nikon Zf stays in the bag as his everyday and backup camera.
What’s in Josh’s bag
- Primary cameras: Hasselblad X2D, Nikon Z9 and Nikon Zf
- Lenses:
- Hasselblad 25mm F2.5, 38mm F2.5 and 90mm F2.5
- Nikon 14–24mm F2.8, 24–70mm F2.8 and 70–200mm F2.8 zooms for performance work
- Josh also carries and collects vintage lenses, including Leica Summicron and Super Elmar primes, a Helios and his favorite oddball lens, the vintage Nikkor 43–86mm F3.5 pre-AI zoom
- Support gear: ND and polarizing filters, prism and glass filters and Loop earplugs and AirPods to stay focused and comfortable during long shoots and performances.
- Camera bags: Josh rotates between several bags depending on the assignment, including the Nomatic Luma Camera Sling 12L, Domke F2, LowePro BP 300 backpack, Tenba Roadie Air Case and an SKB iSeries hard case with Think Tank dividers. He tailors each setup to the specific shoot, travel schedule or creative mood.
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| Josh’s camera bag
Photo: Josh S. Rose |
“My set-ups are generally based on the physical ins and outs of the shoot. I do 100–200 shoots a year, so I’m always trying to streamline without sacrificing options. If I’m parking next to a venue and starting quickly, I’ll bring a bigger hard case. If I’m flying, I pack chargers, extra batteries and other essentials. For a recent shoot with Esa-Pekka Salonen at Disney Concert Hall, the small Nomatic bag was ideal, since we were moving fast and had little time to experiment. The process is to understand the shoot first, then rely on memory of similar shoots to decide what will help most.”
A lot of great equipment! What’s your absolute one-pick favorite?
“My Tanner Goods Cognac SLR Camera Strap that goes on my Nikon Z9 is probably my favorite thing in my bag. In photography, as in life, there are very few things that get better over time. That strap has been with me for so many years. Like a country singer’s guitar, it has been the constant companion for me. Camera bodies come and go, lenses are a bit of a commodity, even the vintage ones. But that strap only gets more and more personalized, more and more beautiful and more and more comfortable as the years pile on.”
What other equipment propels your photography forward?
“For me, photography is about creative flow. I feel like I have to be on, with energy and positivity, so that I can both generate ideas and not forget anything or screw anything up. So, all non-photography things in my kit are around keeping me energized and positive, starting with food and energy drinks (I admit a bit of an addiction to C4 and Bang, which I’m quite certain are poison, but they bring me joy and focus. Also, my partner hates energy drinks, so it’s sort of my little rebellion, too – shh, don’t tell her).”
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| Ate 9 Dance Company
Leica M (Typ 240) | Leica Noctilux-M 50mm F0.95 ASPH. | F1.0 | 1/750 sec | ISO 1000 |
You mentioned to us you have 10 different camera bags…
“Okay, so don’t judge me, but I have at least that many bags. I like to pack specifically for any event, trip or shoot. The bag is sort of an expression of how I’m feeling that day.”
“For a minimal set-up, I’ll use the Luma Camera Sling 12L. When I’m feeling my inner photojournalist, I’ll throw the Domke F2 over my shoulder. When I’m in a bit more creative mood, I’ll throw everything into a vintage black patent leather Coast S-1 shoulder bag that I borrowed/stole from my producer. For long travel assignments, I usually go with the LowePro BP 300 backpack or, if I need more space, the Tenba Roadie Air Case. For performances, when I need the full arsenal, I go with the SKB iSeries hard case with Think Tank dividers and a lid organizer. And we haven’t even gotten into my cinema cases…”
“A little travel hack I have learned over the years is to always bring a small satellite bag and stuff it inside a bigger bag. The smaller bag is great for little day trips or side quests.”
A little travel hack I have learned over the years is to always bring a small satellite bag inside a bigger bag. The smaller bag is great for side trips.
How has your photography changed since you started?
“In the beginning, I tried to minimize mistakes. Because I shoot dance and movement a lot, this is exacting work, especially when you’re inside – low light and fast movement is a nightmare for a camera. So, I kind of treated dance as one would sports, reaching first and foremost for clarity, focus and split-second timing. It isn’t all that hard, honestly. It just takes a certain number of reps.”
“What helped far more was learning how to embrace the elements of the camera in ways that break the normal image-capturing techniques, in pursuit of something less ordinary and more evocative. I use a lot of double exposure, slow shutter and dragged shutter techniques in my work. Also, I use glass filters, found framing and just about anything else to make the images feel less technical and more creative, alluring, beautiful or evocative.”
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| Photo from ‘The Grace Project’
Leica M10-P | Leica Noctilux-M 50mm F0.95 ASPH. | F4.0 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 |
What excites you most about capturing dance performance?
“My most well-known work is in dance and performance. I have traveled the world as a photographer, often with dance groups and artists. Many times, I am inside shooting a performance, but it is the most special to me when art intertwines with art.”
“For example, when I get to shoot dancers and a choreography among works of art, often with live music, something special occurs in this blend of art forms that is unlike anything else. To be an artist, working in and among other artists, to me, is the dream. I just love art so much. I feel like I am always and forever a student of art.”
When capturing that perfect shot, what techniques come to mind?
“The ‘perfect shot’ is, of course, a loaded question. I’ve shot what I consider three perfect shots in my life, and they were all different from each other.”
“One was with the Japanese rockstar, Yoshiki. We were high up in a hotel room with a bunch of people around. It was tense as we were awaiting some kind of press event to happen. Suddenly, a window washer came rappelling down, recognized Yoshiki through the window, and they had a funny moment. I had the presence of mind to see it occurring and move myself in real time to get the shot. The complexity of the shot is insane when you consider everything that had to happen for that to play out the way it did.”
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| ‘The Window, with Yoshiki’
Leica M10-P | Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm F3.4 ASPH. | F3.5 | 1/180 sec | ISO 400 |
“Another was in Qatar, in and around probably the most beautiful sculpture I’ve ever seen in my life: Shadows Traveling on the Sea of the Day, by Olafur Eliasson. A dance group led by Bouchra Ouizguen, for her piece Corbeaux, entered the space. It was absolutely overwhelming to me how much geometric beauty was happening all at once. It’s the kind of thing that often overwhelms me, but I had gotten to the location early and spent two hours walking around and finding a composition I felt was really special. One of the dancers walked alone into the space, which I had no idea was going to happen. I happened to be present enough to remember where I had stood for that composition, and ran over to it just in time to get a shot that’s still among my absolute favorites.”
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| Photo from ‘Festival In Motion, Qatar’
Leica M11 | Leica Summicron-M 50mm F2 | F5.6 | 1/2000 sec | ISO 400 |
“And the other one I’m thinking of is a shot I got on stage, looking out toward the house at the famed Koch Theater with the New York City Ballet. This was just one image in a set of many that I had planned for a giant mural for The Lincoln Center. We placed the bodies in the locations and composed them perfectly. I took the shot, and then I had this incredible moment I’ll never forget. It is always my instinct to keep shooting until the bell rings. I just can’t turn off. I keep pushing and pushing to see if there’s a better angle or a different physical shape a dancer might try. But not on this day. I had already visited this place twice before. This, to my eye, was the best shot there was. I was done. There was no more to get. I have never felt that at a shoot before. It moved me.”
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| ‘NYC Tableau’ for The Lincoln Center, NYC
Hasselblad X2D 100C | Hasselblad XCD 25mm F2.5 V | F8.0 | 1/20 sec | ISO 1600 |
What would you say to a struggling photographer looking to break in?
“The biggest job of my life came from doing years and years of unpaid work in the field of dance. A lot of people (including family) didn’t really get why I would keep shooting things without it being an official shoot where I was getting paid. Nonetheless, I stayed at it for years. Eventually, I got an artist residency, then another one, and suddenly these dominoes started falling for me.”
“Find your weird, singular little passion first. And fight off the self-doubts and the disbelievers. Protect the passion like a butterfly. Don’t be surprised if even your closest people don’t quite get you.”
Josh really enjoyed writing the content for this spotlight article and would be grateful for you to join him in discussion in the forums. Thanks, Josh, for being featured!
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