My Gear

Equipment overview

This is a general list of the significant bits of equipment I use as of July 2015. Contact me on twitter or email if you have questions or are interested in more information about my choices.

Please do not misinterpret this to be a list of The Photography Equipment That One Must Own. This is equipment that has served me well for the types of photography that I do, but different gear could be as good or better for your particular types of photography. For example:

  • If you are just getting started with DSLR photography, I don’t recommend that you go out and buy this stuff just because it is on my list. I suggest starting out small and growing with your interest and needs (not wants).
  • If your mix of photographic subjects is different than mine (which tend to be mix of dance, sports, landscape, nature, night, and macro photography) then you might well want to look at other alternatives.
  • If you do a lot of printing, some of what I have listed here could well be inappropriate or insufficient for your needs.
  • If you have a predilection for another brand, that is fine with me – I’m not a brand bigot!

Cameras

Current

  • Canon EOS 1DX (Information from Canon, available at Amazon)

Past

  • Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II (information from Canon)
  • Canon EOS 1Ds (information from Canon)
  • Canon EOS Digital Rebel (information from Canon)

Lenses

  • Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (information from Canon, available at Amazon)
  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (information from Canon, available at Amazon)
  • Canon EF MP-E 65mm f/2.8 (information from Canon, available at Amazon)
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (information from Canon, available at Amazon)

Camera related accessories

  • Sony GPS-CS1 / iPhone - In many ways the iPhone is more convienient, and I have it anyway. I use the myTracks app to generate a GPS track that gets imported into Lightroom, or applied to images using the myTracks Desktop app before import (see post)
  • Kenko EF/EF-S Extension tubes - 12/20/36mm (available at Amazon)
  • Arctic Butterfly (available at Amazon)
  • Gura Gear Uinta (information from Gura Gear) -I’ve been using this bag since it came out. Its light weight, durable, fits on most planes (I haven’t tried the really small commuters yet, but it does fit on a Bombardier Q400 - provided you don’t have a tri/mono-pod on the side) including under the seats sometimes.
  • Giottos MT9360 (available at Amazon)
  • Giottos MM9780 (available at Amazon)
  • Acratech GP Ballhead (information from Acratech, available at Amazon)

Computers

  • Apple MacBook Air 2012 - available at Amazon
  • Apple MacPro 2008 - available at Amazon
  • Dell 24" LCD
  • Apple 27" LCD Cinema display - available at Amazon

I prefer to do my work at a desktop. I like the bigger screen(s). The MacPro may not be appropriate for most people, but you could substitute a 5k iMac. It would give you plenty of resolution on a large display.

That said, I’ve found the MacBook Air to be sufficient to do everything I need to do, if the desktop isn’t available.

Storage

I have 3 kinds of storage. Local, TimeMachine, and Network. Why 3? Local storage is where all the work gets done. My Mac Pro has a 1T SSD, and so far, that’s sufficient to hold everything I need for working. TimeMachine handles the first round of backups and provides a convenient method of restoration for both the desktop and laptop. Network storage is where I archive things. In Lightroom, you can export a collection of photos as a new catalog. I do this once a year (same time I update my copyright information). I keep archive catalogs of each year on network storage. Recommendations for a TimeMachine disk could be something like this, or this, depending on your budget. For network storage, I’m a fan of FreeNAS, by iX Systems. They have appliances available on amazon, or you can do something custom through them.

Software