Equipment

You can make great nature images with any camera. Photographic skill matters more than the equipment used to take a photograph. That being said, photographic technology has progressed a lot in the past few decades, and photographers are producing more great images today than at any other time in history.

Film or digital?

For my photographic interests, digital. Modern digital SLR cameras provide all the quality that can be achieved with 35mm film. I have printed 12" x 18" images from a Nikon D70 – just a 6 megapixel camera – that look fantastic. And although they can be expensive to purchase, digital cameras cost virtually nothing to operate.

Shooting digitally is a tremendous way to learn photographic skills quickly through experimentation. Imagine shooting ten rolls of lousy slides. Looking at the results a week later when you get the images back from the lab, you'll probably learn some things, but you're also out something like a hundred dollars. Ouch. Now suppose you shoot ten gigabytes of bad pictures. Who cares? Look at them right away, learn from what you did wrong, delete the garbage, and shoot ten more gigs the next day. You can even look at them while you're shooting, and make adjustments on the fly. If you're willing to learn from your mistakes, your rate of great photographs will increase every time you shoot.

My Equipment

The first camera I ever owned was a Nikon N70, and I continued to shoot with various Nikon bodies and lenses for many years. I was generally very impressed with the optical and mechanical quality of Nikon gear. I switched to Canon in late 2006, and I've been quite happy with the Canon system as well. Each system has its strengths, but both companies make great gear; you really can't go wrong.

Bodies

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• Canon EOS 1D Mark II N
• Canon EOS 40D
• Canon EOS 30D

Lenses

• Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
• Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
• Sigma 180mm f/3.5 APO Macro DG HSM
• Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
• Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
• Canon EF 1.4x teleconverter
• Canon EF 2x teleconverter
• Kenko auto extension tubes

Other Accessories

• Canon 430EX flash (+ Better Beamer)
• Canon 580EX flash (+ Better Beamer)
• Lexar and SanDisk CompactFlash cards
• Gitzo 1548 carbon-fiber tripod
• Wimberley gimbal-type head
• Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead

Software

• Adobe Photoshop CS3

If you're interested in my photographic approach and ethics, click here.

Have any questions about me or my photography? Send me an e-mail.