Photography is all about the art of creating images, but without the right gear you might miss that decisive moment or fail to capture it all.
Depending on what you like to photograph, you
" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll need different types of equipment. Food photography can demand a macro lens, a fast prime is crucial for street photography, long lenses for birding and a waterproof camera housing to capture critters in the sea. And we haven" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t even gotten to
lighting
and
camera support systems
.
Of course, gear is only a tiny sliver of the photographic process. To take great images youll also need an artistic vision, a decent chunk of knowhow and the willingness to experiment.
With all of that in mind we went to a few pro photographers from around the world to see what they pack in their bags for their wild and adventurous shoots, as well as any lessons and stories we could glean from them.
2016 has been a busy year for cameras but these are the best ones
Tell us about yourself
Hi, Im
David Newton
, a UK-based professional photo/videographer. I" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ve been shooting professionally since 2005. I" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />m a SanDisk Extreme Team Member, Manfrotto Ambassador, Lee Filters advocate and Koy Lab Ambassador.
What do you like to shoot?
I shoot a whole variety of subjects, it really depends on what day it is and where I am. I guess I tend to gravitate more to travel and landscape but wildlife, sport, portrait, street, commercial and studio are all things I find interesting and get to shoot depending on my clients needs or indeed what catches my eye.
What's in your bag?
Because my subjects are so varied there is no one fixed kit list – it will vary greatly based on what the subject is and where I happen to be. However, if we look at what I currently have on location, where Im shooting mostly travel and landscape images, it forms a good base.
Canon EOS 5DsR (Stills)
Canon EOS-1Dx II (Stills and 4K video)
Canon TS-E24mm f/3.5L Canon EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM
Canon EF35mm f/1.1L II USM
Canon EF50mm f/1.8 STM Canon EF85mm f/1.8 USM
Canon EF100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II IS USM
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT
Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT
Lee Filters 100mm kit (Hard and Soft ND Grads, Big and Little Stopper) Cable Release
Gitzo GT4542LS Tripod with Gitzo GH3382QD head
DJI Osmo
Manfrotto Lumie
Muse LED Sennheiser MKE400 microphone
SanDisk Extreme Pro CF cards – 128GB and 256GB capacities
SanDisk Extreme CFast 2.0 cards – 64GB and 128GB capacities
SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC cards – 64GB capacities
SanDisk Extreme Pro microSD – 64GB capacity
SanDisk Extreme 900 1.92TB SSD (use for backing up video)
SanDisk Extreme 510 480GB SSD (use for backing up stills)
SanDisk Extreme 500 240GB SSD (use as a scratch drive when mobile video editing) SanDisk ImageMate and CFast USB3 card readers
HTC 10 mobile phone (SanDisk EPIC-certified smartphone with SanDisk iNAND and SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSD)
Olight SR10 II and SR30 II torches (usually used for little bits of light-painting at sunrise or sunset)
Petzl Nao Headtorch (to find my way in the dark) Apple MacBook Pro Retina Leatherman Skeletool and bits 3m of paracord (very useful!)
Small roll of duck (gaffer) tape
Garmin Fenix 3 Manfrotto ProLite Roller Bag (gets my camera kit through airports)
F-Stop Tilopa rucksack (hiking on location)
ThinkTank Photo Urban Disguise 50 with backpack conversion straps (laptop carrying while travelling, or lightweight bag for a few lenses when city shooting)
Source Water bladder
Bose QC35 headphones (when you fly a lot they are worth their weight in gold!)
Any favorite pieces of gear or memorable stories?
Its very hard to pick a favourite piece of kit – they are all tools and all help me do my job – depending on the shoot I will feel more affinity to one item or another however, one constant among all of them is that I have to trust them implicitly.
It takes time and effort to get to locations and have a chance of capturing images you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re happy with. You have to know that your kit will work when you get there you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll safely bring your pictures back.
While shooting in Cornwall a year or two ago, I was surprised by a bigger than normal wave. As I scrambled backwards to avoid being caught by it, I lost my footing, knocked my tripod and watched in horror as it fell towards the sea – A Canon EOS 5D Mark III and TS-E17mm lens on top, with some Lee Filters on the front.
“Fortunately”, it fell into a rock hole in front of me. Yes, the hole was full of sea water. The lens sheared off the front of the camera, dropping to the bottom of the fairly deep hole, the filters flew in a different direction and the camera, still attached to the tripod, was sitting upside down, with a big hole where the lens should be, fully immersed in water.
When the wave receded, I climbed down, got hold of the tripod leg dragged it back out, water pouring out of it.
Needless to say it was pretty totalled.
However, once out I rescued the SanDisk CF card from the slot (that was full of water too as the card door had popped open in the drop) and dried it off, I was happy, but not surprised find it worked perfectly my card reader – all the pictures were there and it was suffering no ill-effects from its dunking in sea water.
Steve Giralt is a commercial food photographer, director and visual engineer based in New York. In 2005, Steve was selected as one of PDN magazine" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s top 30 emerging photographers and just a year later Steve" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s site also won one of PDN's digital PIX imaging awards.
Steves day job consists of shooting photos for a variety of food and beverage clients including Anomaly, Budwieser, Godiva, Starbucks, Pepsi, Harman Kardon, GE, Foldgers and Smucker's just to name a few.
As a commercial food photographer, Steves workspace is both a photo studio and kitchen. Every photoshoot involves arranging products, setting scenes, dressing plates and, often, cooking additional items to make images that look as sumptuous as they are delicious.
Aside from photography, one of Steves greatest passions is learning new skills. Over the years he has learned to welding, woodwork, form plastics, build micro circuits, 3D print, 3D design, program Arduino boards and manage power supplies.
Earlier this summer, Steve" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s multitude of passions culminated into an infamous robotic Burger Drop" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> machine. The project essentially consisted of two mechanical arms designed to hold all the individual parts of a burger (buns, cheese, lettuce, onions, pickles, beef patty, etc) until an Arduino-based timing control system named P.A.T.R.I.C. commanded them to drop.
The end result of the project was a video sequence of the perfect burger literally falling into place complete with mustard and ketchup shooting into the air.
What's in your bag
Ari Skypanel S60-C LED Light
Profoto Acture2 2400 Power Packs X 2
Canon 550EX FlashCanon G16
Profoto Acute D4 Head with zoom reflectors X 45 degree and 20 degree honeycomb grids
Tarmac Camera BagDigital Juice Diffusion Gel Kit Pegasus J2 SSD Thunderbolt Raid Drives
Phase One P45+ Digital Back
Hasselblad 150mm F4 CFi
Hasselblad 135mm Makro Planar f/5.6 CF
Hasselblad Makro-Planar 120mm f/4 CFi
Hasselblad Makro-Planar 120mm f/4 CFE
Hasselblad 100mm f3.5 CFi
Hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 CFE
Hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 CF
Hasselblad 60mm F3.5 CFi
Hasselblad 60mm F3.5 CB
Hasselblad 50mm F4 CFi
Hasselblad 40mm F4 CFE
Hasselblad 555ELD Camera Body X 2
Hasselblad 503CW with Winder Camera Body
Hasselblad Extension Tube 16E
Hasselblad Extension Tube 8
Canon 5d Mk II Camera
Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS
Canon 28mm F1.8
Canon 35mmCanon 50mm F1.4
Canon 17-40 F4
Minolta Color Meter III
Minolta IV F Light Meter
Color Checkeri1 Monitor Calibrator
Pocket wizard Plus X 3
Pocket wizard MultiMax X 2
Pocket wizard Plus III
Panasonic AA battery Charger
Cyberpower Car AC converter
Allen wrench set
Misc Cables
Still life kit with cubes, wax, tweezers, etc
MacBook Pro Laptop and charger
Dell Ultra HD 4K Monitor P2415Q
Black Gaffer Tape
White Gaffer Tape
Large A clamp X 2
Regular A Clamp X 2
Small A Clamp X 2
Avenger Tall Century Stand with Turtle base and extension arm
Super clamp X 2
Gitzo Tripod with head
Folding light stands
Sandbags
Tell us about yourself
My name is
Terrell Lloyd
. Ive been shooting professionally since 1992, and am based in the San Francisco Bay Area, near the high-tech capital of world, Silicon Valley.
I got my start shooting weddings and portraits, but now I" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />m currently one of the San Francisco 49ers team photographers, a post I've held for the past 19 years, in addition to running all the team" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s photography services.
I am also the athletic photographer for San Jose State University and have had the opportunity to shoot PGA golf, professional tennis, the NFL Super Bowl, MLB baseball, the NBA and many more sporting events.
What do you like to shoot?
I love sports photography, but my favorite sport is shooting football
What's in your bag?
Well for football I use 4-5 cameras while shooting which includes a number of different lenses.
5 x Canon 1Dx / Canon 1Dx II bodies
Canon EF 600mm F4L Lens
Canon EF 400mm f2.8L Lens
Canon EF 300mm F2.8L Lens
Canon EF 700-200mm II F2.8L
Canon EF 24-70mm II F2.8L
Canon EF 16-35mm II F2.8L
Canon EF 8-15mm F2.8L Fisheye
Canon Extender EF 1.4X III Empty list
Any memorable stories?
One of my most memorable shoots was this image of one our former players Vernon Davis. I captured him making a catch and I said I think he is going to jump over the defensive player and I was correct and ready to capture it.
Tell us about yourself
Im
Christian Nørgaard
. For years I have photographed and traveled extensively in Asia and have been humbled by the reception of my photographs. In recent years I have also collaborated with Steve McCurry and other of National Geographic's leading photographers for photo workshops. I am the founder and CEO of the
Better Moments Photography Workshops
.
What do you like to shoot?
I started out (when I was 17) as a photojournalist for Scandinavia's largest newspaper,
Berligske Tidne
. Here I was a staff photographer for several years, where my main tasks was sports and portrait photography.
I grew tired of others telling me what to do and what not to do, so I decided to become a self-employed photographer when I was 25. It was a decision I never regretted for a second. I began to travel and have actually done it ever since now for almost 30 years.
My passion is portrait and landscape photography – so the short answer is portrait and landscape photography.
What's in your bag?
Hasselblad and Canon and a variety of lenses – the picture of my equipment is just the tip of the iceberg. But if I only had one lens to bring along, it would be a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens.
Any favorite pieces of gear or memorable stories?
Once, almost so many years ago that one would think that it was a lie. I climbed a small mountain in Indonesia. We were two, a good friend and I, and we started out early in the morning. We climbed most of the day and on the way I shot some pictures – most banal view pictures and some portraits of my friend.
The story is that back then, I photographed analog (with film) and the camera, a Nikon was an integrated system and was therefore dependent on batteries.
A long story short – when we arrived to the top that night, I planned to take the most important image of all – a portrait of us on the mountain top. The background was colorful and we were lit up with snow, stars and the moon. The portrait was also quite important because we had a sponsorship contract, and our sponsor needed our portrait for marketing.
Just when I was about to take our portrait, the camera run out of power and worst of all – I had no spare batteries.
Ever since, I always travel with three extra batteries, and of course with a large handful of SanDisk cards now that everything is shot digitally.
Tell us about yourself
I'm
Bryan Minear
, an Official Fujifilm X-Photographer based in Michigan. When i am not working as a full time graphic designer, and being a husband/father, you can find me out shooting.
What do you like to shoot?
I spend the majority of my time chasing interesting light and weather conditions around the beautiful areas that the Midwest has to offer. My primary focus is landscape, nature, and cityscape photography.
What's in your bag?
Fujifilm X-Pro2
Fujifilm X-T2
Fujifilm XF16mm f/1.4
Fujifilm XF10-24 f/4 OIS
Fujifilm XF56mm f/1.2
Fujifilm XF50-140mm f/2.8
ISFormatt-Hitech Firecrest NDs (10-stop, 4-stop, and 3-stop Grad ND) Filters
Vanguard Up-Rise II 48 Bag
Vanguard Alta Pro 284CB Tripod
13-inch Retina Macbook Pro
9.7-inch iPad Pro w/ Apple Pencil
960GB Sandisk Portable SSD
Anker PowerCore Power Bank
iPhone 6S Plus with Moment Case and Wide Angle lens
Any favorite pieces of gear or memorable stories?
I like to go on road trips with my Instagram friends as often as my schedule will allow. My first road trip with the X-Pro2 back in March had me and a friend arriving Chicago very early one morning to shoot all day, only to return that same night and go to work the next morning.
What we didnt realize until later in the afternoon was that the day we picked just so happened to be Chicagohenge, which is where the setting sun perfectly aligns with the east and west bound streets.
It ended up being such an unbelievably beautiful spectacle that I will remember for the rest of my life. Tons of photographers lined the streets in hopes that the sun was going to pop out from behind the clouds in time for us to catch the magic, and after looking like it wasnt going to happen, the flood gates of light opened up for 3 minutes or so. It was a true marvel.
Tell us about yourself
My name is
Lucas Gilman
. Im a Travel, Adventure Photographer & Filmmaker based on the Central Coast of California.
What do you like to shoot?
I really enjoy shooting everything, but I specialize in shooting surfing, kayaking and adventure travel.
What's in your bag?
Top Left Tile:
Nikon D5
Nikon D4s
Nikon D810
Nikon D500
Nikon 1 AW1 + NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 AW
SanDisk Extreme Pro CF Cards
SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC Cards
AF-S NIKKOR 200mm f/2 VR
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8
AF-S NIKKOR 800-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4 PF VR
AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8 VR
AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8
AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR
MF NIKKOR 500mm Reflex f/8 (mirror)
AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4 VR
AF NIKKOR 105mm F/2 DC
AF-S NIKKOR 60mm f2.8 Micro
AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8
AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8
AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4
AF NIKKOR 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Nikon R1 Wireless Close-Up Speedlight System
TC-14e III TeleconverterTC-20e III Teleconverter
Nikon Extension Bellow PB-6e
Nikon SB5000 Speedlights
Fenix 1000 Lumen Flashlight
Giottos Rocket Air Blaster
WR-R10 Wireless Remote Controller
WR-A10 Wireless Remote Adapter
MINDSHIFT Hive Mini Filter Case + Assorted Formatt-Tech Filters
Honl Lighting Grids, Gels, Gobo
Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 3.0 IRND Filter + Soft Grad Filter + Filter Holder
Eneloop AA Rechargeable Batteries
Top Right Tile:
Pelican 1535 Air Case + TrekPak inserts
TetherTools USB3 Tether Cable + TetherTools Jerkstopper
TetherTools USB3 TetherBoost
Profoto Standard Reflector
Profoto Zoom2 Reflector
Profoto Magnum Reflector
Profoto TeleZoom Reflector
Profoto RFi 1,3×2 Softbox
Leatherman Skeletal CX Multitool
Benchmade Griptilian Drop-point AXIS Knife
Profoto Air Remote
Profoto Air TTL Remote N
Profoto B1 500W/s AirTTL Battery Powered Flash x 3
Avenger Turtle Base C-Stand Grip Arm Kit
Quick-Grip 58300 Spring Clamps
Botton Left Tile:
Fiber Optic Light Painting Brush + Coast HP7 Flashlight
F-Stop Gear Tilopa Backpack
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xtherm Sleeping Pad
Orca Tactical MOLLE Rip-Away EMT Medical First Aid Kit
FUGOO Tough Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
Nikon Aculon 10 x 50 Binoculars
Climbing Harness + Petzl Slings + Petzl Locking Carabiners
Black Diamond ATC
Petzl Climbing Helmet
Gerber Gator Machete
Supernova Halo 180 Extreme Rechargeable LED Lamp
Arcteryx Theta Gore-Tex Jacket
Persol Di Siena Wayfarer Sunglasses Polarised Lenses
Arcteryx ACRUX² FL Approach Shoes
Light My Fire Original BPA-Free Tritan Spork
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Sterling Ultraline Water Rescue Rope
Manfrotto Mini Tripod
Snake Bite Kit
Sea To Summit Talus TS I 23 degree Sleeping Bag
Lucas Gilman Productions Custom Team Hat
Nemo OBI LS 2 Person Tent
GOALZERO VENTURE 30 Recharger
GOALZERO NOMAD 20 Solar Panel
Sterling 200FT SuperStatic2 Rope
Hydro Flask Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Platypus Softbottle Water Bottle
Botton Right Tile:
Avenger Turtle Base C-Stand Grip Arm Kit
Pelican 1535 Air Case + TrekPak inserts
G-Technology G-DRIVE ev ATC with Thunderbolt + ev RaW SSD
G-Technology G-DRIVE ev RaW 1TB SSD
X-Rite ColorChecker Passport
Jetboil Flash Cooking System
SPL A-SERIES D810 Waterhousing + Port
Churchill Makapuu Swimfins
Any favorite pieces of gear or memorable stories?
I carry a
Gerber tactical pen
. I was almost kidnapped by Zapatistas revolutionary army deep in the jungle in Chiapas, Mexico on a kayaking expedition. It got pretty hairy but they finally accepted a $1,000 bribe and we hightailed it out of there.
A tactical pen could help you out of a sticky situation if you get cornered by a mugger/kidnapper or break a car window if you are trapped inside. I also carry a first aid kit decked out like it could be in a war zone. You can never be too prepared.
Any tips for aspiring photographers?
Ya for sure. I do as much research as possible on the location I'm heading to.
The important things to me are:
What time is sunrise/sunset and where does the sun rise and set (I use an iPhone app called Sun Surveyor on location for this as well)
Create a daily shoot plan to maximize your shooting and focus on being at the prime locations at the golden hours
What's the projected weather – You want to be warm and dry and also keep your gear safe. So you can focus on being creative
Are there any interesting landmarks I should put on my shoot list? – Google Earth has millions of images geotagged with different locations use it to your advantage
Figure out how much memory youll need for the project. I shoot with the D810 which is 36+ megapixels so I bring plenty of SanDisk CF & SD cards.
Remember, you will probably shoot more than you think and the last thing you want to be doing as the light is getting perfect is deleting images. Also, plan on backing up your images onto multiple drives.
The G-Technology G-DRIVE ev ATC is my go-to in the field because its waterproof and shockproof. The reason I backup in the field is you never know when your gear will get nabbed so keeping backup copies geographically separated is key.
For instance I" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll have one of the athletes on the expedition hold on to a drive in case my gear is stolen. You" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />d hate to lose all your images.
via Click on the link for the full article
The post What’s in your camera bag? Pro photographers share their favorite gear appeared first on iBlog.