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PAGE UPDATED: December 19, 2008
THE EQUIPMENT
People ask me what camera, lenses and gear I use. I'm tempted to tell them when they cook a good meal, the pots must be very special. I truly believe the PHOTOGRAPHER makes the image, not the camera and lens. However, using top-quality equipment does make a working professional's job easier and people are simply curious, so I have provided some information about the digital equipment I use.
The Canon EOS 1D Mark III is my main digital camera, backed up by a Canon EOS 1D Mark II. I create all of my images using the RAW format, which records maximum information on the flash cards. The Mark III is capable of up to ten frames per second, the Mark II, up to 8.3. In the field I carry compact flash cards and SD cards ranging from two to eight GB and download images at every break I get. For downloading I use a Delkin Express Card 54.
The EOS-1D Mark II and III cameras have a magnification (or crop) factor of 1.3x, compared to 35mm film cameras. I usually have my Canon Telephoto EF 500mm f/4.0 IS or Canon Telephoto EF 300mm f/2.8 IS lens coupled with the Mark III, and I carry extension tubes and Canon 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.
I specialize in close-up photography and normally use my Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens. For extreme close-ups I use the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x lens, which usually requires using the MR-14EX TTL Ring Lite Flash due to the low amount of light that passes through the lens.
My favorite wide-angle lens is my Canon Zoom Super Wide Angle EF 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. I use it for nearly all of my landscape images and sometimes for close-up work that shows the subject in its habitat.
Once I go indoors into my digital darkroom, it's another story. In addition to the Dell laptop I use in the field, I also use a custom-built desktop computer. The desktop has RAID drives for the current photos I am working with, plus three other internal hard drives. I use external backup drives for storage and portability and burn CDs if the need arises.
I own and use plenty of other equipment, both indoors and out, but prefer to limit the equipment "tech talk" to what is included on this page.
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