MY EQUIPMENT
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Camera Choice
The photography gear used mainly my for landscape work include the Fujifilm GFX 100ii body and Sony Alpha cameras. For wildlife, I use multiple Sony A1ii cameras for speed, AF accuracy and the ability to crop. For studio work, I use Nikon or Sony cameras depending on the application. Lastly, for travel, I use select Sony cameras, Leica Q3 and an Insta360 X5.
Most cameras today produce excellent results and selecting cameras often comes down to what lenses you already own. In my case, I select the highest megapixel cameras with the ergonomics that fit my shooting style. I have cameras built for speed and others that help me slow down for more critical work.
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Lens Choice
Len choice is very important . Weight often plays a role in my lens selection because hiking long distances with heavy equipment is not fun. If the destination is relatively close to a vehicle, then I take heavier lenses. Otherwise, I prefer lighter lenses with more versatility.
I use zooms and primes depending on the lighting & subject matter. I travel with both medium format and full frame cameras with multiple lenses including:
Sony FE 14mm, FE 16-35mm, FE 20-70mm, FE 24-70mm, FE 70-200mm, FE FE 100-400mm, FE 55mm plus the FE200-600mm and FE 600mm super telephoto for wildlife.
Fujifilm GF 20-35mm, GF 45-100mm, GF 250mm plus the GF 1.4x converter.
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Other Equipment
Tripods - I carry Sirui graphite tripods depending on the location and length of travel on foot.
Backpacks - I have embraced MindShift Backlight backpacks for most of my travel photography trips. I use the Mindshift Backlight 18L, 26L and 36L backpacks depending on the nature of the trip. All 3 bags are well made and comfortable.
Lighting - For studio use, I use Godox strobes compatible with my cameras. Godox provides effective studio lighting that is portable and operates with AC power or batteries. For candid photography, I carry Godox and Sony portable flash equipment.
When I require filters, which is not that often, I use Hoya filters.
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Extras
In addition to cameras and lenses, I carry sufficient memory cards and batteries to suit the location. Obviously the length of stay dictates the number of memory cards and batteries I bring to the job. I bring several portable SSD drives on trips for back-up.
It is important to build in redundancy to your photography because “Murphy” gets in the way. Bad things happen and it is important to bring extra everything including chargers, batteries, and even lenses in case gravity, rain or thieves interfere with your activities.
I carry a computer bag separate from my camera bag. On a trip, I set up the computer in the hotel room to process images on location as much as possible trying to minimize the time spent back in Canada culling photos!
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Image Processing Equipment
I use a DELL XPS laptop with multiple SSD drives as backup. I attempt to cull photos while on location using the Fast Raw Viewer program. This inexpensive program is excellent for quickly culling images as well as “starring” images for future editing.
Once culled, I process most files through DXO PURE RAW or TOPAZ DeNoise to reduce noise. Afterwards, I use Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop to produce the final edited images. I also use DXO NIK Collection to enhance selected images for final presentation plus Luminar NEO and Zerene Stacker software as needed.
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