WHAT’S IN MY BAG?

What’s in my bag? Well, if you must know and also to keep myself from sounding like a broken record, this page was created. Actually, since a number of you have asked what I shoot with, here is a shortlist (and it is a very short and lean list, as I’ve only been doing DSLR photography since April 2014) of my tools of the trade.

HARDWARE

  1.  Canon EOS 6D
  2.  Canon Rebel SL1 (borrowed, on occasion)
  3.  Canon EF 100 f/2.8L macro (1:1) lens
  4.  Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens
  5.  Sigma APO DG OS HSM 150-500mm f/5.6-6.3 telephoto lens
  6.  Canon Speedlite 320EX flashgun and flash diffuser
  7.  (a rarely used) tripod without an Italian-sounding name

Photography is also the art of knowing that no matter how much equipment you have, you always need more. In the bid to capture more realism behind the camera, we seem to need more artifices. What a not-so-delicious irony! 😉

My macro lens takes care of those flowers, insects, and any other subjects that I really want to shoot closeups of. (Should I succumb to the lure of the Canon MP-E 65mm 5:1 macro lens, you’ll be the first to see my results). My Sigma super telephoto lens is my “walkaround” lens as I tend to shoot wildlife most of the time. As the camera expert at the London Drugs I bought it from warned me, I would (and still do) get a fair number of comments–some whispered, some not, all in awe–about its size. I have stopped traffic by hauling around The Beast. It certainly is a good workout for the arm that carries it.

I currently don’t use anything but the most basic HOYA filters to protect the all-important glass on my camera. Perhaps a ND (neutral density) filter one day, if my love for photographing wildlife spills over into portraiture or landscape photography. 🙂

In regards to post-processing, here is what I use to convert and transform my RAW files to usable formats for print and online display:

SOFTWARE

  1.  DxO Optics Pro 8.5 Elite (to convert RAW files to JPG/TIF/etc., and tweak colour/tone/etc.)
    >  See this post, Shooting in [the] RAW, for more about why I now shoot in the RAW. <
  2.  Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 (mainly for watermarking and spot adjustments).

Remember that your camera equipment is just a tool. It can’t take sharp, vivid, colourful, dramatic, or playful photos, or evoke strong emotions in others. You are the only one who can make the magic happen behind the lens. Happy Shooting! ♠

12 thoughts on “WHAT’S IN MY BAG?”

  1. My bag has a wonderful 105mm and three key lenses for my wildlife photos, a 70-200, 200/400 and a 300 as well as my D3s and D4s. Being a woman, people are always asking how I can hold the large lenses for any length of time. It ain’t easy. But oh so worth it. My husband kept giving me longer lenses thinking I would then shot Grizzlies from further back. As he says, they only let me get the bear larger in the frame! How true!

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    • haha, that is true! unless you are a hummingbird or small bird fanatic — in which case a long lens is necessary! 🙂

      I don’t get asked how I can hold a 500 mm telephoto for hours 🙂 but I think I’d draw the line at anything higher than 600 mm. I wince when I see 1000 mm lenses being toted by professional photographers without a care in the world. Of course, they’re probably covered by insurance for their equipment. 🙂

      I’m not the type to mount my camera to a tripod and just haul that contraption around — it always scares me that no matter how well secured my camera is, the whole thing could just pop off and pull a London Bridge on me!! 🙂

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