My Gear

For those who have wondered, I put together a page of all the photography equipment and gear I use. This list is always kept up to date, and additionally, all the products link to a more detailed page where you can view more info on any product of your choice.

Camera Body

(NEW!) Nikon D7000 DSLR

Nikon’s absolute best cropped-sensor DSLR. The Nikon D7000 is the only camera I use for serious photography because of the high image quality. It’s dynamic range and ISO is simply astonishing.

(SOLD) Nikon D300S

This is Nikon’s second best cropped-sensor DSLR and features a robust magnesium alloy body, a fast 8fps, and weather sealing.

Camera Accessories

Nikon MB-D10 Multi-Power Battery Grip

It’s kinda funny, it’s called a “battery” grip, yet I never use batteries in it! I use it to better handle my Nikon D300s.

Giottos Rocket Air Blower

This little guy works wonders when you have to clean off your cameras image sensor. Lets face it, we all hate those dust specks that show up where you don’t want ‘em!

Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery (x3)

I keep these batteries charged and ready to go at all times. I also have 3 of them which is probably nothing compared to some pros…

UPstrap Camera Strap

It’s a rubber camera strap that has the ability to cling to you like an annoying person.

Sanyo Eneloop AA Rechargeable Ni-MH Batteries 8pk (x3)

These rechargeable batteries have an amazing technology that allows them to stay charged for years. I think I read that after a year of storage, they still hold an 85% charge.

Lenses

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X

Ah, my all-time favorite lens. Check out my review on it. There is simply no other ultra wide-angle lens for Nikon that provides a better value. And it’s a constant f/2.8 lens as well!

Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm

The perfect telephoto zoom for a person on a budget. It’s sharp across all apertures, and the VR makes it easy to handle. This lens is useful for outdoor sports.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

The “nifty fifty” they say. This is my go-to lens for most of my product photography. It’s optical quality and price cannot be beat, and the bokeh is gorgeous.

Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.8G DX

My “walk around” lens. It has a standard 35mm focal length, making it perfect for everyday snapshots.

Tamron 90mm f/2.8 AF Macro

This is my newest lens in my collection. It handles great, is very affordable, and has great optics. Check out these macro photos.

Lens Accessories

Singh-Ray 4×6″ 2-stop Graduated Neutral Density Filter

GNDs as they call ‘em, are needed if you want to be serious about landscape photography. They’ve helped my capture sunsets immensely. A 2-stop GND is perfect.

Singh-Ray 4×6″ 3-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Reverse GNDs are extremely handy if you want to capture sunsets with the sun still above the horizon line, as that’s what these were made fore.

B+W 77mm 6-stop Solid Neutral Density Filter

6-stop neutral density filters help tons when you want to cut the light entering through a lens to get that surreal water effect by using slower shutter speeds.

Hoya 77mm HD Circular Polarizer

This is perhaps the toughest, best circular polarizer ever made. Ever. It’s a multi-coated filter. The coatings are ~~great~~ excellent and the glass is indestructible. That’s what the “HD” line from Hoya is all about!

B+W 77mm 10-stop Solid Neutral Density Filter

Called “The Big Stopper” this filter is meant to block almost all light entering your lens. I use it during the day with shutter speeds over 10 seconds to blur moving clouds, giving the landscape a surreal look.

Flashes and Studio Strobes

Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight

This was my first flash I bought. It has since been replaced by the newer and improved Nikon SB-900, which has a new interface, faster recycling and more light flexibility, allowing you to “shape” the light.

Nikon SB 28 Speedlight

I use this old-but-good flash off-camera in full manual mode to provide portable, go-anywhere light. It’s cheap yet durable and just as powerful as higher priced units, making it the perfect addition to my lighting kit.

AlienBees™ B800 Flash Unit

Both versatile and indestructible, the B800 is housed in high impact Lexan polycarbonate (the same material used for bullet-proof glass), keeping it lightweight. It also features a built-in cooling fan to keep up with its fast recycle.

Vivitar 285HV Flash

This flash unit has 4 auto f/stop settings and built-in variable power to deliver accurate exposures and convenient fill-flash. The zoom head adjusts to 35mm, 50mm, and 105mm and can be set to bounce at 0°, 45°, 60°, and 90°.

Memory Cards

Lexar 8GB Professional 400x CompactFlash Card

The 8GB Professional 400x CompactFlash Card from Lexar is designed for reliable high-speed performance (minimum of 60 MB/s read rate), ideal for capture and storage of high quality images on your DSLR camera–stills and video.

SanDisk 8GB Extreme CompactFlash Memory Card

When paired with a UDMA-compliant DSLR camera, this card guarantees speedy, high-quality photo and video capture. Enjoy the security of a lifetime warranty.

Camera Support

Feisol CT-3441S Carbon Traveler Tripod

Incredibly lightweight yet durable construction, plus precision engineering for complete ease of operation. Like all of the traveler tripods, the CT-3441S folds down to a remarkable length of just 43 cm (16.93 inches).

Benro B0 Double Action Ballhead

This uses magnesium alloy components for better performance and lighter weight. The B0 has a dual action design featuring separate drag adjustment and lock knobs. It can handle weights up to 17.63 lbs.

Wireless Triggers

CyberSync™ Receiver – CSRB (x4)

The battery powered CSRB uses alkaline or rechargeable NiMH AA cells. The CSRB has a 200 hour battery life with automatic shutoff after one hour of non-use, allowing about 50 shooting sessions per charge.

CyberSync™ Trigger Transmitter

The CST Trigger Transmitter mounts on your camera’s hot shoe to provide wireless firing. When your camera shutter is pressed, the CST will simultaneously send the firing signal to all of the flash units in your setup fitted with CyberSync™ receivers.

Softboxes and Modifiers

Westcott Apollo Softbox 28 x 28 (x2)

The Westcott Apollo is a softbox based on an umbrella frame. It needs no speed ring to attach it to a flash head. Simply open it, and slide the shaft into the umbrella receptor on the flash head.

Westcott 43″ White Umbrella

This Westcott 43″ White Satin Umbrella has a removable black backing, so that it may be used as a “shoot-through”, makeshift softbox. It has a collapsible shaft, which makes it very compact for packing away in your location case.

Light Stands and Support

Impact Air-Cushioned Heavy Duty Light Stand – 9.5′

Heavy duty, black aluminum, with sure-twist section locks and air cushioning. Air cushioning gently lowers the light, preventing damage to light fixtures and fingers when section locks have not been properly tightened.

Lowel Uni-TO Light Stand – 8′ (x2)

Constructed with thick-wall, anodized aluminum alloy tubing to deliver an exceptionally high strength-to-weight ratio. All have a standard 5/8″ top stud with safety undercut, adjustable base spread and collar-clamping for each segment.

Manfrotto 5001B Nano Black Light Stand

This Manfrotto 5001B Nano Retractable Compact Light Stand is perfect for supporting small light fixtures on location. The stand folds down to ~19 inches, which makes it easy to fit into a location case.

Smith-Victor Adapter 1/4-20 to Standard Shoe (x2)

This device adapts a 1/4-20 to a standard shoe mount and is ideal for on-board video lighting. I needed these to mount my flash units on the light stands.

Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella Adapter (x2)

A versatile aluminum bracket that will fit on almost any light stand. It includes two removable, reversible studs with 1/4″-20 threads, to adapt to light stands with top studs smaller than the standard 5/8″.

Camera Bags

Kata Ergo-Tech Sensitivity V Backpack

The Sensitivity V backpack is ideal for day to day use, and can comfortably fit a laptop, digital camera or SLR, MP3 player, and more. Discontinued

Tenba Shootout Convertible Waistpack

It has dual door side panels on both sides of the waistpack; one with accessory compartments, the other with a QuickAccess hatch directly to the inside of the case.

Storage

Western Digital 2TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive

The drive is ready to use right out of the box — you won’t have to load any software from a CD to get the drive to work. It is an excellent option for users who would like to add storage capacity to their system.

Computer Software

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software for Mac & Windows

A complete photo management and editing suite for Mac OS X and Windows. Perfect for enthusiasts and professionals alike, Lightroom takes a nondestructive approach to photo editing.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended Software for Mac

Photoshop uses a powerful layer-based approach for image editing. Using layers allows you to make adjustments to images without modifying aspects of an original.

Computer Hardware

Apple 13.3″ MacBook Pro

The computer’s 13.3″ display features a LED backlight and a glossy finish. Its 1280 x 800 native resolution gives you ample screen real estate with which to work.

DELL 2209WA 22 Inch Widescreen IPS Monitor

In searching other IPS monitors I found this one to be the only one in a price range I could really afford. I’d like to see it up against the $600+ Apple Cinema Display, but I figure that at almost 1/3 the price, I’ll stay here.

Datacolor Spyder3Pro Display Calibration

This is the only colorimeter available on the market offering a seven detector color engine, with an aperture several times larger than other devices, thereby increasing its light sensitivity by 400 percent for increased accuracy and performance. This ensures consistent color on all LCD, CRT, and laptop displays.