What's in my camera bag - and why.

I've had a bunch of people email me asking "what's in your camera bag?" So, this post is my answer to this question.

Before I divulge the contents of my camera bag, I probably should share some of my lens philosophy with you, I really like prime lenses. I love that they're so sharp at such wide apertures. I love that they are small, light and cheap. I love that when I shoot them wide-open on my full frame Canon 5D I get some slight vignetting in the corners of the frame. I love that with my prime lenses I can shoot at crazy wide apertures like f2.0 in low-light conditions without having to use a flash.

The lenses I use are specific to a full-frame sensor. If I was shooting with a APS-c format DSLR (Rebel XTi, Rebel XSi, 30D, 40D, etc.), the lenses in my bag would be slightly different (but I would like to have similar equivilent focal lengths.)

For each lens, I've also included a sample photo that best represents the capability of the lens.

What's in my camera bag:

Canon 5D: I LOVE the image quality of this camera's huge sensor (I do shoot some stock, and the stock agencies like 5D files). I also love the ability to get extremely shallow depth of field, due to the larger sensor (and the need to be closer to the subject.) ISO 1600 on this body is also 100% acceptable. The 5D is a significant investment, but it's been worth every penny (I paid about $2300 for the camera 2 years ago - after a 20% discount and a Canon $300 rebate.)

Canon 17-40 f4: Ultra-wide angle for landscape. Although I'd actually love to replace this lens with the 24-105 f4 IS, I find myself using the 17mm - 20mm range frequently for landscape shots, so it stays in my bag. (A similar ultra-wide zoom for APS-c format cameras is the Canon EF-s 10-22.)

Canon 5D, Canon 17-40 f4 L Lens, 17mm focal length, Av, f16, 1.5 seconds, ISO 100, picture style of landscape, Tripod, Remote release, graduated natural density filter.

Canon 24-85 f3.5-4.5: If I can only take a singe lens on a trip (mountain climbing, backpacking), this is the lens I bring. I don't use it that often, because I personally prefer primes, but if I'm trying to keep my weight down and use a single lens, I use this lens. It offers a useful range (including 24mm on the wide end) and it's pretty cost-effective (approx. $325 new). I would love to replace this with the 24-105 f4, but I haven't been able bring myself to spend $1000 for the 24-105 (I can buy 3 nice primes for $1000!)

Canon 5D, Canon 24-85 lens, 24mm focal length, Av, F6.3, 1/2000 of a second, ISO 400, picture style of standard.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-85 lens, 85mm focal length, Av, F8, 1/500 of a second, EC +1/3, Picture style of standard, ISO 400 (Mt. Hood.)

Canon 24 2.8: Great for low light indoor, wide-angle, hand-held shooting. It's very sharp, even wide open. I use this lens a modest amount.

Canon 5D, Canon 24 f2.8, Av, f2.8, 1/30 of a second, ISO 1600, EC +1/3, picture style of faithful.

Canon 5D, Canon 24 f2.8, Av, f2.8, 1/80 of a second, ISO 1600, EC +1/3, picture style of monochrome with Sepia tone.

Canon 50 f1.4: Great for low light indoor shooting. Shots @ 50mm have a very 'journalistic' 'look' to them. I use this lens quite a bit. I switch between this lens and my 24 f.28 for indoor flash-free candids.

Canon 5D, Canon 50 f1.4, Av, f2.5, 1/500 of a second, EC + 2/3, ISO 500, Picture style of faithful.

Canon 85 f1.8: For low-light sports and indoor portrait work. I recently acquired this lens and I really haven't used it that much, it's a little 'long' for my indoor shooting and I really like my 200 f2.8 for outdoor portraits.

Canon 5d, Canon 85 f1.8, Av, f2.0, 1/640, EC -1, ISO 1600, Picture style of faithful.

Canon 100 f2.8 Macro: For Macro work. Before I had other primes, like the 200 2.8 and 85 1.8 I used this lens a lot, now I just pull it out for Macro work. This lens is also good for portraits.

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Av, f4.5, 1/100, EC -1, ISO 400, Picture style of standard.

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Av, f3.5, 1/400, EC -2/3, ISO 400, Picture style of standard.

Canon 200 f2.8: One of my favorite outdoor portrait lenses. Also very good for low-light indoor sports. Razor sharp wide-open. I love this lens and it's what I mount on my camera if I'm shooting people outdoors.

Canon 5D, Canon 200 f2.8 L, Av, f2.8, 1/640, EC -1/3, ISO 400, Picture style of standard.

Canon 5D, Canon 200 f2.8 L, Av, f2.8, 1/2000, ISO 100, Picture style of standard.

Canon 400 f5.6: I use this for shooting windsurfing, kiteboarding, wildlife, etc. Anything where I need to shoot things that are far away. This lens is also good for creating 'compression.'

Canon 5D, Canon 400 f5.6 L, Av, f5.6, 1/2000, ISO 200, Picture style of standard.

Canon 5D, Canon 400 f5.6 L, Av, f5.6, 1/200, EC -1, ISO 400, Picture style of standard.

Canon 420EX flash: If I need flash, I mount my 420EX. Canon does not sell this model any more, the replacement is the 430EX. This does not get used very often, but it's a 'must have.'

Cokin z-Pro filter holder: If I need to use a filter, this is my filter holder. I hate carrying the filter holder and filters in my bag because I use them so infrequently, but the ability to mount a ND graduated filter is a requirement for me -- for art-quality landscape shots they are needed in some situations -- and I can never predict when I'll need one.

Cokin graduated natural density filter: If I need a graduated filter.

Cokin 8 stop natural density filter: For generating really slow shutter speeds, usually used in conjunction with f22.

4-5 5D batteries (I buy the cheapy clone versions off eBay.)

Extra batteries for the 420EX flash

A 77mm circular polarizer. Extra 58mm lens cover. Extra 77mm lens cover.

Bag: LowePro Mini Trekker AW backpack: This holds all my gear (barely.) I vowed that I would never carry a bigger bag that this because they are simply too dorky (in my opinion.)

Tripod: Manfrotto aluminum tripod (3001BD with Manfrotto ballhead (486RC2.)

I probably need to consolidate my lens collection, I feel like I'm lugging around too much gear, but I can't bring myself to get rid of any my glass.

Photo of hay bale 'kicking-up'

Camera: Canon 5D, Lens: Canon 24-85, Focal Length: 24mm, ISO: 100, Shooting Mode: Aperture priority, Aperture: f5.6, Shutter-speed: 1/320 of a second, Picture Style: Standard. Other: Focus-mode AI Servo.

My uncle Roger has a farm in upper-state New York and we made a trip to visit his farm last summer. As soon as I saw the hay 'bailer' setup, I knew I wanted to get this shot. Roger wasn't a big fan of this idea of me being in the back of his hay wagon with my 'expensive' camera as he launched hay bales into the wagon, but I managed to talk him into helping me. I took about 40 frames and this is the best shot of the bunch. Here are the settings why I used each:

• Canon 24-85 lens: There were a couple different shots I wanted, the shot above, but I also wanted a 'close-up' of the bale in mid-air (see below), so I pulled my rarely used Canon 24-85 out of my bag. I thought the 24-85 would be a single lens solution to get both the 'wide-angle' and close-up shot.


• 24mm focal Length: This gave me the wide-angle perspective to see the bale of hay, the stacked hay, the sky and the sides of the hay wagon.


• Shooting mode of Aperture Priority: I wanted to specify the aperture and have the camera pick the shutter-speed.


• Aperture of f5.6: I wanted a little depth of field so if auto-focus wasn't 'perfect' the hay bale would still be in focus. In addition, my 24-85 is 'soft' wide-open so I wanted to avoid the widest aperture of this lens (f3.5). If I stopped down the aperture any more, I would have to concede shutter-speed, which would make the hay-bale blurring do to motion blur.


• Shutter-speed of 1/320 of a second: this was automatically selected by the camera.
  


• ISO 100: It was a bright, sunny day with plently of light, so I started with ISO 100 and how no need to go to a higher ISO.
  


• Picture Style of Standard: Standard provides a nice 'punchy' photo.
  


• Focus mode of AI Servo: I used this to track the bale of hay approaching me.

Here's another one of the better shots with different framing:

Camera: Canon 5D, Lens: Canon 24-85, Focal Length: 52 mm, ISO: 100, Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority, Aperture: f5.6, Shutter-speed: 1/250 of a second, Picture Style: Standard. Other: Focus-mode AI Servo.

500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $84

A quick FYI: eCost is running a special deal on 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for $84 each. If you need an external drive for additional photo storage capacity and/or backup, this is a great deal.

eCost deal on 500GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive $84

If 500GB isn't enough, here's the 1TB version (yes, 1000GB's) for $199:

eCost deal on 1 TB USB 2.0 Hard Drive $199

FYI: I've ordered tons of computer equipment from eCost over the years and they offer great equipment at a great price. LaCie also makes good quality hard drives.

Photographing babies

This is my first try at photographing babies. A friend of mine just brought this little guy into the world 7 days ago. Although there is room for improvement, I'm very pleased with the results:

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Shooting mode Aperture Priority, Aperture f2.8 (for blurry background, 'artistic' look), Shutter-speed of 1/800 of a second (selected by the camera), Exposure compensation of +1/3 (the camera's meter wanted to make the scene too dark), ISO 400, Picture Style is Monochrome with Sepia Tone. (ISO 200 would have also worked.)

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Shooting mode Aperture Priority, Aperture f3.2 (for blurry background, 'artistic' look) Shutter-speed of 1/1600 of a second (selected by the camera), Exposure compensation of -1/3 (the camera meter wanted to make the scene to bright), ISO 400, Picture Style is Monochrome with Sepia Tone. (Shooting at ISO 400 obviously was not needed, I should have dialed ISO down to 100 or 200),

I taped black paper to the wall for the background--this made a huge difference (I have to concede that this was my wife's idea.) I moved mom and baby in front of a window with light streaming though. I kept the subject pretty far away from the black wall so the 'blurry background' would hide the imperfections in my 'make-shift' black background. Although the 100 f2.8 Macro is excellent for Macro work, it's also an excellent portrait lens :)

The key ingredients that made these photos 'work' (in my opinion) are:

• The black background
• Moving mom & baby in front of the window
• Shooting a 'Sepia Tone' Picture style

If I had been shooting an APS-c body, the Canon 60mm f2.8 Macro would have been my preferred lens.

Although a studio would have been ideal for this shoot (I don't have a studio), my improvised setup worked pretty well.

When my kids were babies I photographed them using a point-and-shoot. The baby photos on this page are about 50 times better then the photos I have of my kids at this age. I now have no problem spending a little bit of money for a good camera and good lenses to document my kids growing up. You can't 'turn back time' and re-take these photos.

Here are a couple more photos from this session:

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Av, f3.2, 1/3200, EC - 1/3, ISO 400, Picture style of monochrome with a sepia tone.

Canon 5D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro, Av, f2.8, 1/2000, EC -2/3, ISO 400, Picture style of monochrome with a sepia tone.

I'm going to do another shoot in a couple weeks with the same family -- if you have any links to favorite baby photos, please share them.

Are you ready to photograph spring?

Spring is one of my favorite times to take pictures. I don't shoot as much in the winter, so I am always itching to get out in the spring and take pictures. Spring also presents so many great photo opportunities: flowers blooming, green trees, spring mornings. With spring coming on fast, make sure you are 100% ready.

Is your camera bag packed and ready to go? Is your tripod in the bag or right next to it, so you don't forget it? Are you camera batteries charged?

Do you have all the tools you need?

• Is there a new lens you need?
  
• Do have enough memory cards?
  
• Do you need any extra camera batteries?
• Do you have a bag or backpack to hold everything?
• Do you want to start using graduated filters? You'll need a grad holder, a couple grads and the appropriate 'mounting ring' for the len(s) you'll be using it with.
• Have you planned out the places, people or things you want to photograph?
  
• Have you visualized the photos you want to go capture?

Get ready, it's almost spring!