In this post, I'll be listing the gear I currently use to capture and create my images.
Some things I consider when buying gear:
Price. I'm not looking to break the bank, which is why I often go with third-party lenses like Tamron.
Weight and size. I prefer gear that is relatively light and comfortable enough to walk around with, hike with, and travel with.
Ease of use.
Above all else, quality.
It's worth mentioning that you don't need tons of expensive equipment to take beautiful photos. Although the right equipment can help take your work to the next level, it's not the gear that makes the photographer.
So with that being said, here's what's in my camera bag!
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CAMERA BODY
In 2018, I upgraded from the Nikon D5300 DX to the Nikon D780 FX DSLR. I have to say, I absolutely love it. It's a full-frame camera, that has two memory card slots, built-in wifi, and does well in low-light situations. It's also relatively lightweight compared to other full-frame cameras, and of course, it takes beautiful photos.
LENSES
Wide Angle Zoom Lens
The Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 is my all-around go-to lens. It's a third-party lens and about half the price of Nikon and Canon's 24-70mm lenses. However, it doesn't skimp on quality. I love this lens because it's versatile, ultrasharp, image-stabilized, has nice bokeh, and does great in low light.
Telephoto Zoom Lens
While I don’t use the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 regularly, mostly because it's so heavy and not ideal to hike with, I like having a zoom lens of this caliber in my kit. It's ultrasharp, image-stabilized, and great in low light. This is the lens I use to photograph the moon because it's so sharp. It also has beautiful creamy bokeh, making it a great portrait lens. As mentioned, the only downside is its size and weight.
Versatile Zoom Lens
This is my main daytime hiking lens. It's very light and small and has a focal range of 28-300mm making it super versatile. I love not having to pack more than one lens while using it. Its downside is that it's not the best in low-light situations (it's not the worst either), but this is not a lens I'd use for sunset/sunrise or dusk photos.
Prime Lens
The nifty 50mm f/1.8 is currently the only prime lens in my camera bag. I don't use it that often but it's great to have for when I need it. It's the best-priced lens on this list and gives you a lot of bang for your buck. It's very small and light, excellent in low-light, and has lovely bokeh, making it a stellar portrait lens. It also works on both FX and DX cameras.
DRONE:
I love this drone. It's lightweight, easy to travel with, fits in the palm of my hand, and the image quality is great. The Mavic Air is also a great drone for beginners; it's not too intimidating or overwhelming in terms of the learning curve.
Update: The Mavic Air has been replaced with the Mavic Air 2.
ACCESSORIES:
A neutral density filter is essential for achieving that silky-smooth effect in your photos. I currently own a 6 stop and a 10 stop ND filter, both made by Breakthrough Photography. The 10 stop is great for photographing long exposures mid-day when there is a lot of sunlight. However, the 6 stop ND filter is the one I use most often. It's what I use when shooting long exposures of waterfalls and sunsets.
A step-up ring is also a great accessory because it enables you to use one size filter on different sized lenses.
I’ve owned this tripod for a few years now and it has been great. While it's not the most high-end or heavy-duty tripod, it's light and packs pretty small. I'm not a fan of being weighed down by heavy bulky gear, especially while hiking or traveling. The K&F Concept Tripod is a great compromise between quality and weight.
I bought and returned a few camera bags before I came across the Vanguard Havana Backpack. I love this bag because it fits everything, including my laptop and some clothes with room to spare. It's comfortable to wear and perfect for travel. I also love that it doesn't look like a camera bag.
The only downside is that the designated tripod compartment is too small to fit a regular-sized tripod. My workaround is just hanging my tripod off one of the bag straps!
EDITING TOOLS:
Up until 2019, I was editing my photos on an old Macbook Pro 2011 version (yikes!). This summer I decided that it was time to shell out for an upgrade. Editing is a big part of the photography process, and having up-to-date gear just makes life easier.
I was really torn between the 13-inch and the 15-inch MacBook Pro and decided to sacrifice a bigger monitor for the convenience of the 13-inch. It fits perfectly in my camera bag and is easy to travel with. I did choose to upgrade my RAM to 32GB for faster processing, which I highly recommend.
The Lacie External Hard Drive is compact, durable, and great for travel. The orange rubber bumper adds an extra layer of protection which is nice. I find that 1TB is plenty of space. I have two years' worth of photos and videos on this drive and haven't even made a dent in the amount of space on it.
Adobe is the gold standard when it comes to photo editing software.
I pay $10 a month for Adobe's Photography Plan which includes Lightroom, Photoshop, and a few other useful apps. While Lightroom is pretty intuitive, Photoshop definitely has a learning curve. I purchased one of Ben Willmore's tutorials on Creative Live to help me learn the basics of Photoshop, and I have to say it helped immensely.
I hope that you found this photography gear list helpful! If you have any questions please feel free to ask me in the comments! Also, be sure to subscribe to the blog so that you don’t miss the latest blog posts, videos, and other good stuff!
Watch the mini video I made for IGTV here:
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