What I carry in my bag is dictated by what and where I plan to shoot. Primarily a landscape and nature photographer, including birds and other wildlife, I typically carry two camera bodies, three zoom lenses, an extender, a sturdy tripod, and various accessories.
Cameras:
Sony a7R IV (x2): This is my workhorse body for landscape and nature photography. It gives me the best-in-class resolution, dynamic range, and ergonomics. From detailed vistas to pin-point stars, this camera captures it all with aplomb!
DJI Mavic Pro 2 Drone: With a 1-inch sensor, it captures incredible video and photos from unique perspectives.
DJI Osmo Pocket: I use this to capture most of my BTS videos, because it has an incredible gimble stability
DJI Osmo Action 4K HDR camera: I use this for my videos during wet conditions, including some underwater videography.
Lenses:
Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master: Approximately two-thirds of my landscape shots are with this lens. The corner-to-corner sharpness is palpable, and the lack of image distortion even at the widest focal length needs to be seen to be believed. It also serves as an excellent astrophotography lens, given its maximum aperture of f/2.8.
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master: This is my go-to standard lens for landscapes. When the ultra-wide just doesn’t have the reach to frame the shot the way I want, the 24-70mm comes to the rescue. It is perhaps the sharpest standard zoom lens I’ve ever used. Occasionally I want to grab an environmental portrait, and this lens fills that need perfectly.
Sony 100-400mm f/4.5 -5.6 G Master: When I’m shooting a “compressed” landscape or elusive wildlife, this is my lens of choice.
Other Gear:
Lowepro Whistler 450 AW II bag: It has convenient straps to carry my hiking poles and a separate, completely isolated compartment to put my wet clothes.
Gitzo series I Traveler tripod: For landscape photography, especially at night, a sturdy tripod is indispensable.
15” MacBook Pro laptop: Excellent screen with great color accuracy and plenty of horsepower (15”; 32 Gigs of RAM; 2 TB SSD)
1TB Gnarbox 2.0 SSD: In the field I back up my SD cards onto this device. It is extremely rugged and allows me to perform backups without a laptop, phone, or tablet. I have the option of using a USB 3.0 Type-C port or its built-in SD card reader.
Wireless remote: An excellent way to trigger your shutter without having to touch the camera body. It minimizes camera shake.
Headlamp: At night, a headlamp allows me to keep my hands free while I hike or search for camera equipment.
Extra batteries and charger: I never want to run out of juice, so I carry a handful of batteries for each of my devices.
Circular filters: Recently, I switched to using filters by Breakthrough Photography. Their filters are made of high quality glass and are one of only a handful of companies to offer a circular polarizer/ND combo in a single filter. Circular polarizer, 3 stop polarizer/ND combo, 6 stop polarizer/ND combo, 10 stop ND, and 15 stop ND and the ones I always take with me. Because Sony sensors have such great dynamic range, I’ve stopped carrying graduated neutral density filters.
82-77mm step down filter ring: This ring allows me to carry a single set of circular filters. I use the step down ring to attach 82mm filters to my 77mm lens.
Microfiber towels: Great to keep water spray off your equipment and to wipe them down if they get wet.
Umbrella: For rainy conditions, nothing beats a sturdy umbrella.
