Camera:

•Canon EOS 5D Mark III – Wow. <wipes drool from chin>. This camera rocks my face off…in a good way! Incredible image quality, eleventy-billion focus points, and it’s built like a tank. If I didn’t love my wife so much, I just might marry it.

Lenses

• Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM  -  I love this lens. I think it performs even better than the Canon brand equivalent. It’s tack sharp and gives that gorgeous creamy bokeh (out-of-focus background) that portrait photographers love! I use it all the time. This is my go-to lens for Senior Portraits. Everyone should have a 50mm prime. They call them nifty fifties for a reason!​​​

 

 

​• Tamron AF 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD – This is such an awesome, versatile lens. I use it for weddings, portraits, landscapes, interiors…it may have been more efficient to just say “everything”. It is sharp, provides great contrast, and produces wonderfully rich, accurate color tones.​ No “red ring” envy for me here. This is a fantastic – and much cheaper – alternative to the absurdly priced Canon 24-70 f/2.8 Mark II. While the Canon version is a stunning lens, it doesn’t even have Image Stabilization. This Tamron does. That’s a big deal for me, since I don’t always have the steadiest of hands. If you’re in the market for a great mid-range zoom, this should be near the top of your list! You won’t be disappointed!

 

​•​ Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM - This is a great multi-use lens that I have used for Landscapes, general photography, and even some portraits. I use this a lot when I go on vacation. It’s a great travel lens.​

 

 

 

​•​ Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM - I have wanted one of these big white Canon L telephotos for quite a while. I haven’t gotten too many chances to play with it just yet, but I look forward to using it for wildlife, weddings, and portraits. It really is a versatile lens. I need to start lifting some weights though….this bad boy is just a little heavy!

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Accessories​​

  • Canon 430 EX II Speedlite – For those situations when I need a little extra fill light. I don’t use it all of the time, as I prefer to shoot with natural light, but it’s great when I need it.

 

 

• Black Rapid RS7 Curve Strap – My neck loves this thing. The straps that come with cameras are good for one thing…neck pain. Especially when you are carrying a heavy camera around your neck all day long. This strap is so comfortable and much easier to move around in. If you don’t have one, get one…you’ll love it!

 

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•San Disk Extreme Compact Flash Memory Cards – These cards are fast and reliable.​

 

 

My Digital Bag​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• Adobe Lightroom 4 – Lightroom handles about 50% of my post processing workflow. It is a fantastic program. I do all of my image cataloging, indexing, rating, and sorting with Lightroom, and then I do my base edits in it before moving over to…
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended – Photoshop/Camera Raw handles the other half of my digital workflow. It’s a must have in this business.
• Photomatix Pro – I love to experiment with a photographic technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range) with some of my landscape images. This technique allows a photographer to capture the full dynamic range of light from a scene in that a single shot from a camera just cannot capture. It involves taking a handful of frames of the same image at different exposure levels and then merging them together with software. Photomatix Pro is the best software for this process, and it is a lot of fun to use!
• NIK HDR Effex Pro – Another HDR software that I like to use some.
• NIK Color Effex Pro 4 – I love this little plugin. Great for giving images just a little “oomph”.