Essential Equipment → Photography Gear

If you’ve explored this website at all, it should be obvious that we take a lot of pictures. And while you can absolutely document your life using your phone, if you want to take high quality pictures, you’re going to need to schlep more gear. Here’s what we use, and when we use it.

Lower Quality Pictures

iPhone (currently the iPhone 7)

• I always carry this. It’s lightweight, water resistant, has a large memory and multiple functions, so even when we’re going for as little weight/as small a profile as possible, I bring it, and I take pictures with it.

Nikon Coolpix AW130

• For wet trips (snorkeling, diving, wet canyons) and really skinny canyons (when my iPhone spends most of the time in the top of my pack). It’s shockproof to 2 meters (7 feet) and waterproof to 30 meters (100 feet), so it’s great for all snorkels, most dives, and I can leave it out and drag it through canyons without any worry.

High Quality Pictures

Camera Bodies

Canon 5D Mark IV

Canon 5D Mark III

• If Tom and I are both shooting, like we generally do for night photography, we use both. Otherwise I use the Mark IV unless I’m concerned about potentially damaging or breaking the camera, in which case I’ll bring the Mark III.

Lenses

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Standard Zoom Lens

• This is the lens I use most often; it has a nice range for everyday use, including most wide angle applications.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

• This is my second-most used lens. We use this lens a lot because our activities are often best captured using an ultra wide angle. It’s great for shooting things like tall canyon walls, the Milky Way and Northern Lights, and large cave openings.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens

• I always carry this lens if I’m hoping to get wildlife shots; I can generally hold it steady enough to get clear shots without a tripod, and its broad zoom range makes it useful for various applications. I’ll also generally take it with me when we travel, since it’s useful for checking out distant waterfalls or cave openings. It gets left at home a lot, though, due to its size and weight.

Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM Telephoto Lens

• Rarely used, but there’s no replacing it when you need it. We use this for shooting the moon (like the excellent blood moon eclipse a couple of years ago) and the sun (like the solar eclipse of 2017), and not much else. I’ve probably occasionally used it for wildlife photography, but you really do need a tripod, and we’re not just sitting around waiting for a gazelle to cross our path.

Tripods

Benro Travel Angel II

Gitzo Series 1 Traveler

• We have two proper full-size tripods, since we have two cameras. We’re very happy both, but if we only need one, we carry the lighter of the two (the Gitzo). We use these for night photography, solar eclipse photography, cave interiors and long exposure daytime shots (using an ND filter).

Joby GP3 GorillaPod

• If we think we’re going to want a tripod for a one-off picture (a proper selfie, for instance), or we’re trying really hard to cut weight but still want a tripod of some sort, we’ll generally opt for the GorillaPod. It’s a little frustrating to use, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

Accessories

Peak Design Capture Clip

• This thing changed my life. It clips your camera securely on your shoulder strap via an easy capture mechanism, which leaves both hands free for scrambling and down climbing, and has an easy release mechanism for quick access when you see a great shot. I don’t know how I survived without it. I always carry my camera this way when I’m wearing a backpack.

Shoulder Bag

• I use a generic canvas messenger bag (this one, specifically) – they make a “camera” version of this bag, which has padded dividers, but I prefer just the generic empty version. I carry it when we’re traveling instead of a handbag. It’s big enough for me to drop my DSLR in (even with the 70-200mm lens on), can hold all of my other things (wallet, extra layers, snacks, etc), has an inside zip pocket for my passport, and doesn’t draw any particular attention to me or its contents.

Ortlieb Waterproof Bag

• When I know we’re going to be getting wet, but I still really want a nice camera, I’ll take the Mark III and put it in this bag. The bag is padded, so it provides some protection for the camera against banging into canyon walls, it opens and closes via an easy slide seal, and the waterproofing works great. Its been submerged on canyon swims and being doused by waterfalls without a drop of water inside.

ND Filter(s)

• You want to invest in proper ones if you want to take nice long exposure pictures, most commonly seen for moving water shots (waterfalls, tides on the coast, etc). I wouldn’t bother with the adjustable range ones; they give you weird artifacts and will just be frustrating. Instead, get a couple of different filters that can be stacked. I use a 3 stop and a 6 stop which can be stacked (to give a 9).

Step-Up Ring

• If you use lenses of varying sizes – for example our 16-35mm and 24-70mm lenses are 82mm wide, but our 70-200mm is 77mm – instead of having two sets of filters, you can buy a step-up ring to allow your filters to work for various lens sizes.

Polarizer

• Want to eliminate water reflections? Slap a polarizing filter on your camera and get some cool shots of river rocks and underwater awesomeness.

Flash and Transmitter

• I have the Speedlite Flash and Transmitter, but I’ve only used them very rarely. I think I’m just too lazy to be bothered with them, and also am rarely willing to carry the extra weight. I use light painting a lot, or just have someone light the area/object with a headlamp. I’m sure flash-using pros out there are laughing hysterically at the world of options I’m missing. Maybe I need to take a course in using flashes or something.

Wireless Shutter Remote

• This is another one I use very rarely, because I can’t be bothered with worrying about the batteries and the set up and carrying the weight (even though it’s pretty light). I generally just put on the 2 second timer for long exposure pictures. There are some selfies where I would have appreciated having it, but it’s kind of more fun and creates better memories when you have to press the shutter release and then run and try to get in place in time. If you’re lucky you’ll get some hilarious pictures of you not quite making it into position.

Essential Equipment → Photography Gear