Documentary Wedding and Lifestyle Portrait Photography - Seattle Tacoma Olympia Portland

Current Gear

This page is titled ‘current gear’ because I’m a gear junky and I change things up on a regular basis, hopefully this page will keep up…

Cameras:

Last year I switched from Nikon camera’s to Canon camera’s. I still think Nikon makes better camera’s (nicer to hold, easier to use), but at the time that I switched Canon’s larger sensors and better high ISO ability means better pictures. I don’t sell cameras, I sell pictures.

My camera bodies:

• Canon 5D
• Canon 1D MkIII

The 5D is the best portrait camera available, period. That’s a bold statement, but in my opinion it’s true. It has the largest physical sensor available and the best high ISO ability (at the time of this writing). Buying a 5D and a couple of fast Canon lenses over a year ago is what convinced me to sell my D2X, D2H and D200 and convert to the Canon system.

Update: Even with the new 14 bit cameras out, I still like the ‘feel’ of the files from the 5D the best, they’re sharp and very ‘film-esque’.

For speed and the ultimate in durability, moisture and dirt resistance nothing beats the 1D series of cameras. This is the same camera that almost every photojournalist around the world torture tests on a daily basis, from the war in the middle east to the Olympics, this is the one that gets used. It’s a beast, it’s heavy and it sounds like a machine gun firing (well a quiet machine gun). The top rate of 10 frames per second is overkill at a wedding, but very useful at a soccer game. It has a slightly smaller sensor than the 5D and that adds to the reach of the long lenses to get in close and get ‘the shot’.

My lenses:

• Canon 16-35mm f2.8L
• Canon 24mm f1.4L
• Canon 50mm f1.4L
• Canon 85mm f1.8
• Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro
• Canon 135mm f2.0L
• Canon 200mm f1.8L
• Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS
• Canon 1.4x converter
• Canon 2.0x converter

I use all Canon lenses because they’re the best. There are some great 3rd party lenses out there for less money, but I do this for a living and making the best images possible is paramount to me. The 24mm and 200mm fast primes are my favorite lenses ever. They are optical works of art, the 200/1.8 will redefine your idea of ’sharp’.

My effective working range (in 35mm equivalent) is 16mm to 520mm (the 200mm and 2.0x on the 1D).

I also don’t use a lot of zooms, primes are faster and sharper than even the best zoom lenses. And there is merit to learning a focal length very well. When you zoom a lens, a lot of things change, not just the angle of view but also the depth of field, the depth perspective (visual compression) and any effective distortion. By using a small selection of top notch prime lenses on a daily basis I’ve learned exactly what to expect from each of them in almost any situation. Taking variables out of the process is a huge step towards knowing how to create consistently good pictures. When I’m working I don’t want to be focusing on my equipment and wondering what it’s going to produce. The only variables I want in the process are my creativity and yours.

Lighting:

Being able to translate a feeling into a picture is magic, lighting is the science behind that magic.

My lights:

• The sun
• Canon 580EX II (x2)
• Nikon SB-28X (x2)
• Alien Bee AB-800 (x2)
• Pocket wizards (x3)
• Radio Poppers (x3)
• Tons of stands, clamps, cables, modifiers and reflectors

It might sound goofy to list the sun as one of my lights, but I use it a lot, there are some amazing things about sun light that just can’t be reproduced with portable strobes. I also co-op the existing lights in almost every location I work. But… if that doesn’t cut it then I set up a light, or two or three or four, whatever it takes to get the effect I need. Most of the time I’m just looking to add a little pop or increase the ambient light a little to make the pictures turn out while keeping the ‘mood’ of the location intact. But sometimes it’s more than that, using lights I can create dramatic images that transform the location into something much cooler than it is. Sound interesting? it is.

Miscellaneous:

There are tons of various gadgets I use in different situations, I’ll list a few of my favorites here.

• Bogen 3021 Pro tripod w/ 3047 pan tilt head - This was a birthday gift from my parents and a recent upgrade from my old Bogen tripod - this thing is the bomb, there is no better value in a tripod than the Bogen aluminum series. It’s rock solid and goes from flat on the ground to over 7′ tall
• Gaffers tape - This stuff is great, sorta like duct tape, but flat black cloth on the top for no glare and the sticky stuff won’t leave a residue on your equipment. Buy it at a music store, it’s cheaper than the camera store.
• CF Cards - I have a ton of these, when I first started the switch to digital (with a Nikon D70) I had a stack of 512mb cards, then I switched to 1GB cards. Now I use 2Gb, 4GB, 8GB and 12GB cards. My belt pouch has over 50GB total. In 3 years of pro digital shooting I’ve had one card failure and Sandisk replaced it very quickly and paid for shipping both ways, so they are my recommended brand (I also have a couple Lexar cards and they’re good too). Stay away from less expensive cards, this is a critical piece of equipment, if it fails, the pictures could be lost, that’s a big deal.

Computer equipment:

I use Macs. Macs aren’t perfect for every industry, but for photography and graphic design I don’t think they can be beat. Not to mention no virusus (I guess I just did )

My machines:

• 17″ Macbook Pro - Wow.
• (Semi-Retired) 12″ Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz, 80Gb HD, 1.25 GB RAM, DVD superdrive - I’m typing on it right now. This is the most marvelous piece of computer hardware I’ve ever seen or used. It’s small, sleek, easy to carry around and it’s capabilities are astounding. Just like the Canon 5D, if you haven’t used one, you have no idea.
• PowerMac Dual G5 2.7Ghz, dual 320Gb SATA HDs, 2.5Gb RAM, Dual Layer DVD - This ones the workhorse, it churns through thousands of RAW files without breaking a sweat. With dual monitors and dual processors it’s capable of doing a huge batch job and letting me keep working on whatever I need to get done. - like that album design you’re dieing to see…
• Apple iPhone - You’ve heard the hype, it’s true, this is a great little PDA, Ipod and phone.

Software:

I do most of my work with Adobe products, Photoshop CS3, InDesign CS3, Lightroom 2.0, etc.

That’s all I can think of… if I missed something and you’d like to hear about it, leave a comment below.

~Bill

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