/about/gear /about/gear
Gear
“What gear do you use” is probably the most common question received here. To that end, here are some details on what equipment is used to capture my images.
A little info before. All of the views here (and that I will ever give) are based in experience and use. I am not paid to like or dislike a specific brand or item. I pride myself on openness and honesty with my views and reviews. If it's good I'll shout about it and more importantly use it. If it is bad it will quickly find it's way out of my bag.
Everything in my kit has to stand up to hard daily abuse. I don't have time when I am out shooting to baby sit my gear and treat it nicely, so everything needs to be tough and reliable. Whether it's being thrown around in the back of a vehicle, sprayed by an elephant with filthy ditch water or blasted with snow in Norway it needs to keep on working. In short, I need gear that will perform on command time and time again. In addition to all that, my images need to compete in a very tough market so the technical quality of my images must of the highest quality.
I have always used the Nikon system and currently man handle the D3 SLR bodies. This is a digital system that provides me with the results I expect over and over. Back this up with support from their pro servicing department here in the UK and you have a winning combination.
Lenses used range from 14mm all the way up to 600mm. Which is used depends on the situation at hand and mood that takes me. I get a lot of emails asking me which lens is best for wildlife photography and the truth is there is no one solution, but on occasion I have been pressed into corner for an answer and the 200-400mm is usually the answer!
Also in regular use is a range of accessories far too vast to list them all here, but a run down of my essentials is as follows:
Gitzo GT3541LS carbon-fibre tripod. Light, sturdy and reliable with no unnecessary bells and whistles to get in the way. On top of this usually sits a Wimberly Sidekick on a Kirk ball head.
Having tried most of the sensor cleaning solutions available, there are only two that I now use:
1. Sending if off for a professional clean!
2. The dust aid products, especially the 'platinum' dry cleaning and 'wand' wet cleaning solutions.
Bag duties are currently given to a range of Crumpler and Kata bags.
Paramo, Seal Skinz and Buffalo clothing keep me warm/cool and dry (very important, a cold photographer is an unhappy photographer) in the multitude of dodgy environments I tend to find myself in.
Hides and other camouflage duties are usually fulfilled by wildlife watching supplies based here in the UK.
I'll end on the note that all of the above would be useless without the experience gained by hours upon hours spent in the field; the research and preparation before a trip and help from local guides.
Some will note that there is a fair amount of high end gear listed here, but please don't think that great wildlife imagery can't be captured without it!
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