equipment

Curious to see what kind of gear I use? Have a look below.

(Note: I’ll be adding notes and reviews as time allows.)

Bodies

Canon 7d with Vertical Grip | my primary action body

  • Crop frame body that’s durable, high-resolution and offers 8fps continuous shooting with or without the attached grip (weight saver)

Canon 5d Mark II | for travel, portraits and anything requiring full-frame shooting

  • Full-frame body that reproduces color beautifully and offers superior image quality over the 7D
  • Non-weather sealed and the menu structure is far from intuitive, even after regular use
  • HD video capable, full-frame sensor offers superior depth of field for FF-compatible lenses

Lenses

Canon 24-70mm 2.8 | travel shooting and candid portrait lenses

  • Pro-quality lens, excellent bokeh and build quality
  • Coupled with 5D this takes care of most travel, lifestyle, and portrait needs without having to swap lenses
  • Heavy

Tamron 28-75 2.8 | used for do-it-all shooting when backcountry ski touring where weight and size are major concerns

  • Produces sharp images from 2.8 on up for its cost
  • Compact, relatively lightweight, and in my experience, durable
  • Cheap enough so you won’t feel bad if you blow it up while in travel or out in the action

Canon 70-200mm 2.8 | bread and butter action lens

  • Not as sharp as the newer generation 70-200mm Canon teles but sharp enough
  • Covers important focal length for action, 80% of the action shots taken with this lens
  • Heavier than F4 and debatable as to quality comparison, consider F4 if you want something smaller / lighter

Canon 14-24mm f4

  • Distortion and vignetting are noticeable
  • Sharp enough for do-it-all wideangle lifestyle, travel, or on-the-fly shooting needs
  • Lens hood takes up just as much room as lens
  • Lighter than comparable 2.8

Canon 16mm 2.8 Fisheye | specialized action, some travel

  • Compact, but heavy little sucker
  • Coupled with 5D it covers all super-wide needs
  • Distortion correction on this lens results in some fun-house-type effects
  • Almost always carry this with my 50mm on a bare-bones kit

Canon 50mm 1.8 | portraiture

  • Light, sharp, shallow depth of field and CHEAP
  • Buy one, don’t think about it
  • Couple this with a fisheye and there’s very little you won’t be able to capture in a creative way

Canon 85mm 1.8 | exclusively portraiture

  • Shallow depth of field and beautiful color reproduction
  • On full frame body I find it as the go-to full body or headshot portrait prime
  • Buy this if the 2.8 mid-zoom or tele (24-70 or 70-200) you have just isn’t providing the DOF or the crisp, isolated aesthetic you’re looking for

Canon 1.4x Teleconverter | exclusively action or wildlife

  • More range from your tele without spending crazy $$ on a 300 2.8 or other prime / zoom-tele
  • Lose moderate amount of sharpness and light, but when you need the extra length it’s worth it

Flashes

Ranger RX Speed with A Head | early afternoon, freezing action or where large amounts of fill light are necessary

SB-80DX Hotshoe Flashes | do-it-all, travel

Alien Bees Strobes 1600, 800, 400 Heads with Homemade Battery Packs (thanks to my roommate Erik Seo) | portraiture, action

Canon 580ex II and Orbis Ringflash Adaptor | portraiture

Bags

Burton F-Stop Bags | travel, action

  • Heavy and burly-built bag with excellent padding on the shoulder straps (rare)
  • Easily fits body with mounted 70-200, a second body, two primes, mid-zoom, a fish, and PocketWizards in the padded compartment area

Burton Zoom Pack | travel only

Dakine Hand-Me-Down Bags | large strobes

Light Modifiers

Photoflex Small Square Softbox

Photoflex 7′ Ocotobox

Paul C Buff Beauty Dish

Paul C Buff Collapsible 1×3′ Strip Boxes

Alien Bee Long Throw Reflectors

Photoflex to Alien Bee Speedrings

Supports

Bogen Manfrotto Tripod + Three-Way Head

Bogen Standard 9′ Lightstands

Bogen Collapsible Lightstands

Avenger Convertible Boom Stand

Other Stupidly Expensive Electronic Necessities

Pocketwizard Plus II Wireless Radio Transmitters and Receivers

Apple MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

G-Tech External Drives

Apple iPhone

Rode Shotgun Mic

NEC MultiSync 23in E-Ips Monitor

Backcountry Touring (Updated 1.10.11)

Arc’teryx Arrakis 40 Backpack | indestructible, carries well, fits all avalanche safety gear plus a few extras and the Mountainsmith small cube

Mountainsmith Small Camera Cube | fits one body w/out vertical grip + one 70-200mm and two, compact lenses

Marker Duke / Baron Bindings | heavy-duty touring and sidecountry bindings that double as in-bounds everyday bindings

Salomon Quest 12 Ski Boots | Use the alpine soles NOT the Tech Inserts, strong and comfortable boots for those with wide forefoot and high instep

Black Diamond Flicklock Adjustable Poles | absolutely necessary, few others get it THIS right

Black Diamond Acension STS Skins | basic, reliable and versatile

K2 Coomback 181 Alpine Skis | lively, early-rise keeps you on top of the DEEPEST conditions, lightweight for easier touring and highly maneuverable

Voile Square Blade Guide Shovel | strong is an understatement, square blade makes clean snowpack-test pit digging simple

Black Diamond Quickdraw 300cm Guide Probe | long, strong and easier to engage quickly

Backcountry Access Tracker DTS 1 Beacon | simple but not idiot-proof, easy to hand to a friend if they forget a beacon

BCA Snowcard / Snowstudy Tools

Black Diamond Snow Saw

Leatherman Juice CS4 Multi-Tool | never go into the backcountry without it

Black Diamond Icon Headlamp | dual-mode spot and wide angle, comfortable band won’t slide around while you’re skiing, tons of light

Black Diamond Avalung II | why not?