Professional Photography Equipment + Real-World Experience
After more than 20 years working as a professional photographer, I've learned that choosing the right equipment isn't about having the newest or most expensive gear. It's about understanding what each tool brings to the photograph.
What’s the saying? There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Just because I do it this way, doesn’t mean this is the only way to arrive at a beautiful photograph. I encourage you to go out and experiment. Figure out what your tools do, and just as importantly, what they don’t do. Find your style. Chase your inspiration. Break some rules. Most importantly, go have some fun. Otherwise, why are we doing this?
With all of that said, these are the cameras, lenses, lighting, and production tools I rely on for professional assignments, with firsthand insight into why I use them, how they perform, and where they fit into my creative process.
The Photography Gear
I Actually Use.
First Things First… I Like My Nikon System.
I know that in some circles, especially New York fashion, Nikon was considered the epitome of not cool. However, that’s what I started on, and that’s the system I knew.
I tried really hard to switch to Canon. I did. In the spring of 2010, I had been disappointed by the back order status of the Nikon D3s for months. I was standing at the Canon counter of B&H truly debating a full system change. Honestly, I didn’t have much of a system at that time, but I was about to invest in my first flagship body.
I was holding the newest Canon, turning it over and inspecting the buttons, the dials, and the screens. The screens were blank. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the thing on. Ha! Looking back now, that sounds like a gross exaggeration. It was not. After a few minutes, I was so embarrassed that I put the camera down and walked directly out, never to consider leaving my dear Nikon again.
A few weeks later my D3s arrived at my friend’s house in the West Village. Her dad ran an import-export business in the Caribbean, and he was able to get my dream camera tax / duty free.
The irony of this whole charade was that I had just purchased a nearly $7,000.00 camera body and was taking it home to put on an off-brand zoom lens with a variable aperture, worth no more than $150.00 new. That fact didn’t land for a few more years. I was blissfully unaware that my brand new camera was little more than a heavier brick around my neck without understanding the capabilities and limitations of the other gear I paired it with.
All of the following information is meant to save you time, money, and embarrassment by giving you some of the wisdom I have acquired in the last 20+ years.