I like to believe that gear doesn't really matter, but I get often asked what I use, so here we go....
Camera:
Lenses:
Filters:
Macro:
Stabilization:
Lighting:
Miscellaneous:
Computers:
Software:
Nikon D500 - Sometimes referred to as the D5's little brother (or sister), the D500 is the top-of-the line Nikon crop sensor DSLR. It has 21mp, shoots 10 frames per second and has the autofocus system of the D5. I love it's speed, versatility and customizability. It is an amazing camera.
Battery grip - My 3rd party grip works great. With the additional battery I never have to worry to run out of juice at the wrong time. But more importantly the ergonomics of the grip allowing to shoot vertical with the same button layout. The only negative is the increased size of the camera, so when that's a bother, eg when shooting street in New York I usually take it off.
Batteries - I have both Nikon and 3rd party batteries and can't really tell a difference.
L-Brackets - I have two arca-swiss style L-Brackets, one for just the camera and one for the grip. They make attaching the camera to a tripod much easier, especially for vertical shots, plus they provide some extra protection if the camera slings from my shoulder. I wouldn't want a camera without an L-Bracket.
Memory Cards - The D500 has an XQD and a SD card-slot, and I've configured the camera to shoot first onto a 64GB XQD card, then overflow to the SD card.
Nikkor 18-300 f3.5-6.3 - For versatility this lens is unbeatable. For travel having one lens with the huge focal range is fantastic, you never have the wrong lens on, it's reasonably sharp, at least in the center, and the autofocus is quick. But sometimes I wished it was bit sharper, especially in the corners.
Nikkor 16-80 f2.8-3.5 - This is the kit-lens that was originally included with the D500. I bought it used, it's a little bit smaller than the 18-300, but sharper and a stop faster. It's a fantastic lens for street and travel, only the autofocus is a bit slow.
Nikkor 70-200 f4 - This lens complements the 16-80. I opted for the f4 instead of 2.8 because of the weight and the price. It's a fantastically sharp lens with a quick autofocus.
Nikkor 200-500 f5.6 - After borrowing one from a friend, I chose to buy it to shoot birds and wildlife, as well as cityscapes, for example with the moon. On a crop sensor the 500 turns into 750mm, which is a lot of reach.
Tokina 11-20 f2.8 - On the other side of the focal range spectrum is this super-wide-angle lens. I probably use it mostly in the city to get dramatic perspectives on buildings
Tokia 100 f2.8 Macro - It's a lot of fun to shoot macro with a dedicated macro lens. It shoots 1:1 magnification, and with extension tubes and the closeup filter more than 2:1. A big advantage of the dedicated macro lens, compared to a regular lens with extension tubes, is that the working distance is comparatively long. In addition it's also a great portrait lens, it being f2.8.
Nikkor 35 f1.8 - On a crop sensor this lens is about equivalent to the nifty-fifty. I use it sometimes for street photography. Sometimes I find restricting myself has a creativity-boosting aspect. It also has a very small profile, which is great in the street.
Nikkor 50 f1.8 - On the crop sensor this is similar to a 80mm portrait lens.
Circular polarizer filter
8ND filter
Step up/down filter rings
Extension tubes - they go between the camera and the lens, I have a set of 3 with different thicknesses, and they can be combined. With the macro lens they allow for increasing the magnification.
Canon 50D close-up filter - screws to the front element of a lens. Mine is 72mm in diameter and I use the step-up/down filters to attach it to different lenses.
Induro Tripod CF214 - This is a great carbon-fiber tripod that came with a lot of great features. It's quite large, but very sturdy, which is the main function of a tripod.
Induro Ballhead BH50 - The ballhead is quite hefty, but it works great.
Induro Monopod - The monopod is great when I don't want to carry the tripod, for example at sports games.
Sirius Ballhead - This is a smaller, more budget bullhead, and I use it with the monopod as well as with the Platypod.
Platypod Max - I won that on a podcast. Right now I mostly use it to attach the cube lights to the goosenecks for macro projects. But I haven't travelled with it yet to replace the tripod
Nikon SB700
Nikon SB400
Nikon remote cable
Neewer radio triggers
Ulanzi light cubes with color gels
Neewer constant light soft boxes
Altura Backpack - My main backpack, it fits a lot of gear, including the 200-500 with the camera attached, a tripod and laptop. It's cheap, but very versatile, and comfortable to wear.
Atura Sling pack - It fits the camera, without grip and a lens attached and one extra. it also has a small compartment for keys, wallet and phone. Unfortunately it's falling apart a bit, luckily it was less than $30.
Lowepro sports backpack - It has a relatively small camera compartment, and a bigger one for a jacket and other essentials. I like that it looks like a normal backpack, but don't like the large compartment where everything just flops around a bit..
Domke shoulder bag - I got this with my first DSLR. It's not very big, and today I mostly use it to store things not fitting in another bag
Peak Design strap - I love this wide strap in grey, and their clip-system is great.
iMac 27" 2019
MacBook Pro 13" 2014
Adobe Lightroom - I use Lightroom for 95% of my edits.
Adobe Photoshop - Photoshop is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I use it occasionally to remove objects with content aware, and to put a stroke around an image that gets submitted to a competition.
Topaz Denoise AI - Only recently started using it. Luckily I found a workflow to Denoise images in bulk
Topaz Sharpen AI -
Thank you!