Charles Campbell

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH NATURE workshops

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camera gear

 


Must Have / Major Items


  1. Bullet Digital SLR camera and lenses are required. THE CAMERA BRAND IS NOT IMPORTANT TO US.

  2. Bullet A wide-angle zoom covering 24mm to 70mm (35mm format).

  3. BulletA telephoto zoom covering 100mm to 400mm (35mm format).


You may bring whatever lenses you have, but try to cover the range from 24mm to 400mm in any way you can. Other variations on this recommendation are fine, e.g. 20mm to 300mm is also very good. Fast lenses are not important for shooting landscapes, but high quality aspherical, multi-coated optics are very important if you want the best quality images.


  1. Bullet Field tripod with head.

  2. Bullet Photo backpack or shoulder bag. See Info for personal items.

 

Must Have / Accessories

  1. Bullet 3-way bubble level.

  2. Bullet Spare memory cards / memory card protective case

  3. Bullet Backup batteries for camera and flash.

  4. Bullet Pocket-sized 8 ft. metal measuring tape e.g., Stanley™.

  5. Bullet A circular polarizing filter for each lens. Some photographers use a clear UV filter for lens protection. I believe lens caps are for protection and filters should have a particular function.

  6. Bullet A Neutral Density Graduated Filter. Get the .6 density which is 2 stops. I also recommend the hard transition over the soft transition. Make sure this a rectangular filter and NOT the screw-in type. You can get a dedicated holder that attaches to the lens (Lee™, Cokin™, HiTech™ etc.) or you can just hold it front of the lens while you’re shooting.

  7. Bullet Lens cleaning microfiber cloth and MC Lens Cleaner™ for multi-coated optics.

  8. Bullet Your camera’s user manual or Bert’s CheatSheets™ for your camera.

  9. Bullet Electronic cable release. Alternatively you can use your camera’s delay timer.


Strongly Recommended (that doesn’t mean required!)

  1. Bullet Quick release bracket for your specific camera and an Arca-Swiss™ style lock down clamp on the tripod head. Available from RRS™ and Kirk Enterprises™. How else are you going to attach the camera to the tripod head?

  2. Bullet Tripod head of the ball type versus the video style 3-way pan/tilt.

  3. Bullet TTL flash with off-camera remote cord.

  4. Bullet Portable drive to backup memory cards in the field.

  5. Bullet Stoffen flash diffuser or equivalent to soften electronic flash.

  6. Bullet A collapsible reflector/diffuser disk for light control.

  7. Bullet Tripod carrying bag.


Start gathering these items well in advance of your workshop. Many items are special orders that aren’t available from your local camera store and can take extra time to get.


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