Here is a list of the equipment that I use for my stock photography. Naturally there’s a wealth of quality photographic equipment out there and as much as I dearly wish I had all of it, this is what exists in my little corner of the world.
Camera
Nikon d200, 10.2 megapixel
I’m a very big fan of Nikon across the board. They make quality cameras, good optics, and their lens mount reverse compatibility is something you just have to respect.
Back in my mispent youth I worked for National Camera, which had a camera repair center. As a result I was privy to exactly what cameras came in for repairs, and how often, and what was wrong with them. Nikon was, by far, the brand that we saw the least of. They just plain work, and keep working.
I also have an old Nikon d100 that serves as my backup, though it’s lightyears behind the d200. Before that it’s all film.
Lenses
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ED-IF AF-S DX VR
This is the workhorse lens that covers about 85% of everything I shoot. Not the fastest lens out there, but you can’t argue with a 18-200mm range, and the vibration reduction is a nice bonus when you can’t get your shutter speed up there where you want it to be.
As always, I’m a fan of Nikon optics, and I’d certainly recommend a lens similar to this for anyone pursuing photography. The broad range covers the vast majority of situations you’ll be shooting in.
Tamron 200-400mm f5.6 AF
My original goal behind this lens was I wanted a longer lens for wildlife photography. The Tamron 200-400 fit the niche I was looking for perfectly. Of course, this was back before I was shooting digital (ie: effectively had full frame).
Once I switch to digital with the smaller sensor, this lens suddenly became quite a bit longer than I needed. I still get use out of it every now and then for special circumstances. It is, however, quite dark through the viewfinder and difficult to focus.
It’s great for shots of the moon though!
Lighting
Lowel Omni/Tota/Pro Light Kit
I do not use strobes only because my lights also double for video lighting. I’m a fan of this particular kit because it gives a nice range of wattage and focus-ability.
The Tota is 750 watts, the Omni is 500 watts, and the Pro light is 250 watts. Note, however, that even using all the lights I’m usually struggling to get to even 1/60th shutter speed. I often yearn for strobes when shooting people.
Inanimate objects, however, are just fine.
As a side note, I find that Lowel makes excellent and sturdy lights – they can handle getting banged up and their tripods are stable and strong. However, I think that if you don’t bang your equipment around a lot (that’s more of a video shooting problem) you can go with much cheaper lights.
Impact Floodlight
I also have a couple of these flood lights with umbrellas for when I need to fill light a larger area. The lights themselves are very basic. The tripod is a disaster and the umbrella mount is horrible. However, you can get the light, tripod, and umbrella all together for $65.
At that price, I took two. As a side benefit, the bulbs are also really cheap. However, you have to be careful about moving the lights while on — the shade around the socket doesn’t attach super securely and if you shake it, it can hit the bulb and instantly burn out your bulb.
Despite it’s delicacy, I’m a big fan of these lights. Sure they’re cheaply made — but they’re cheap! Just treat them gently and they work great.
Software
Adobe Photoshop CS3
There is a lot of photo retouching software out there these days, and a lot of it is much cheaper and simpler than photoshop. However, having used photoshop for years, it’s second nature for me to use photoshop for my post work.
I’ve played with a handful of other software and while I’ve found some of them to be quite nice, I’ve yet to see photo software that can do anything photoshop cannot do. So until photoshop starts holding me back, that’s where I’m staying.
