Equipment Used

As I lecture and exhibit around the country I get asked a number of questions over and over, What Equipment and Film do I use? How do I get so close to my subjects?

Well, I use Nikon F100 SLR camera bodies, which are 35mm auto focus, together with a full range of Nikor lenses ranging from 28mm wide angle up to 500mm telephoto. I can also use a couple of teleconvertors which takes the magnification up to 1000mm.

I use a set of three Nikon speedlite flashguns, one for fill-in, just to give a small amount of light on the subject, which on bright sunny days brings out greater detail on hair and feathers. All three guns for those times when the light is to low or when I attempt any night photography.

When using such well built cameras and heavy lenses, I need to hold them steady to avoid camera shake, so I use a Benbow, which is very heavy and stable tripod, which will allow me to shoot from as low as 12" off the floor and up to 5' high. My second tripod for its stability, strength and lightness to carry is the Gitzo carbon fibre.

To carry, keep and protected all this equipment I use Lowpro bags, from film storage to individual lens pouches to full backpacks, These bags are very tough and durable as well as being waterproof.

When shooting from my car I
use two methods to steady the camera

1) substancial window mount

2) bean bag (from Mike lane)

Film I use is almost 100% Fuji sensia slide film, 100ASA that I uprate to 200 if needed. I do on occasion use Velva, which is 50ASA film which really does give very sharp image with a strong colour rendition.

An other question asked is what about Digital? Well, I have just purchased a digital SLR a Nikon D100, which has a file size of 6.1 million pixels, and is totally compatible with all my other equipment, and thus some of the images you will see on this site could well have been taken on digital media.

Getting close to the subject on the hole takes time and lots of effort, the clothing I wear a long with the field craft I employ, together with good subject knowledge is the key to getting a good image.

My hides are all or almost all home made, a varity of styles for different subjects. From lying on the ground to being 60' up on scaffolding. I have thick plastic, coated with canvas ones for using in cold wet weather. I have light weight canvas hides for summer work and a portable wooden hide for any long-term projects. I do use one purchased hide which is a Kevin Kightly dome, which is very portable easy, and very light to carry. I also have canvas screens and army camouflage netting.