Photo by Claudio Matsuoka (used under the CC-Attr-2.0 license)
Well, after getting a lot of e-mails lately asking about my gear, I decided to put together a sort of “buyer’s guide.” It’s basically a detailed list of everything I use to capture natural light. Everything from books to cameras, lenses, and filters.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll find in this 13-page document:
- Camera body: why it’s not as important as lenses
- Lenses: what they’re good/bad for, and sample photos
- Filters: what they do and why multicoated filters are superior
- Tripods: starter tripods and a light weight solution to avoid
- Accessories: backpacks, battery grips, and memory cards
- Books: from beginner to intermediate and advanced
Download the Buyer’s Guide Now!
Note: this guide is in Adobe PDF format, get the reader here
Important notes about this guide
- These are just my personal preferences. And although I use Canon, I don’t think any less of the other brands. How you use your camera is much more important than who made the camera.
- The links in this guide are affiliate links, but making purchases through these links helps support this website.
For more sample photos…
For some reason, the sample photos in this guide came out blurry (it’s a constant battle I’m having with Apple’s Pages and Adobe’s InDesign), so to see larger versions of the photos, and to look at more sample photos, please check out my Flickr photostream. You can click on the “More Properties” link on the right hand side to see what lens I used for each photo.
Please tell us what you think!
Since this is the first version of this guide, I’d love to hear what you think about it, so I can make the next version better! What do you like? What would you like to see more of? Is there a category I missed? How’s the layout? I value any kind of feedback, thanks!
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About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, computer scientist, and founder of PhotoNaturalist. You can usually find him hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains or the Mojave Desert, both located in the beautiful state of California.
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- 5 reasons to minimize your camera gear
- Happy Holidays from PhotoNaturalist!
- “Wow, you must have a really good camera!”
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
great buyers guide!!! thanks for sharing it with us!
Wow Steve, much more information than I had expected. Really great stuff. Thanks for putting it together. BTW Kelby’s 3rd books is now shipping. I got my copy late last week. Peterson also has a new one coming out soon.
I am so appreciative of your time and effort to share your skills and expertise! The hubs and I are traveling to Alaska next summer and I have been honing my skills, renting lenses, and reading reading reading to be as prepared as possible! Your site/daily feed are proving immensely helpful; thank you!
Great guide! A must have for a beginner like me.
@Zack – thanks for letting me know about Kelby’s new book being out already.. for some reason I thought it was coming out in September. I’ll have to order it and write up a review in a few weeks
@Gina – Thanks so much for your nice comment! Your Alaska trip sounds awesome! I’m hoping to make it up there sometime soon.
@Andi / @Nikhil – Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Steve! Your guide is awsome. A lot of wisdom that will be useful when I buy my cannon camera.
Thanks Steve, I just purchased a Canon T1i with the EF-S 18-55mm IS lens, a big move from my Powershot S3 and your Buyers Guide will be a great help in determining the next lens I buy.
BTW, I was unable to find the lenses you used on the photostream link in “more properties.” Am I overlooking it?
Love your site and I amazed at the amount of relevant information you have provide. Thanks again.
@Phil – Good camera choice
That “more properties” link is pretty well hidden unfortunately.. if you go to a photo page like this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveberardi/4033136443/
Look on the right hand side of the page, under the tags, and under “Additional Information”.. you’ll see a line where it says “Taken with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.” right under that is the “more properties” link which will give you all the info on the photo.
Thanks for the nice comment, and glad you’re enjoying the site!