Frequently Asked Questions
What’s in your bag?
Ok. Here you go. This is literally a list of what’s in my roller bag (and a half sometimes) right now!
- Bodies
- Canon 1D Mark IV
- Canon 5D Mk II
- Canon 7D
- Canon 5D
- Lenses
- Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L II
- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4:
- Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
- Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.4
- Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II
- Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 II
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
- Canon EF 135mm f/2.oL
- Lensbabies (Composer Pro, Muse, Scout, Control Freak)
- Flash, Triggers, etc.
- Sekonic L-358 Light Meter
- Canon Speedlite 580 EX II
- 2 x Canon Speedlite 430 EX II
- Canon Speedlite 580 EX II
- Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2
- 2 x Lowel id-Light Video Lights
- 2 x Sunpak RL-20 Readylight Vido Lights
- PocketWizard MiniTT1
- 2 x PocketWizard FlexTT5
- 3 x PocketWizard AC-3 Zone Controller
- Canon Flash Batter Pack CP-E4
- 4 x Stofen Diffusers
- Honl Photo Speedstrap, ¼’ Grid Spot, and 8” Snoot
- Rosco Gels & Gel Packs
- The Rest of the Stuff
- Singh-Ray Vari-ND Filter (low profile)
- Canon Circular Polarizing Filters (various sizes)
- Expodisc White Balance Filter
- Lens Hoods and Caps for all Lenses
- Canon Timer Remote TC-80N3
- ~100 Gb of Lexar and Sandisk Pro CF Cards
- Hoodman Loupe
- Small HD DP6 Monitor
- Extra batteries for All Bodies, Flashes, Meter, Timer, ST-E2, PocketWizards
- Battery chargers for all camera bodies
- Battery charger for recyclable AA batteries
- 2x Manfrotto Quick Release Plates
- Manfroto Mini Table-top Tripod
- 2 x Riley G Quick Release Straps
- Binoculars
- Screwdrivers
- Penlight
- Plastic bags and Ziploc bags
- Lens & Camera Cleaning Supplies
- Rocket Blower
- Notepad & Pen
What’s in your studio?
I shoot 70-80% of the time on location but here’s my basic studio kit, much of which is designed to travel with me quickly!
- Small Lights (SpeedLights)
- See What’s in My Bag above
- Studio Strobes & Power
- AlienBees Flash Units: 1 x B400, 2 x B800, & 2 x B1600s, 2 x Einstein 640
- AlienBees ABR800 Ringflash & Moon Unit
- 2 x AlienBees Vagabond II Portable Power Packs
- 1 x AlienBees Vagabond Lithium Mini
- Modifiers
- AlienBees Beauty Dish
- AlienBees Open Reflectors
- AlienBees Grid Spots
- 2 x AlienBees 64” Silver 16 Rib Parabolic Umbrellas w/ Diffuser
- Alien Bees 2×3 Softbox
- Larson Softboxes: 1 – 4×6, 2 – 3×4, 1 – 2×3, 2 – 14×48 with egg crates
- Larson 52’ Hex Starfish
- Various Shoot Through Umbellas
- Reflectors & Scrim
- Lots of Black and White Gator Board and Foamcore
- Larson 36” Square and 42×72 Reflectasol with Various Skins
- 2 x California Sunbounce 3×4 Mini with Various Skins
- California Sunbounce 4×6 Pro with Various Skins
- California Sunbounce 4×6 Sun-Swatter
- California Sunbounce Sun-mover
- Lastolite Tri-grip
- Westcott 5-in-1
- 2 – 18×24 Mirror Surface Plexiglass
- 2 – 4×6 Scrim Jims
- Flag & Scrim Kit
- Triggers
- 3 x PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers
- Misc
- 2 x Bogen Tipods and Quick Release Plates (don’t ask me the model numbers but one has the one button collapsible legs which I love!)
- 2 x Bogen Boom Arms
- 10-12 x Larson & Bogen C-stands, 13’ Light Stands, and Foldable Light Stands
- 2 x Background Support Systems
- B/W/L-Grey/D-Grey & Various Colors of Seamless Paper
- Ladder
- Makeup Tables
- Clothes Racks
- Clothes Steamer
- Mirrors
- 3M Roll Cart
- Power Chords & Power Strips
- Sandbags
- Variable Speed Fans
- Various Gel Packs and Lots of CTO
- Gaffers Tape!
- Clamps of Various Sizes!
- My MacGyver Box (don’t ask me what’s in there but you need one!)
What’s in your computer?
I have multiple computers including two laptops and an iMac. This is the workhorse though. My digital darkroom is in my home in a loft where I spend far too much time.
- Hardware
- Mac Pro Tower (2 x Quad Core Intel Xeon, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 Graphics, 4 x Internal 1 TB Drives)
- 100+ TB External Storage (Combination of 2xDrobo Pro, Drobo II, and LaCie Raid USB Drives)
- 2 x Apple 23” LCD Cinema Display
- Apple Bluetooth Full Keyboard with Photoshop Keys and FinalCut Skin
- Intuos5 – 10×15 Pen Tablet & Mouse
- Digital Darkroom
- Adobe LightRoom
- Lightroom Presets
- Kevin Kubota
- Focht
- DesignHouse
- Public Domain
- My Own!
- Adobe Photoshop
- Photoshop Actions, Tool Presets, Scripts, Textures, Borders, etc.
- Mark Johnson
- Kevin Kubota (Everything he has!)
- designHouse
- Craig’s Actions / CMA
- Pioneer Woman
- Yervant
- Fundy & Focht
- My Own!
- Ron Nichols Retouching & Fine Art Pallettes
- Fundy Album Design
- Yervant PageGallery4
- Apple iMovie, iTunes, iDVD
- LimeWire
- Final Cut Pro
- Animoto
- emotion
- FotoMagico
- iStopMotion
Who are your referred vendors and suppliers?
I try to keep my vendor list to a minimum and seek out high quality suppliers to meet with my target clientele’s (and mine I suppose) demands!
- Albums
- Finao
- Iris Books
- Vision Art
- GraphiStudio
- PhotoBook Press
- Book Couture
- Cypress Albums
- DVD Covers
- Loktah
- Labs
- WHCC
- MpixPro
- Simply Canvas
- Canvas on Demand
- WaxWorks
- Collaboration
- uReach
- YouSendIt
- MuseWorx
- Google Calendar
- TadaList.com
- Branding & Marketing
- Brand Envy
- Lost Luggage
- Agency Access
- Hosting
- ZenFolio
- BluHost
- Blogs & Community
- ProPhoto
- WordPress
- Vimeo
- YouTube
- Web Design
- iHouseDesign
- LiveBooks
- BluDomain
- General Procurement
- B&H
- Adorama
- Camera Equipment & Lenses
- Canon
- Filters
- SinghRay
- Lighting
- AlienBees
- Profoto
- Bags & Cases
- Pelican
- ThinkTank
- LowePro
- Reflectors
- California Sunbounce
- Larson
- Lastolite
- Lightstands & Tripods
- Bogen / Manfrotto
- Larson
- Softboxes
- Larson
- Alienbees
- Straps
- Riley G
- California Sunbounce
- Frames
- Wild Sorbet
- Computer HW
- Apple
- Editing Software
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop
- Kubota Actions & Presets
- See What’s in My Computer section
- Services
- Animoto
- Rentglass.com
What resources would you recommend for reference?
In this day and time, everything you ever wanted to know about is at your fingertips. Still, there is no substitute for doing it and interacting with other humans. Don’t forget to step away from the computer and go live it!
- The Mindful Eye (tmelive.com)
- Mark Johnson’s Blog (msjphotography.com)
- NAPP (photoshopuser.com)
- Photoshop TV (photoshopusertv.com)
- Lynda Online (lynda.com)
- Photo Mentor (photographymentor.com)
- Strobist (strobist.blogspot.com)
- A Photo Editor (aphotoeditor.com)
- PPA (ppa.com)
- PDN (pdnonline.com)
- Photo Workshop (photoworkshop.com)
- The Candid Frame (thecandidframe.com)
- Shoot Smarter (shootsmarter.com)
- JPG Magazine (jpgmagazine.com)
- Flash Flavor (flashflavor.com)
- Aperture (aperture.org)
- After Capture (aftercapture.com)
- Joe McNally’s Blog (joemcnally.com/blog)
- Vincent Laforet’s Blog (blog.vincentlaforet.com)
- GQ (gq.com)
- Profoto Blog (blog.profoto-usa.com)
- Sekonic Blog (sekonic.wordpress.com)
- PocketWizard Blog (pocketwizard.wordpress.com)
- Studio Lighting (studiolighting.net)
- Photo JoJo (photojojo.com)
- Scott Kelby’s Blog (scottkelby.com/blog)
- Media Storm (mediastorm.org)
- Inside the Photographer’s Studio (digitalphtopro.com)
- F Stop Beyond (fstopbeyond.tv)
- Lighting Essentials (lighting-essentials.com)
- Design Scene (designscene.net)
- Squeeze The Lime (squeezethelime.com)
- Million Looks (millionlooks.com)
- Tim Grey’s Blog (timgrey.com/blog)
- Photoshop Mama (search it on YouTube)
What books would you recommend?
I read a wide variety of stuff. Wish I could read more. This is my list from the last 3 years or so. My Kindle has 10 books on it, each of which has been read only about 10%. I need a reading vacation!
- The E-Myth (revisited) – Michael Gerber
- LoveMarks – Kevin Roberts
- The Purple Cow – Seth Godin
- The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
- A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
- The Intention Experiment – Lynne McTaggart
- The Field – Lynn McTaggart
- The Untethered Soul – Michael A. Singer
- Energy Leadership – Bruce D. Schneider
- The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch
- Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
- The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
- Fast Track Photographer – Dane Sanders
- Within the Frame – David DuChemin
- The Moment It Clicks – Joe McNally
- The Hot Shoe Diaries – Joe McNally
- Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
- The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
- Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
- The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
- No Man’s Lands – Scott Huler
- Collapse – Jared Diamond
- Getting Things Done – David Allen
- Ready for Anything – David Allen
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
- Margin – Swenson
- The Celestine Prophecy – James Redfield
- It’s Not About the Bike – Lance Armstrong
- Now Discover Your Strengths – Buckingham
- First Break All the Rules – Buckingham
- The 80/20 Principal – Richard Koch
- The Success Principals – Jack Cranfield
- The Etiquette Advantage in Business – Peggy and Peter Post
- Understanding Exposure – Peterson
- Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait – Michael Grecco
- Pricing Photography – Heron and MacTavish
- Powerful Days – Charles Moore
What magazines to you subscribe to or regularly read?
I strongly believe in feeding my subconscious mind. I subscribe to tons of magazine and religiously tear thousands of images a month. Anything that moves me gets a rrrrip!
- Photography
- PDN
- Aperture
- Photoshop User
- Layers
- Digital PhotoPro
- Professional Photographer
- Rangefinder
- After Capture
- Other
- Allure
- Cosmopolitan
- Harper’s Bazzar
- Architecture Digest
- Men’s Fitness
- Men’s Health
- Men’s Journal
- Maxim
- GQ
- Esquire
- Vogue
- Men’s Vogue
- Playboy (for the lighting of course!)
- Details
- Glamour
- Elle
- Lucky
- Marie Claire
- W
- New Beauty
- Self
- Vanity Fair
- InStyle
- Outside
- Nylon
- Real Simple
- Parents
- Parenting
- Cookie
- Brides
- Modern Bride Real Simple Weddings
- Wedding Style (Grace Ormondo)
- Wedding Style Guide
- Weddings Unveiled
- Real Weddings
- Every mail order catalog you can imagine
What professional associations do you belong to?
- PPA
- WPPI
- NAPP
What other photographers inspire and/or influence you?
I get this question all the time. I can never answer. I’m horrible at remembering names and I look at so much imagery, I can never connect the dots. I am convinced it all influences me at some level even subconsciously. I rarely consciously think of any particular visual artist. Anyway, this is a dump of my bookmarks from the past two years. At some point, everyone on this list moved me in some way to bookmark them (warning – that doesn’t mean I did so for positive reasons). Check them out for yourself and make your own call.
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