Equipment I use

As I had mentioned in the introduction, I shoot with consumer quality equipment and not professional quality equipment so the photos that I take can be duplicated by anyone with a camera that can be bought at Walmart or Target. My camera is a Canon T4i that I bought as a kit from Costco. Since I bought it they have come out with a few newer generations but if you know how to use it you don’t need the newest camera. Another option if you do not want to spend the money and buy a brand-new camera, go to a local camera store and see what they have. You can usually find some good deals on used equipment, and it has been usually checked out. If you are in Bozeman Mt, Bozeman Camera and Repair Inc. is a great place to go. The lenses that I started with are the lenses that came with the camera, the 18-55mm and 55-250mm. Since,  I have added a 400mm Prime lens that I use for distance shooting of wildlife in the park. For those not familiar with the term prime, it refers to a lens with a fixed focal length as opposed to a zoom lens that most people may be used to.  The trick with this lens is that it is older and has no auto features and must be shot manually which we will discuss as time goes on. My other lens is a 90-300mm lens. I use all these for different types of shoots. They have different apertures which we will discuss the importance of later as well. In the next post we will discuss picking a camera and the pros and cons to different brands. So get out, have fun and take some pictures.

 Some times when you are trying to take pictures you get furry helper. Lets say she is not part of what I take on shoots when I go.

This is the basics of the setup that I bring. In the bag I have lens cleaners, battery chargers, a more basic Point and shoot, we will discuss the importance of that more soon as well, and spare lens covers, as I am good at loosing them.