Take Your Best Shot

My Equipment and Techniques

I have deliberately avoided discussion of cameras, lenses, shutter speeds and f-stops throughout the book, feeling that such information distracts from the emphasis of the book, which is the creative aspects of image making. That said, I know that I am always curious about just how another photographer makes his/her images and with what equipment; so here, tucked in at the end of the book, is a short description of my own equipment and techniques.

It is now October 2007, and for the past three years I have been shooting almost exclusively with digital equipment. I simply found that for me, the quality I achieve with my digital work is better than what I was obtaining with film. In part, this has to do with the rapid advances in sensors and image processing, and is partly due to my frequent use of stitching to obtain higher quality results. But, mostly it is because since switching to digital, I have become dramatically more productive and successful.

Prior to switching to digital, I was strictly a black and white photographer. Color was for snapshots. Now, if an image doesn’t work in black and white, it may still work in color. More importantly, I can deliberately choose to record something that only works in color. This in itself increases my productivity rate at a shoot. Combine this with the speed at which I can make an image and start looking for the next image, or try a slightly different position or focal length (using zooms) for a possibly stronger ...