What's In My Camera Bag?
Below you’ll find all the information and links to the gear that I take with me on my adventures!
While this is everything that I own and use, you don’t by any means need to buy all of it to take great photos and videos! This is my complete gear list and I definitely don’t bring it all out with me on every trip. I customize my bag for each adventure depending on what I’ll be doing and what the photo/video requirements are. Without further ado:
REI Roadtripper Pods to keep my accessories organized. I have a small and a medium. Obviously I had to go with the Mt. Rainier print!
Sony 2x Teleconverter is helpful for adding reach, but at a cost; unless I stop down to ~f/8 with a close-ish subject, it produces pretty soft images unfortunately. I’ve had better luck with the 1.4x and will honestly probably be trading my 2x in for the latter.
SanDisk Extreme Portable External SSD 1TB to back up and clear off memory cards when I’m on longer trips.
Eco-Fused Memory Card Case which holds 22 SD cards.
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art lens for astrophotography. It’s incredibly sharp, but also very heavy. It’s worth the extra weight when I know I’ll be shooting the milky way or aurora and need a wide field of view.
My wildlife go-to is the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM.
The lens that’s primarily on my camera is the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM.
I shot with a Sony a7R II from 2016-March 2019 when I upgraded to the Sony a7R III. I love the high resolution for the extra crop factor. It’s a major plus when shooting wildlife.
I adore the Peak Design strap system. I use the Peak Design Slide Summit Edition Strap which has extra padding around the neck. The ability to quickly connect and disconnect your strap is imperative and their system works flawlessly. I connect my strap to the left side and the bottom of my camera for comfortable crossbody wear.
Induro GIT303 Grand Series Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod with a Benro GH5C Carbon Fiber Gimbal Head is my heavy duty tripod setup for when my lightweight travel tripod won’t be stable enough. I use this for wildlife adventures as it handles longer, heavier lenses far better and the gimbal head is amazing for tracking animals.
I’m currently using a Vanguard VEO 2 265CB Tripod with Ball Head as my travel tripod, but I’m very intrigued by the new Peak Design Travel Tripod that just launched on Kickstarter.
It’s handy to have a ThinkTank Photo Emergency Camera Rain Cover on when shooting waterfalls or when it starts to rain.
I like to use a Peak Design Cuff Strap to secure my camera to my backpack when using a Capture Clip for extra security.
I always have a headlamp in my bag. I’m currently using a Black Diamond Iota Rechargeable Headlamp for shooting at night.
You never know what’ll happen out in nature, so I use Sony SF-G Tough Series UHS-II SDHC Memory Cards primarily.
I love Spudz Microfiber Cleaning Cloths for cleaning lenses and filters. They can attach to your bag for quick access.
Pixel TW-283/S2 Wireless Shutter Release Remote Control for selfies!
On longer trips I bring an Anker PowerCore 20,000mAh to keep my electronics juiced up.
Giottos AA1920 Rocket Air Blaster for removing dust on camera and lens sensors.
Allen wrench for tightening and loosening baseplates. I use the one that comes with Peak Design’s Capture Clip.
Peak Design Capture Clip to secure my camera to my backpack straps for quick access.
B+W 82mm XS-Pro UV Haze MRC-Nano Filter for protection on all of my lenses and the UV helps to remove the blue cast from daylight.
B+W 82mm XS-Pro HTC Kaesemann Circular Polarizer MRC-Nano Filter for added contrast and removing reflections/glare. This is on one of my lenses almost 100% of the time.
B+W 82mm XS-Pro MRC-Nano 810 ND 3.0 Filter (10-Stop) for long exposures such as waterfalls or clouds.
Which bag do I use?
Shimoda Explore 60 Backpack is my go-to adventure backpack. It holds a ton of equipment comfortably with amazing customization options. I typically use 2 small core units or 1 medium core unit to hold my camera gear depending on what I need to bring along. Using the 2 small core units, you can use the quick access side panel, which is great for those unexpected moments. The core units come with their own bags which turn into a small camera bag when you only need to bring a few things along during the day, which is awesome. These bags are also helpful when you have to take out your camera gear while being screened at the airport or have to gate-check your camera bag (which I’ve been forced to do).
We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!
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