The free-range photographer way is to use the fewest tools possible to create high quality natural light images.

I carry one camera at a time with a handful of prime lenses in a shoulder bag. With this setup I am light and perfectly mobile all day. I never stop my storytelling to manage a bulky equipment case.

I cannot understate the value of keeping yourself available to make images at all times.

DIGITAL SLR: Canon

Canon 5DmkII 21mp DSLR 

I expect to use this extraordinary camera for many years to come. Its high ISO performance comfortably handles every situation I’m going to see on a wedding day. I now shoot at ISO 3200 without much hesitation, a dream for a natural light specialist. Plus the full frame sensor’s awesome resolution and color rendering can keep up with the performance of my lenses.

To make manual focusing easier I added the Canon Eg-S precision matte screen. The extra clarity and brightness is a necessity.

 PRIME LENSES: Carl Zeiss ZF Series

 

 

28mm 2.0 Distagon   |   35mm 2.0 Distagon   |   50mm 2.0 Makro-Planar  |  85mm 1.4 Planar

100mm 2.0 Makro-Planar

 

These manual focus Carl Zeiss prime lenses represent my heart and soul. They are responsible for virtually all the images I make on a wedding day.

To my knowledge I am the only wedding photographer in the world who predominately uses these manual focus lenses when shooting weddings.

I can’t imagine using anything but Zeiss. Here’s why:

• BOKEH. I discovered the Zeiss look by investigating the tools used by many of my favorite historic photographers. I admired their seductively smooth out-of-focus areas. Zeiss backgrounds and highlight edges are gentle and natural, not busy, electric, squeaky, or jarring like the look I was getting from other lenses. Once I learned that Zeiss was the common element in the work I loved I immediately taught myself to focus manually and began experimenting with their historic and modern lenses.

• RESOLUTION AND DETAIL. In almost all cases my Zeiss primes are as sharp or better than their best competitors. I know firsthand because I’ve owned everything (as I mention in the book). But sharpness is only part of image character. Zeiss lenses show very linear performance from the dark shadows to the highlights. Other makers’ lenses seem to have a sort of S-curve built in, adding contrast that turns the shadows into deep blacks. This creates a very powerful digital look but it doesn’t suit me.

• MICROCONTRAST. Zeiss’ 35mm lenses offer exceptionally fine tonal separation between small details. This under-appreciated property (described on Luminous Landscape) helps creates lifelike depth and dimension in images. The best way to understand this is simply to increase the Clarity slider in your raw processor – that’s microcontrast. The difference is that it looks far better when your lens does it. Much like high-definition TV, polarizing sunglasses, and good speakers, everyone enjoys lens microcontrast when they experience it… even if they can’t grasp why.

• COLOR CONSISTENCY. Most of the lenses lines I’ve worked with in the past had considerable temperature variations from one focal length to the next. This nearly drove me insane during color correction; one lens in my bag might be warmer, another would have a bit more cyan. Zeiss lenses, thanks in part to the famous T* (pronounced ‘t-star’) coating, are highly matched. It is now nearly impossible for me to tell which lens made a given image based on its color rendition alone.

• PRECISION ENGINEERING. These lenses are made of metal, not plastic. So are the hoods. The focusing rings are ultra-silky and designed for fine adjustments, completely different than popular autofocus lenses. This is old school German craftsmanship at its best.

ZOOM LENS: CANON EF

 

 Canon 70-200mm 2.8LII IS

 

There is no Zeiss counterpart in the telephoto range but I’m quite pleased with the performance of Canon’s white elephant. (Its wrist-torturing weight is another story.) This lens is a killer, a significant improvement over the original version. The only time it comes out is during the ceremony and I do use the autofocus.

As a solo shooter it’s crucial for me to cover a lot of ground and create variety even when my movements are somewhat restricted. This lens helps a lot.

 DIGITAL ACCESSORIES

 

Canon 580EX Strobe with Canon CPE-4 Battery Pack 

Canon’s E-TTL lights simply work, accomplishing everything I need during the evening. Thanks to Sanyo’s Eneloop line I never even change batteries.

A Radiopopper PX transmitter and receiver set allows me to manually adjust my light levels and/or use E-TTL without any fiddling or concerns about maintaining a clear line of sight between my master and slave.

Typically I’ll mount a strobe on a stand or a Justin clamp (Manfrotto 175F) and keep one on my camera.

 

SanDisk 32GB UDMA CompactFlash cards 

I use big SanDisk cards – each holds around 1100 RAW images, making two cards ample for a full wedding day. I’m sure eventually I’ll move to the 64GB versions. The prices have come down quite a bit but they’re still pretty darn expensive.

Some photographers have concerns about keeping so many RAW images on a single card – the same concerns they had when 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB cards were released. I don’t worry about it. I’ve never had a problem because I always buy authentic Sandisk cards from one an authorized reseller.

LESSON: The unusually cheap ones on eBay are too good to be true – they’re counterfeit and do not bear the manufacturer’s serial number on the spine. I learned this the hard way years ago, thankfully with a full recovery.

Ultimately you should do whatever lets you sleep peacefully at night. The free-range photographer way is about reducing the number of tools you carry and reducing your level of stress.

MEDIUM FORMAT FILM SLR: Mamiya

 

 

Mamiya 645 AFD medium format SLR
Mamiya Sekor 55mm 2.8, 80mm 2.8, and 150mm 3.5 lenses 

I shoot film primarily for engagement portraits as a unique compliment to my clients’ digital wedding images. This camera handles just like an oversized DSLR, making it perfect for a hybrid style. It’s fully electronic with autofocus, automatic film advance, multiple metering modes, and aperture/shutter priority autoexposure.

Medium format uses a different scale than 35mm. In your hands the Mamiya 55-80-150mm lens trio is almost identical to my Canon/Zeiss 35-50-100mm f/2.0 combo in field of view (what you see) and depth of field (what’s in focus). Even Mamiya’s lenses are nearly the same weight and size. I can switch between systems at will without any mental effort.

The large viewfinder makes manual focusing nearly effortless, something that cannot be said of 35mm digital bodies. To suit my working style I had Bill Maxwell of Maxwell Precision Optics create a brighter focusing screen for me. I further increased the brightness by having Bill Moretz of ProCamera install a brighter mirror. This mirror replacement disables autofocus and spot metering, but I don’t mind because I wouldn’t use them anyway.

35mm Film Rangefinder: Konica Hexar AF

Konica Hexar AF

This little guy is a pleasure to use. It is the quietest rangefinder you can buy (including the Leica M6), thanks to a ‘silent mode’ that makes the shutter and film advance virtually inaudible in normal shooting conditions. It has a very sharp fixed 35mm 2.0 lens and autofocus so I can shoot with zero effort. The Hexar AF (not to be confused with the Hexar RF which accepts Leica lenses) is renowned as a candid street camera, but I use it for environmental portraits.

The cost of shooting, developing and scanning 35mm film is so much less than medium format that I can supplement my medium format sessions with this camera without worrying about all the film I’m burning through.

CREDIT DUE: This picture of the camera is not mine – it was made by Ray Pempengco who also wrote an outstanding review of the body.

FILM STOCK: Kodak Tri-X

 Kodak Tri-X 400 

I shoot only black and white film. When done properly its radiant whites, luxuriously smooth greys, and rich blacks are just beautiful, unlike anything I’ve been able to accomplish digitally.  Black and white photography is the reason I became a photographer.

I shoot Tri-X for a bunch of reasons:

• The Tri-X Look. I love ‘classic’ monochrome photography (just check the book reviews) and Tri-X carries some of the best qualities of that look. The film appears to have a thousand shades of gray. It’s been available in some form for more than 70 years, as close to a timeless tool as I’m going to get. Plus, very few BW stocks are still alive and Tri-X probably has the longest remaining life of any of the survivors.

• Great Latitude. Tri-X can be pushed two stops easily. Even if I miss my exposure the film holds up pretty well and allows me to get a workable scan.

• Easy Developing. Tri-X is so common that every lab is accustomed to seeing it. It’s very forgiving so it’s hard for a lab to botch. Right now I’m telling my lab to use Kodak’s Xtol to develop it because I really like this combination.

• The Pursuit of Mastery. I’ve tried lots of films. I want to become very good with one. That’s going to take a long time so I can’t divert my attention by messing around with other films. Mary Ellen Mark only shoots Tri-X. If it’s good enough for her…

FILM SCANNER: Epson V700

Epson V700 Flatbed Scanner

 

I scan my own film by hand. Color film can be easily processed and scanned in one shot by a lab with a Noritsu or Fuji Frontier scanner and come out looking great. Black and white film is far more difficult to scan.

Automated lab results often come back with badly reduced contrast and black points, unpleasant grain/artifacts, and none of the lustrous silver qualities I love. I have yet to see a minilab demonstrate any ability to reliably compensate for poor exposures. On top of this, pro-level labs charge upwards of $20 to develop and scan a single roll of 120 film.

There’s no point in shooting film (which is a small hassle and a larger expense) if I can’t get precisely the look I want, so scanning is the only option. The Epson V700 gives me everything I want in terms of resolution and image quality. Every film frame on this site was scanned with it.

I use Silverfast AI software to operate the scanner.

Gear Bag: Think Tank

Think Tank Airport Security International Bag 

I own great bags and backpacks from Domke, LowePro, and Tamrac – each serves a purpose. But Think Tank Photo’s airplane-stowable roller is the most durable and versatile I’ve owned. Right now I’m using it primarily to keep my strobes, light stands, and backup cameras on the wedding day. For flights to weddings I’ll just put my light stands in a checked bag and use the Think Tank to carry my main kit onto the plane.

I rarely use the cable lock or the zipper lock domestically, but overseas they do make me feel better (but not great) about leaving my bag in a hotel room.

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