In my Camera Bag

Photography Tools:

My Primary Camera:  Nikon D700 

My newest baby.... my gripped D700. It is a full-frame, high ISO, gorgeous clarity and white balance piece of beauty and art.  I. Love. It.  (don't worry my poor D90.... I still love you too).  Combined with my 50mm lens......  I am able to capture beautiful details with creamy backgrounds.  Love is the only way to describe it.  If you are wanting a little more.... this is is (unless of course you can afford the D3x).  ;)

 

My backup camera:  Nikon D90

So, here's my first camera -- my baby (the one I will carry for more than 9 months!).  I love it. It is a wonderful camera and I would recommend it for anyone.  I did as much research as I could possibly do before purchasing this baby, and although I could have spent more money for a better camera, this one really does all I need.  However, if you are in the market, I highly recommend the Nikon D7000.... it looks to be a great camera.

My primary lens:   Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Autofocus Lens

Since I bought this lens, it has rarely left my camera.  I use it for everything from newborns to landscapes and in between.  It is expensive.... and big.....  but I highly recommend it.   Although the f-stop is only 2.8, it remains constant throughout zooming so that exposure and settings stay the same ...no adjusting needed with zooming.  And a zoom lens comes in real handy when you're chasing little ones!  I LOVE this lens!

My secondary lens:  Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens

Here is the lens I use for most of my indoor work (taking pictures of food or fabric).  I had to return my first copy of this lens because of back-focusing, but the second copy is wonderful.  I need the 2 stops this lens gets me over the f/1.8 for indoor newborn shoots.  It is also wonderful for food photography and portraits.  It has super smooth bokeh and is sharp as a tack.

My macro lens:  Nikon Telephoto AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR (Vibration Reduction) Autofocus Lens 

And here is my lovely macro lens (or in Nikon lingo: micro lens).  I love it almost more than my camera (but without my camera, my lens would nothing, right?)  If you are looking for a macro lens, then this is it.  But be prepared to hold your breath, pray for no wind, and find something stable to lean against if you want those really up close shots (or use a  tripod, which is not always very handy when you are chasing a spider or bumble bee).  I don't even bother to take this lens out on a windy day (when is it not windy around here?).  This lens takes a good amount of light, so if you want to use it for macro things inside, I think you would have to get some good strong lighting.  I really love this lens, but that means you have to endure photo after photo of my flowers in macro.  Sorry (fingers crossed!)

 For Sale:
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II Zoom Lens

Here is the lens I've only used once since I purchased the 24-70mm. It is a good all around lens if you want to have just one lens to carry.  You can use it for everything from landscapes to upclose.  My camera originally came with an 18-105mm lens, and I really wanted to have more zoom.  So instead of purchasing a dedicated telephoto (another lens to switch out) I decided to get this one.  It is sharp and creates smooth bokeh when zoomed out.  If you are interested in purchasing please email me for info.

Editing Tools:

Here's where the editing begins.... I shoot in raw, then import to Lightroom and convert to DNG.  From there, it is super easy to enhance your photos with simple sliders and menus.  I highly recommend reading Scott Kelby's book on Lightroom 3 to get you going. 

From there I hop over to CS-5 if the image needs more.  I just started editing most of my photos in Photoshop CS-5 Extended.   This software is not as intuitive and PSE (below) but much more powerful and streamlined.

I used to edit my photos using Photoshop Elements 7.0 (PSE7).    When I first started out, I took an online class from Jessica Sprague that helped me learn the basics.  I highly recommend her classes (and best of all, this class was free).  Now this little software has found a home with my parents.

I get free actions for PSE7 from The Pioneer Woman and Coffeeshop.  I love them all.  I also get lots of other editing information from Coffeeshop (story boards, clipping masks, blog info) -- it's a great site for those of us with PSE (as opposed to those with Photoshop proper).  Rita helped write all the Pioneer Woman's actions for PSE.  Great site.

I get my free textures (and there are so very many) from Shadowhouse Creations.  I started following Jerry's blog not so many months ago when he had about 50 followers.  Now he has over 700.  He is very generous with all his free textures, layer masks, and story boards.  Another wonderful site.

I purchase my digital scrapbooking supplies from Jessica Sprague and Two Peas.  I'm sure there are many more places out there to buy from.  I got many of my free handwriting fonts form Kevin and Amanda, and most of my other fonts from Dafont (all free).

There you have it, my bag of tricks!