My Gear

For birds, dragonflies, and other fast moving and/or distant animals I use a Canon R5.

Its fast frame rate at 12-20 frames per second, really helps to capture some exciting moments, such as an osprey splashing into the water to catch its next meal, or a Mississippi kite swooping down to grab a bug out of the air.

It also has great low light capabilities allowing for clear shots of prothonotary warblers in a shadowy wooded swamp.

Paired with my Canon R5 is the new Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM lens. This lens is amazing for its cost and helps me to reach out and capture some of the more skittish birds such as kingfishers. Its built-in image stabilization helps make up for its fixed aperture in darker conditions by letting me drop my shutter speed and avoid camera shake showing up in my images.

For smaller subjects, such as bugs, fungi and flowers, I use a Canon M6 Mark II. This little camera is very light and compact, making it easy to carry and its tilt-out screen helps me get good views on bugs without contorting my body into weird, painful angles. I did have to add a camera cage with an enlarged grip, from SmallRig, as my hands were a bit too large, and carrying the camera for long periods would cause my hand to cramp up. This makes the grip much more comfortable but unfortunately adds a fair bit of weight. This will be the first thing I will replace once I find a better option.

This camera is paired with a Laowa 65mm f/2.8 Macro lens. This lens is fully manual, but very sharp. Its compact size lets me get in super close without shaking the nearby plants and scaring off my subjects. Its 2:1 magnification makes tiny bugs look huge.

To help with the low light conditions of shooting macro, I have a Yongnuo yn24ex duel flash that I have modified a fair bit. So that the light from the flash is not too harsh, I always use it in conjunction with a DIY lens-mounted flash diffusor that I’ve made out of LED EVA foam.