I do 99% of my photography in the outdoors, so I place heavy demands on the equipment I use. This includes not only my camera and lenses, but all of the supporting gear I use which can often be more important than the camera depending on the circumstances. Over the years, I’ve come to rely and trust certain items that are a mainstay of my “field kit” and I thought I would share those with you here. This is not an exhaustive list of what I’ve tried or used in the past, but definitely what I grab when I’m getting ready to embark on a photo trip for a day or a month.
Many have asked me why I haven’t talked about gear and equipment in the past, and it’s simply because I prefer to focus on the “making” of images, and not so much the tools we use to make them with. Nonetheless, the quality of the equipment available today is amazingly good, and I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t prefer the convenience and creative options they offer today. So here’s my current 2009 field kit…
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My current printers are a Epson R2400 and Canon ipf5000, and I purchase a lot of paper (and ink, but that’s another issue). The selection of papers is staggering these days, with more choices becoming available faster than I can keep up. I’ve done a significant amount of printing recently, needing many prints for the art shows I was exhibiting in this year, as well as two galleries that are carrying my photography. This is in addition to my normal printing for customers, so I’ve had a chance to try a bunch of different papers and here are some of my impressions and preferences.
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Canon finally released their official report on the longevity of their Lucia inks which are used in their pro level printers including my recently purchased iPF5000. The test was conducted by Wilhelm Imaging Research, an image testing company that provides contract testing to clients on the stability and preservation of traditional and digital color photographs and motion pictures. The company publishes brand name-specific permanence data for desktop and large-format inkjet printers and other digital printing devices. This report was long long overdue and very much anticipated by everyone in the industry since the permanence of inks and papers is so important when selling fine art photography. The great news is that the Lucia inks were rated to approximately 100+ years for colorfastness, meaning no fading or other degradation of the print. This means my customers can be free of any worries about the quality and permanence of my fine art prints.
