Bull muskox on the windy, snow covered tundra of the arctic north slope, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/500 sec. @ f/8, ISO 400. The snow is quite hard and wind packed, which enables the feet of the animal to be seen, this is not an easily achieved task with muskoxen. I was traveling in my vehicle, so I was able to hike that day with my 500 mounted on my tripod and a waist belt with another lens or two. The 500 is one of my all time favorite lenses but sometimes the size and weight are factors that make me leave it behind on some trips. I don't use it just for wildlife, but find it useful for isolating subjects, either macro or telephoto compression landscapes.

Selecting cameras and lenses for a photo trip usually takes me longer than anticipated. If I’m working from my car, that’s a different story, since I can take everything I need, and pick and choose a subset of lenses or camera’s based on the day or moment’s activity. I own a lot of Canon lenses, but can’t realistically take them all on one trip, and secondly, some have specific applications. For example, I own the 100-400 f/5.6L IS, the 400 5.6L (non IS) and the 400 f/4L DO IS. I sometimes take the 100-400 for versatility, or I’ll take the 400 DO when I want the option of using a 1.4x and travel light, or I’ll take the 400 5.6 if I need a smaller and lightweight lens for backpacking. This same sequence is repeated with a few other lens configurations. Of course I have favorite lenses, and some I prefer for obvious reasons of quality and optical excellence, but sometimes slight compromises are made for flexibility and function.

I’m not a real prolific shooter when compared to some of my colleagues. And since I favor landscapes, I tend to shoot less volume than when shooting wildlife and moving subjects. In 2009, I kept 5,511 photos in my stock library. These are the edited down files I saved and I don’t know how many I deleted or moved to outtakes, but it was a lot more than what I kept! Here is the breakdown of the cameras and lenses I used and how many shots for each.

2009: 5511 Photos

CAMERAS

• EOS 5D Mark II – 1487
• EOS 7D – 86
• EOS 1D Mark III – 68
• EOS 1Ds Mark III – 3867

LENSES

• 16-35 f/2.8L II – 841
• 24-70 f/2.8L – 87
• 24-105 f/4L – 1718
• 24 f/1.4L II – 81
• 70-200 f/2.8L IS – 713
• 70-200 f/4L IS – 21
• 100-400 f/5.6L IS – 726
• 100 f/2.8 Macro – 21
• 300 f/2.8L IS – 221
• 400 f/5.6L – 97
• 500 f/4L IS – 915
  • 300 with  w/1.4x
  • 17  w/2x

2008: 4465 Photos

CAMERAS

• EOS 5D Mark II – 4
• EOS 1D Mark III – 74
• EOS 1Ds Mark III – 4385

LENSES

• 16-35 f/2.8L II – 319
• 24-70 f/2.8L – 18
• 24-105 f/4L – 1525
• 24 f/1.4L  – 46
• 24 f/3.5L TS  – 7
• 70-200 f/2.8L IS – 381
• 70-200 f/4L IS – 21
• 70-300 f/5.6L DO – 72 (This lens was stolen and I did not replace it, therefore not used in 2009)
• 100-400 f/5.6L IS – 643
• 100 f/2.8 Macro – 19
• 300 f/2.8L IS – 186
• 400 f/5.6L – 67
  • 12 w/1.4x
• 500 f/4L IS – 915
  • 336 with  w/1.4x
  • 54  w/2x