Kit bag essentials

Kit Bag Essentials

Really all you need is a camera and a lens, but there are a few extra pieces of kit that I find really helpful to have. These will make achieving a beautiful photograph a little easier - especially if you are shooting outdoors.

Spirit Level Bubble

Helps you to quickly make sure that your horizons are exactly where they should be, and that you're level.

Lens Cleaning Cloth and Blower Brush

Frequently cleaning your lens and removing dust will help to keep it in good working order and avoid unwanted dots on your images.

Pencil and Notebook

It can be useful to make a note of what you're photographing, or you may want to make a record of your f-stops or shutter speeds.

Memory Cards

Always make sure you have plenty of memory cards so you're not limited in the amount of photographs you can take.

Wimberley Plamp

A clamp that can be used to keep plants in place, or to hold equipment such as reflector cards or diffusers.

Tripod

I like to use a geared head tripod, as this enables you to make very controlled adjustments to the angle of view.

Cable Releases

If you're using a slow shutter speed, you might want to avoid touching the camera as doing so could blur the image. I find a cable release is a great way to remotely and precisely fire the shutter.

Kit Recommendations

Bag

F-stop camera backpack Tilopa 50 Litres

Really important to have a good backpack if you are planning on carrying more than a camera and a lens. This range of camera backpacks from F-stop are incredibly well made with the photographer's comfort and needs at the forefront of their design.

Camera

I use a Nikon D850 so very much in the DSLR camp. If buying new I would recommend a mirrorless system as all the lenses are now geared towards this.

Nikon Z5, Z 7ii or Nikon Z8

Lenses

Nikon Z 24-70mm F/4 S Z Mount Lens (F2.8 will cost you an extra £1,000 but not always needed for Garden Photography).

Sigma 105 macro lens

Tripod

Gitzo or Manfrotto, value option for this would be Manfrotto 055 or Gitzo for top end. I would only recommend a geared head as this is invaluable. Manfrotto Junior geared head is perfect.

Plamp

Wimberley Plamp

Spirit Level

Kaiser Spirit Level

Memory Cards

Keep to Sandisk and don't scrimp on memory cards as they can become corrupted. 64 gb is usually a good size for still.

Rocket Blower Brush

Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blower

Cable Release

Nikon MC-DC2 Remote Trigger Cord For Nikon