My love for photography is one of the many ways in which I take after my father. I began taking photographs in 2001, on his Pentax K-1000 fitted with a 50mm f/2.0 lens. For macro photographs, I mounted the lens in reverse using an adaptor.
In 2003, my father purchased a Canon Powershot G5. Naturally, I used it every chance I got. The shift from film to digital brought with it a number of big changes, of which the fact that one could take a seemingly endless number of photographs without having to worry about the cost of developing film was very likely the most patently welcome one.
I purchased my first DSLR in 2009: a Canon EOS 7D, which I initially used in conjunction with the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro.
As my interest in nature macro photography grew, I began meeting other like-minded photographers (on the Internet and in person) and reading up on the various techniques and equipment they used. I tried various lenses, flashguns, and DIY diffusers with varying degrees of success, and slowly purchased the lenses that I believed would enable me to take the kind of photographs I wanted to.
One of the lessons I have learnt is that the gear does count. A lot of people have told me, “It’s only your skill that matters,” or other things to that effect. I do not believe this to be the case at all. While I do believe that skill and technique are vital to the making of a good photograph, they would not be of much use without the proper equipment. Please note, however, that by “proper equipment” I am by no means referring to one particular brand or product. One does not even need to use a “macro” lens for macro photography. A pie, after all, can be eaten in many ways. The bottom line is this: one’s choice of lenses and DSLR bodies should be based on what sort of photography one wishes to use them for.
My current gear includes the following:
Bodies
I use the 70D because I love many of its features, especially the articulating LCD screen for shooting in live-view mode.
Lenses
- Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX DG Macro HSM
- Canon MP-E65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro
- Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
- Helios 44-2 58mm f/2
- Sigma 2x EX DG APO Tele Converter
Lighting
- CanonSpeedlite 270EX (2 units)
- Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT
For macro photography, these are used with a DIY diffuser.
Bald Guy With a Camera 