What’s in my bag?

The most frequent question I get asked is what gear I use for my photography.

To make it easy, I’ve created this page so you can find everything in one place.

Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase—at no extra cost to you.

These commissions help support both this website and my photography work.

Cameras

The Nikon Z8 is my primary camera, and I shoot with two of these bodies. Typically, I keep one paired with a long lens and the other with a shorter lens. I like having two of the same camera set with identical settings, so there’s no interruption or adjustment needed when switching between them.

The Nikon Z8 is a powerhouse mirrorless camera, offering the speed, reliability, and image quality of Nikon’s flagship Z9 but in a smaller, lighter body. It’s incredibly versatile—fast enough to keep up with wildlife in action, yet refined enough to handle landscapes and low-light conditions with ease. The autofocus is sharp and responsive, and the high-resolution files give me the flexibility to crop without sacrificing detail. It’s truly the perfect balance between performance and portability, making it my go-to choice in the field.

I use a Nikon Z6III when shooting people or in situations where I need to travel with a smaller, lighter camera body. It’s a great complement to my Z8s, offering excellent image quality in a more compact form. The Z6III performs really well in low light, making it a strong choice for indoor settings or evening shoots, and its fast autofocus makes it reliable for portraits and candid moments. I also love that it’s easier to pack when space and weight are limited, so it often comes along as my travel-friendly option.

Lenses

My most commonly used wildlife lens is the Nikon 600mm f/4. This lens delivers the highest quality, producing fast, tack-sharp images that are essential when photographing wildlife in motion. The reach it provides allows me to capture intimate moments with animals while still keeping a safe and respectful distance. Despite its size, it balances beautifully with my Z8, and the clarity, color, and detail it produces are unmatched. It’s my go-to lens for bears, wolves, birds, and other subjects where both speed and precision matter most.

My second most used lens is the Nikon 400mm f/2.8 with the built-in teleconverter. This lens is incredibly versatile—it gives me the speed and beautiful background blur of f/2.8 for lower light or artistic shots, but with the flick of a switch I can extend the reach to 560mm thanks to the built-in 1.4x teleconverter. That flexibility makes it a favorite when I need both range and creative options without switching lenses in the field. It’s also lightning-fast with autofocus, making it excellent for birds in flight, wildlife on the move, or any fast-paced action. The image quality is stunning, and I find myself reaching for it almost as much as my 600mm.

Sometimes I do trips where hiking is necessary to reach the subject, and carrying a heavy lens isn’t practical. In those cases, I use the Nikon 600mm PF, which is significantly lighter than the f/4 version and much easier to carry over long distances. Despite its smaller size, it still delivers incredible sharpness and reach, allowing me to capture detailed wildlife images without sacrificing portability. The Phase Fresnel (PF) design makes it ideal for travel or situations where weight and mobility are just as important as image quality. It’s the perfect balance of performance and convenience for more adventurous outings.

The Nikon 400mm f/4.5 is another excellent hiking lens. It’s even smaller and lighter than the 600mm PF, which makes it a fantastic option for long treks or travel when every ounce matters. While it doesn’t have quite the same reach, it’s perfect for subjects at closer distances and still delivers outstanding sharpness and clarity. I find it especially useful for birds, wildlife encounters on the trail, or moments when I want to stay nimble without sacrificing image quality. Its compact size makes it easy to carry all day, and it’s one of my favorite lightweight alternatives when I know mobility will be key.

The Nikon 70–200mm f/2.8 is always in my bag. This lens is a true workhorse—versatile, sharp, and reliable in just about any situation. I often use it for intimate landscapes, compressing scenes to highlight layers, textures, and light in a way that wider lenses can’t. It’s also one of my favorites for portraits of both people and wildlife when I want to capture detail with a beautiful, soft background. The fast f/2.8 aperture makes it great in lower light and gives me flexibility for creative depth of field. Whether I’m in the mountains, photographing wildlife at mid-range, or capturing candid moments on a trip, this lens earns its place every time.

Every once in a while, I love to shoot landscapes, and the new Nikon 24–70mm is always within reach. This lens is incredibly versatile, covering a wide-to-mid zoom range that makes it perfect for sweeping vistas, travel scenes, and even environmental portraits. It’s sharp across the frame, fast to focus, and handles changing light beautifully. I also love how compact and reliable it is—it’s the kind of lens that never leaves my bag because it can adapt to so many different situations, from sunrise landscapes to street scenes while traveling.

When shooting astrophotography, I like to go even wider with the Nikon 14–24mm f/2.8. This ultra-wide lens lets me capture vast landscapes and expansive skies all in a single frame, making it ideal for star-filled nights, the Milky Way, or dramatic foregrounds under the night sky. The fast f/2.8 aperture allows more light to reach the sensor, which is critical for low-light conditions, while still keeping stars sharp and clear. Beyond astro work, I also use it for unique perspectives in landscapes, interiors, and creative wide-angle shots where I want to emphasize scale and depth. It’s one of those specialty lenses that opens up an entirely different way of seeing the world.

Tripods & Ground Pods

After many years and many mistakes, I finally settled on what I believe to be the best tripod out there. The ProMediaGear Carbon Fiber tripod is incredibly sturdy, lightweight, and built to last. It handles heavy lenses with ease, even in challenging conditions like strong winds, uneven terrain, or icy ground. The carbon fiber design keeps it light enough to travel with, yet rock solid when I need absolute stability for wildlife, landscapes, or astrophotography. A good tripod is one of the most overlooked pieces of gear, and this one has been a game changer in both reliability and performance.

The Wimberley WH-200 Gimbal Tripod Head II with Quick Release Base is the tripod head I’ve relied on for the past eight years. It’s incredibly sturdy and well made, built to handle heavy super-telephoto lenses with ease. The gimbal design balances the weight of large lenses so that movement feels smooth and effortless, allowing me to track birds in flight, fast-moving wildlife, or shifting action without strain. Its durability has stood the test of time in every kind of weather, and it remains one of the most important pieces of gear in my setup.

I love shooting shorebirds low to the ground on their level. The Sand Surfer by Wild Lens Outfitters lets me shoot at ground level without worrying about sand, snow, or dirt. It’s lightweight, durable, and 3D printed from ASA for resistance to UV, thermal, and chemical wear. Designed for use with any tripod head or gimbal arm, it even has a carabiner loop for easy carrying.

For the Sand Surfer, I like to use a smaller, more compact gimbal head. The ProMediaGear Tomahawk is perfect for this—it gives me smooth movement and stability while keeping my setup lightweight and easy to manage in the field.

If I’m traveling and need an ultralight tripod, I use the Really Right Stuff Ascend-14 Long Travel Carbon Fiber Tripod. It’s compact, sturdy, and easy to pack, making it the perfect choice when weight and portability are a priority without sacrificing stability.

Filters

I’ve converted all of my filters over to Kase Magnetic Filters — and I’m obsessed. They’re quick to swap in the field (no more wrestling with filter threads while something amazing is happening ), they stay secure with a strong magnetic hold, and the image quality has been fantastic. It’s one of those upgrades that has made my workflow faster and way less frustrating — especially in windy conditions or when I’m shooting from awkward angles.

BAckpack

If you know me well, you know I’ve had a lot of experience testing camera backpacks. Let’s just say I could open a small museum with the number of “almost perfect” bags currently living in my attic. I’ve tried everything — the ones that look cute but destroy your shoulders, the ones that fit all the gear but not a snack (deal-breaker), and the ones that promise organization but somehow turn into a black hole of memory cards and lens caps.

But after all that trial and error, I’ve finally found a perfect backpack that works for real wildlife photography — the kind where you’re crawling in sand, hiking through snow, or racing to the other side of a river because a fox just changed direction. The Kiboko 2.0 30L+ Camera Backpack with Laptop Sleeve by Gura Gear has officially earned the top spot on my back. It’s light, it’s durable, it holds everything I need without making me feel like a turtle flipped on my shell… and the company was kind enough to give me a coupon code to share with you! Use code: AMYAMESPHOTOGRA for 10% off.

External Hard Drives

A good external hard drive is one of the most important pieces of travel photography gear. We spend thousands of dollars on trips, cameras, and lenses… but our images — the whole reason we do this — are often backed up on drives that just aren’t dependable.

After experiencing a hard drive failure (once is enough ), I dove deep into research to find something I truly trusted. I’m now three years into using Glyph drives and haven’t had a single issue. At home, I use a couple of the Glyph 8TB desktop drives to keep my archives safe, and on the road I rely on their rugged, travel-friendly drives so I’m never worrying about my files.

Cards

For SD cards, I use and highly recommend the:
Lexar 256GB Professional 2000x UHS-II SDXC — fast, reliable, and built to keep up with wildlife action.

For CFexpress cards, my go-to is the:
Delkin Devices 1TB BLACK CFexpress Type B — super durable and speedy enough for high-frame-rate bursts and 4K video.

Good cards are the quiet heroes of our workflow — not flashy, not glamorous… but the safety net our images deserve.