This is My Story
Chris Hurst in an amateur nature and wildlife photographer from Minnesota. Growing up near the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, nature has always been a part of my life. Besides photography I also enjoy hiking, hunting and fishing. I have been waterfowl hunting with my dad since I was very young, and my photography started as a way to hunt ducks when the season was closed.
- Photographer 90%
- Waterfowl Hunter 77%
- Entrepreneuer 80%
- Geek 99%
Exactly 346%
My Photography Equipment
People often inquire about what camera gear I use, here is a brief list.
Camera Bodies
Canon EOS 7D Camera Body
A crop sensor DSLR camera body made for a wildlife photographer. It has an advanced autofocus system and can take up to 8 fps of continuous photos to keep up with the action. If you are considering buying a “Rebel”, look at a used or refurbished 7D body instead.
Canon EOS 5D MkII Camera Body
I often carry this camera with me as a backup or secondary camera, paired with a wide angle zoom lens for landscapes or my 300mm f/4.0 lens for closeup and wider angle shots than my 7D + 300mm f/2.8 combo can provide.
Speedlites
Canon 580 EXII Flash
I often use this flash with an extender for wildlife photography when the light is less than favorable. This is a rather large flash, however it is very useful because it is extremely powerful and it can be used to remotely trigger other flashes.
Canon 430 EXII Flash
Smaller and less powerful than the 580 model, this little flash is still useful. It can be used as a remote slave and be triggered by the 580 EXII flash, or even by the build in flash from the 7D camera body.
Lenses
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens
An absolutely incredible lens, I often use it with 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters which makes it even more versatile. When combined with my 2 camera bodies, one being full frame and one crop sensor, it creates a combination which ranges from true 300mm to almost 1,000mm (Effective field of view).
Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM Lens
This lens has a closer minimum focus distance than the 300mm f/2.8 lens, very useful for closeup, and telemacro work where more depth of field is usually necessary.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens
A macro lens is designed to be able to focus on objects which are only inches from the lens, useful for closeup photography of very small objects. Commonly used to photograph flowers and insects, a macro lens is a very useful lens for any photographer. This lens really shines when used with a macro ring flash as well as extension tubes.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens
A fast (wide aperture) prime lens, I often use this lens for indoor photography such as cooking or family birthday parties. I like the quality of this lens over the 50mm f/1.8 lens which is too plast-icky for my taste. I like this lens because it has 58mm filter threads with are a very common size. I also really like the USM focusing which is much faster and quieter than the cheaper lens. I would recommend everyone have this lens or at least a 50mm f/1.8 if you cant spring for the f/1.4 model. I normally use this lens around f/2.0 or f/2.8 for increased depth of field and sharpness, however wide open at f/1.4 can help create some very creative effects.
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Lens
This lens is almost identical in size to the 50mm prime and is also very easy to carry due to size and weight. Especially useful with my full-frame 5D camera body, as a low light, indoor lens.
Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L USM Lens
A kit lens, but still an important lens to have. Most of the time I keep this lens attached to my 5D MkII camera body. It works well for everything from wide angle, landscape photos to portraits and even wildlife when you can get close enough.
Canon 17-40mm f/4.0L USM Lens
I really like this lens because it is well designed, solidly built and it does not extend externally like most zoom lenses. I have used this lens to take many of my favorite landscape photos. This lens goes almost everywhere with me, it only leaves my camera bag when it is getting used.
Want to learn even more about my photography gear?
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