Episode 1: Pre-Production in Panama

PHOTO NOTES

A Geoffroy’s Tamarin perches at the edge of a wetland along the banks of Lago Gatun. Nikon Z9 + 120-300mm f/2.8 lens.

There is so much that goes into planning a photography trip. It doesn’t matter if you’re heading out for the afternoon in the field or taking off on a monthlong expedition to some exotic destination, when it comes to what we do, there are always decisions to make and chief among those is what equipment to bring and why.

In this very first episode of the PhotoWILD Podcast, recorded in a hotel room in Panama City overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we discuss how we go about making the gear related decisions that we choose.

Regardless of where you travel, deciding which gear to drag along always boils down to the conditions you will be working in and the subjects you will be working with.

Identify these things, and you will find you have a very clear road map to use when making gear related decisions.

In this episode, Jared and Annalise throw together a makeshift podcast studio in a hotel room in Panama City, Panama, to bring you a deep dive into the equipment considerations made for a trip like this.

Show Notes

In many ways, working in a place like Panama is not all that different from any other photography destination in that there is enough diversity to warrant real consideration as to what lenses to bring based upon the types of images you want to create and the types of species you are hoping to have access to.

Whenever we are working in the rainforest, or any other environment we expect to be photographing in low light situations, both of us prioritize bringing the fastest glass possible. In terms of telephoto lenses, that means f/2.8.

The difference between being able to photograph with f/2.8 versus something like f/5.6 can mean the difference between using ISO 5,000 and ISO 20,000.