Beyond the Camera: All the Secondary Doo-dads! Stop the Insanity!

Tripods and Backpacks and Drones Oh My!

PHOTO JOURNAL 2026

James Bradley

8/20/20266 min read

Beyond the Camera: All the Secondary Doo-dads! Stop the Insanity!

Beyond the Camera: All the Secondary Doo-dads! Stop the Insanity!

In my previous post, I talked about the camera bodies and lenses I use along with some to the pros and cons of each in relation to my photography.

Cameras and lenses are only part of my crazy setup, and, trust me, I have all kinds of gear now because like most guys I like gadgets and toys. This whole picture taking thing has turned into a monster, or maybe It’s one I created. Who knows?

Besides the aforementioned stuff, I thought I needed all the tools. The ones that keep the camera steady in a fixed position, like my Manfroto tripod. I need the goody bag that carries everything into battle with all of the subjects I'd be shooting, my Thinktank 26L photography backpack. It identifies as a bag of holding. Let’s not forget the flying camera (DJI Mavic 3 Pro) that opens up whole new viewpoints. Oh, and did I mention editing software? This is a whole can of worms by itself, but it helps turn the original photographs into the finished images. Of course, it's not needed if I have a perfect shot coming straight out of the camera, which is a rarity.

Almost all of it comes with another steep learning curve, and all of it is exciting or practical and almost always expensive.

The Supporting Cast

Under normal everyday circumstances, people don’t think about tripods. This is all well and good until you start experimenting with 347 different kinds of photography and find out that you need one.

I have two Manfrotto tripods. One is an older model that I found on Facebook Marketplace. It is a great tripod, even though it weighs about 20~ lbs. It's kind of a dinosaur, but it's super solid and works well. The other one is newer and made by the same company. It’s another one that I picked up as a secondary buy when I went to pick up another item, a full-sized camera gimbal, which I also found on Facebook marketplace. Do you see the pattern here? Both of these have been helpful for low-light photography, moon shots, landscapes, long exposures, and shots where camera movement might ruin the image.

These heavy tripods give my cameras stability. Stability gives me options, unlike the lightweight Amazon special tripod, which weighs about as much as an obese toothpick. It gets blown over in a stiff breeze, but it worked when I needed it. I used the small tripod in Carlsbad when I was shooting up on top of a hill overlooking the city. I ended up tucking it down behind a concrete wall to keep it out of the wind which was causing a bunch of camera shake and wobble. I made do with what I had.

These all let me use slower shutter speeds without trying to hold the camera perfectly still, which can be very frustrating. They also give me more time to think about the composition instead of rushing to take the picture before my arms start shaking.

If you want to photograph the moon, shoot in low light, try long exposures, capture moving water, or carefully compose a landscape, a tripod becomes less of an accessory and more of a necessity.

The Drone

Susan and I bought ourselves a DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone for Christmas 2025. See, how I suckered her into the gear buying vortex? Sorry Dear….love you!

A drone is far from just being another camera. It completely changes the way you see a location. Some of the original photos I shot with it are simply amazing. It kind of goes back to seeing things differently. I get some super cool shots from 400 feet in the air. I mean REALLY cool! The shots of the west side of the Tetons come to mind. I was approximately fifteen miles away and the photos were fantastic!

From the air, landscapes, water, roads, fields, buildings, and mountains look totally different, that whole perspective thing ya know? Shapes and patterns that are completely invisible from the ground suddenly become an important part of the photograph.

It’s a new kind of story telling.

Drone photography has its own learning curve. It doesn't mean flying a drone automatically creates great pictures. Quite the opposite. While it takes great shots, I still had the three on board cameras to learn to shoot with. The three are a 24mm, a 70mm and a 166mm. Needless to say I have a lot of variation in learning here.

I have to think about weather, wind, batteries, regulations, safety, composition, light, and not doing anything stupid with an expensive flying camera.

Flying the drone is one skill.

Taking a good photograph or video with it is another.

I still have a ton to learn with both.

The drone has a lot of potential, especially for landscapes, farms, properties, travel, and places that cannot be fully shown from the ground. But it is not a shortcut.

It is another tool that requires practice.

Gimbal Gear

So, if I start buying gear, I try to buy all of it. I mean I need to cover every single solitary possible type of subject in photo or video format right? In my gear buying frenzy I acquired three different types: two cell phone gimbals, a full sized (camera) gimbal, and the flying gimbal, a.k.a. the drone.

Gimbals are designed more for video than still photography, but you know me. I can’t pass up a deal, can I? I’m physically not allowed. A gimbal helps create smoother movement and better-looking footage when you are walking, panning, or following a subject. Ninety-nine percent of the time when you see smooth footage in movies or on YouTube it has been shot with some sort of a gimbal.

I think I mentioned it before, but in case I hadn’t, when I originally bought the A6000 back in 2018, my intent was to build content for social media, and eventually add more video content to the Bradley Family Farm YouTube channel. So, the gimbals all had a place in my grand plan. I was gonna be a content creator! This logic justifies buying all of it, right? I mean I’ll use it “someday.”

Do I use every piece of support gear all the time? Not even. I dare say, I have a few pieces that I have never used, which leads me to another observation.

Some gear is useful only in certain situations. That doesn’t make it bad gear. It just means I need to understand when it makes sense to bring it out or even buy it. I should have asked myself several questions. When will I use it? How often will I use it? Will I use it at all?

Macro Equipment

Macro photography brought another collection of equipment into the mix.

A macro lens allows me to photograph tiny details that are difficult to see with the naked eye. Flowers, insects, textures, and small objects become entire landscapes when viewed close enough. Macro photography also makes focusing vastly more difficult.

At very close distances, the area that appears sharp can be extremely thin. Depending on the lens configuration sometimes focus can drop to less than 1 to 2 mm. Sometimes only a tiny section of the subject is in focus.

This is where a macro rail becomes useful.

Macro rails allow the camera to move forward or backward in very small amounts. It helps when taking a series of photographs for focus stacking, where multiple images are combined so more of the subject appears sharp. This may be one of the gear pieces I haven’t used, like ever.

Like most photography equipment, the macro rail does not automatically create a good photograph.

It’s supposed to give me more control.

I still have to understand focus, lighting, composition, and how to combine the images afterward.

Every new piece of gear seems to solve one problem while introducing three more things to learn.

The Backpack

At some point, after adding cameras, lenses, batteries, memory cards, filters, and accessories, I ran into a very basic problem. I needed a very purpose built carrying tool. How do I carry all this stuff without turning myself into a pack mule? Too late.


That is where my Think Tank 26L Bag of Holding comes in. With the exception of the cameras themselves, this has been the most used tool I have. It literally goes with me every time I leave the house.

A camera backpack is not the most glamorous part of a photography setup, but arguably it is the second most important (next to the cameras). It protects the equipment, keeps everything organized, and makes it easier to bring the right gear with me.

The problem with owning photography equipment: It doesn't help much if it is sitting at home.

This backpack allows me to carry a complete setup for wildlife, landscapes, travel, and those trips where I do not know exactly what I will find when I get there. I make minor adjustments to my load out as needed and I'm good to go.

Of course, there is a balance to the process.

If I bring too little, I may miss an opportunity.

If I bring too much, photography starts feeling like hiking with a small refrigerator strapped to my back. Believe me the gear can get really heavy.

I'm still learning the balance.

What I carry should depend on where I'm going and what I expect to photograph. I don't need every lens and accessory every time I leave the house.

At least, that is what I keep telling myself while adding one more thing to the backpack. Maybe I should learn to listen to that little voice in my head huh?

Next time we’ll talk some more about editing software. I was going to include it here with the support crew, but it’s more of a monster. It’s a harder fight than almost every other because of the amount of complexity. It forces me to use my brain, probably more than the camera and lenses do. OUCH!