Inside My Camera Bag | Uiler Costa

I’m Uiler Costa, a professional photographer based in Salvador, Brazil. Since first raising my eye to a camera, I’ve been dedicated to capturing vibrant shots of all things beautiful, natural or man-made. As a photographer, then, I specialize in capturing the dynamic nature of our world through aerial, travel and landscape photography.

Before beginning my work as a professional freelance photographer, I earned my degree in Graphic Design and worked as a graphic designer. Though I loved working with visuals, I yearned to experience and see more of what the world has to offer. Using my training in composition, color, and layout, I launched my career as an independent photographer in early 2013. Since then, I’ve chased my passion: capturing and transmitting the spirit of beautiful and varied places all around the world.

Langly Alpha Pro bag: great dslr backpack, solid and sturdy material and fits everything I need for my travels. A cool thing is that it is possible to use it as a regular backpack by removing the camera compartment. The only problem for me is the camera access. It is not easy to access the camera and lens portion if the top compartment is full (and usually it will be).

Nikon D810 x 2: an excellent camera! Good dynamic range, good ISO, two card slots for real-time backup. Great ergonomics, enough image quality to make large prints even when I need to crop an image. I’m very happy with this choice. When I make aerial pictures I take with me both cameras.

Nikon 16-35mm f/4G ED VR: one of my favorite lenses, light, sharp and with VR. A wonderful wide angle.

Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR II: I really like this lens for aerial photography because of its versatility. It’s sharp, light and, with it, I get the focal distances that meets my need, as I do flights at relatively low altitudes (500 feet). It’s a great lens for a relative low price.

Nikon 24mm f/3.5D PC-E ED (not pictured): this tilt-shift lens is my favorite lens for architecture and landscape. Excellent optical quality and superb sharpness.

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G: it’s an excellent prime lens, although I confess I do not use it very often (only when I want to do some portraits or in case of low light situations).

GPS UNIT GP-1A: for my aerial photography work, knowing the location of each photo is essential. As a negative point, it consumes a lot of battery power. Besides the GPS I use a Geotag Photo Pro app, that does the same job using the Iphone GPS and allows me to sync location data with photos via the Adobe Lightroom map module.

Nikon SB-910 Speedlight: an excellent flash, that I use occasionally in commercial work. Although it doesn’t warn when the battery is running out, it’s a very reliable flash.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015): a huge part of my work happens here! It’s a great computer, powerful and lightweight. This computer is my definitive tool for managing and editing my images (both at studio and on the road).

MeFoto Globetrotter: this tripod was a very good surprise for me. Stable, sturdy and compact, MeFoto Globetrotter is an excellent choice for those that are looking for a good cost benefit.

GorillaPod Focus with Ballhead X: this little tripod is tough. Very sturdy, lightweight and versatile, its flexibility helps to fix the tripod in unusual places.

Storage: while travelling I use 2 1TB Lacie Rugged and 2 1TB G-tech All-terrain to ensure maximum security for my files. When at studio I use 4 Seagate 5TB.

Lee Filter System: it’s the best set of filters I have ever used. Here’s the list:

– Lee push-on filter holder 100mm
– Adaptor ring wide angle 77mm
– Adaptor ring wide angle 67mm
– Adaptor ring standard 58mm
– Lee 0.9 neutral density soft grad
– Lee polyester neutral density 0.3
– Lee polyester neutral density 0.6
– Lee polyester neutral density 0.9
– Lee Big Stopper 10 stops
– Lee Little Stopper 6 stops
– Lee Circular Polarizer 105mm