Over this past year, I have considerably retooled my photographic tools repertoire. The goal of this has been to highly improve the quality and ability to take pictures versus where I started at five years ago.

First, the hardware has now been rationalized to:

• Canon EOS 1D Mark IV – The low-light and 48-point auto-focus make it a no-brainer. I have loved the first 6 months of ownership so far versus the original EOS 5D.
• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM – This is my newly-acquired general-purpose lens. The clarity and speed make it the top-choice.
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM – This is my newly-acquired general-purpose zoom lens. The clarity, IS, and speed are amazing.
• Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.6-5.6L IS USM – This is my old-standby super-zoom and it works very well – especially with the auto-focus on the 1D Mark IV.
• Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM – This is my old-standby wide-angle zoom. It works very well – and even better with the 1D Mark IV.
• Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM – This is my macro lens. It is not top-end but does the job for the rare occasions I use it.
• B&W UV Haze + Circular Polarizer filters – To be used on the 24-70mm, 70-200mm, and 100-400mm lenses.
• Hoya UV Haze Filter – To be used on the EF 16-35mm lens.

On the software front, using 64-bit MacOS X Snow Leopard as the basis on my original first-generation Mac Pro and last-generation MacBook Pro – I am leveraging:

• Adobe Lightroom 3 – basic workflow/RAW processing/touch-ups
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 – advanced touch-ups (e.g. – dust removal) or filters
• Flickr (public galleries) and iPhoto/MobileMe (private galleries) – viewing on the Web
• Streaming and storage on all of my Apple devices (AppleTV, iPhone, iPad) – viewing on devices

With this, I feel that my next set of photographic endeavors will definitely be a step-up from those in the past. I can’t wait!