After 3 years of wearing shirts for a living I’ve learned a ton about cameras, lighting, equipment and still feel like I know absolutely nothing. I’d like to give credit to Alan Seales, DeAndre Upshaw, Ben Rabicoff and probably a few other people for helping gather up the perfect set of tools for my daily shirt wearing.

13” Macbook Pro: $1000-1600

This laptop is an extension of one of my arms. I’m always on it and there isn’t a more useable machine out there. For the price you pay, it’s just phenomenal. By the way, don’t be scared of refurbished laptops (from Apple.com or Amazon.com). All 4 shirt wearers in 2011 had refurbished laptops that worked perfectly.

Final Cut Pro X (FCPX): $300

I made the step from iMovie to FCPX and it’s been pretty smooth. I never used Final Cut Pro before, so I can’t talk about the differences or lack of features. I think FCPX is perfect for the videos I/we make on IWYS.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR: $700-750 (with 18-55mm lens)

In 2009 I used a small point-and-shoot camera and a FlipHD. In 2010 I used a Nikon D90 for both photo/video and now I use the Canon T3i. I wish I would have grabbed the T3i from the beginning because it’s a great camera and the flip-out LCD screen is a huge help. I also recommend picking up a little Canon Remote, it makes photo taking a breeze!

32GB SD Card: $40

The Transcend Class 10 SD card has been the most reliable for me. I’ve used 4-5 different brands and classes of cards and they all crapped out. Highly recommend paying a couple extra $$$ for this card.

Rode Shotgun Mic: $150

I use this mic daily and it’s fantastic. Whether I’m filming on the side of a road, inside my house, near a lake, in a forest, it works really well.

Yeti Mic: $100 (on sale right now)

I’ve been mic-less for my 3 year live video career and just bought this mic. It’s the same mic that DeAndre and Angela have used for the better part of 2011. I’ve heard great things and for $100, I couldn’t pass it up.

Moleskine Notebooks: $10-20

I’m a big fan of writing down to-do lists. I juggle a ridiculous amount of tasks on a day to day basis and without making lists I’d forget everything. Grab your favorite color Moleskine and start writing stuff down (plus it’s great for doodling on conference calls).

Lowepro 250 Backpack: $100

This backpack is fantastic! I can cram my camera, lenses, rode mic, laptop, cables, moleskin, a few magazines and more into it. Also, it fits snuggly under the seat in front of you on most flights.

Cowboy Studio Light Kit: $170 

Softbox lights (and lighting in general) make an enormous different for photo/video quality. This should have been one of my very first purchases when I started my shirt wearing career. These aren’t small lights, but there are tons of other options out there.

Green Screen: $25-75

Green screens are a ton of fun, but lighting is essential. Don’t bother trying to green screen anything unless you have the proper lighting setup. I actually just have the 6x9’ green screen thumbtacked to my wall, that way I can take it up and down when I need to.

Logitech Webcam (720p): $30-60

Any 720p webcam will be a VAST improvement over the Mac iSight camera. White balancing is sometimes an issue, it’s not the worst thing if you can get the lighting and background right (especially for $30!).

Manfrotto MK394-H Tripod: $100

This is the tripod I wore a shirt for this year and it’s a great unit. Sturdy, adjustable and can be compact. It’s an aluminum tripod, so it’s not too heavy, but not too light either. My only complaint is that sometimes I’m too tall for it if I try to stand too close (I fix that by bending my knees, hah).

2TB External Hard Drive: $120-250

I was never a fan of backing up my computer and I think that’s because I never had anything of value. With all the photo and video footage I take, I don’t want to lose that stuff in case one day I decide to… well.. I don’t know, do something with it! You want to look for USB 3.0 or Firewire 800 hard drives.

Gum: $2-3

You might laugh, but I almost always have gum on me. I’m paranoid about having bad breath… Well, maybe not paranoid, but I like being prepared. 

I’m sure there are some other things I missed, but I thought you guys might find it interesting to know all of the stuff I use on a day-to-day basis. Full disclosure: most of these links are Amazon.com affiliate links.