Nat Geo’s Custom Gear Specialist

Tucked away in the basement of National Geographic, Kenji Yamaguchi tinkers fervently as he dreams up gadgets to help the publication capture its famously striking photos. When a near-impossible angle or new photography technique calls for equipment not available on the market, Yamaguchi is the first one that photographers turn to. National Geographic recently visited the camera-wizard in his natural habitat—a workshop containing nearly every imaginable type of machine, material and motor—to discuss his 32-year-long journey “to accomplish the photograph that’s never been done before.”