August 15, 2013
-
Hey, whats in the bag lady?
What’s in my bag?
I often get asked those interested in photography, “What’s in my bag?” Basically, what kind of equipment do I use and the type of lenses I carry. When I began my career, I too was extremely interested in what other photographers were using in terms of camera bodies,lenses, flashes, etc. Of course,thinking that getting a better camera would make me a better photographer was my mentality in the very beginning! Later on, I found out the real truth. It’s knowledge and more knowledge!
Anyhow, this past weekend I had to pack my bag for a wedding. After getting the necessary items out of my camera safe (yes, they are in a safe), I took a cell phone photo for this column. This photo depicts about 80% of my equipment that is brought with me on an event job. I’ll discuss the things not shown later in this blog post. The equipment that you see here is used only when I do event photography and not studio photography.
Lets start! First, I am a Canon gal. I used to be a Nikon person when I worked at the newspaper many moons ago. When I left the paper, I thought that the Canon lenses were better, so I made the investment and switched. Now, Canon and Nikon are equally as good and both produce amazing equipment.
Camera bodies:
Canon 5d
Canon 5d Mark II
Canon 5d Mark III
I use the Mark III mostly. The Mark II is used about 40% of the time and the regular older 5d is hardly ever used. It is kept as a backup.
Lenses:
Canon 16-35 mm Wide 2.8
Canon 50 mm 1.2L
Canon 85 mm 1.2L
Canon 24-70 mm 2.8L
Canon 70-200L IS 2.8
Flash
Canon 580ex Speedlight (2)
Canon 580 ex II Speedlight
Canon 600 ex-rt Speedlight
Battery Pack
Quantum Turbo AC (2)
(Powers flashes on light stands)
Compact Flash Cards
Sandisk 8gb Extreme (12)
Sandisk 4 gb Extreme (10)
Compact Flash Card Carrier
Thinktank Pocket Rocket (2)
Hard case generic carries 4 cards (1)
Light Meter
Minolta
Not shown: In another bag, Radio Slaves to trigger off flashes, two light stands, one reflector, tons of cords for flashes and slaves,flashlight, aspirin, gaffer tape, 4 sets of rechargeable batteries, 2 sets of9V batteries, business cards, lipstick, Pepto Bismal, mints, travel sewing kit,camera manual (in case something weird happens to camera and I can’t figure it out!) No tripod is packed.
As you can see, it is quite an enormous amount of equipment. I don’t use all of it at every event job, but it’s there if I need it. I have an assistant with me to help usually at all times.
Everything packed in this event bag is there for a specific reason. It is rare that I go to an event and leave any of this behind. With each job, the bag is packed pretty much the same way.
I would be glad to answer any questions regarding why I carry this or that! Just drop me an email to the studio at lerephoto@gmail.com.
Please realize that it’s not the camera that makes a great picture. Don’t feel the need to purchase the latest and greatest because you feel the camera will give you better photos. Invest in education. A car given to a person who does not know how to drive is useless!
