What's in my camera bag?!
What the HECK is in my camera bag?!
I get this question CONSTANTLY, so I wanted to spill a little about what I carry for wedding days and destination weddings!
Right off the bat, I want to tell you that I travel lightly whether that’s two hours across Iowa, or flying over to Hawaii to shoot a destination wedding. I bring ONLY what I know I’ll use, and that’s just the way I’ve always done it. I never overload my Kamrette bag because 1.) gear is HEAVY, and you have to carry that ALL DAY, and 2.) I’ve done it before where I’ve brought ALL the gear I own because just MAYBE I’ll use a lens I haven’t touched in a year and end up lugging around gear that I never end up using.
SO, what’s in my bag?!
First, I shoot with a Canon 5DMark IV, and I have 2 Canon 5DMarkiii’s as back ups. I have always shot Canon (started with a 40D and a Rebel) and found that my editing fits better with the Canon color profile. The color profile leans on the warmer side with more oranges, yellows, and reds while Nikon leans more on the green side. The Mark IV’s dynamic range is AWESOME and I cannot recommend it enough. I also LOVE the touch screen option and the live view when I’m shooting couples who are a tad taller than I am so I can peep the back screen instead of shooting blind if I have to lift the camera up away from my eye.
My FAVORITE lens EVER is the Canon 35mm 1.4. I leaves my camera MAYBE 5% of the time just so I can use my Sigma 135mm 1.8 for ceremonies and some reception photos. I love my 35 because it’s so versatile and I use it anywhere from detail shots to wide open scenery shots. I LOVE it for portraits and it creates an nice creamy bokeh background at my sweet spot 1.8. This lens is a power house and I totally recommend investing in the Canon one, but if your budget doesn’t allow it, the Sigma 35 Art does a great job too for a cheaper price tag. Like I mentioned, I also have the 135 that I use and I love using it for things like ceremonies where I can’t get too close (I love to take a step back and not get in the faces of family/friends so they can enjoy the ceremony) and also receptions during speeches. These are my go to lenses and I also carry a backup 35 in case I need it.
I ALSO bring an Sigma 85mm 1.4 for portraits or ceremony as well. This lens doesn’t get QUITE as tight at the 135, so I can still get pretty close but my subjects will POP more from the background because the background is more compressed.
My Rose Anvil harness is something I use for every single shoot. I used to use Holdfast gear, but I found that it kept catching under my arms and my hair would get wrapped into it. The Rose Anvil Harness is adjustable, so you can order it specific to you and adjust from there. AND it’s leather and really cute! One of my brides once told me it looked like it was from Urban Outfitters lol.
I also use a 2 Godox V860ii Flashes with MagMod MagSphere for the flashes. These are my most favorite flashes I have ever used and they don’t break the bank!
Here are all the links to the gear that I use:
Canon 5D Mark iii (backup bodies)
Canon 35 mm 1.4 (most used)