My Camera Bag

A lot of people ask me what I shoot with primarily, and I’m happy to share! :)

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark III and my backup cameras are two Canon 5D classics. I use mainly prime Canon L lenses: the 35mm f/1.4L, the 85mm f/1.2L, the 100mm f/2.8L, and the 50mm f/1.4, and occasionally, the 70-200mm IS f/2.8L. My walkaround lens is the 50mm. It’s really the perfect range for me to take it out and about, capture every day life with my son and my family, plus, I feel a little more free with it since it’s not an “L” lens and I would feel a little less horrified if it got hurt. ;)

I’d love to add the Canon 16-35 f/2.8L as well as Canon’s 45mm tilt-shift to my collection! I’ve rented both in the past, and love them!

As far as lighting goes, I own four Speedlites – 580 EX II, two 580 EX’s, and my backup, just in case is a 550 EX. I use a Sto-fen modifier on my flash. While I do own studio lights, I rarely use them anymore as I vastly prefer natural lighting conditions, and will bounce my flash if necessary. Most of the time, I don’t need a flash, though, for portrait shoots, though I do use it at night-time weddings especially to capture the reception.

I carry my gear around in the wonderful Jill-E large moss green suede rolling bag. This bag is amazing and stands up to so much wear and tear and even fits in an airplane’s overhead compartment. You can click the link and see what they say fits, but I’ve been able to fit as much as 2 cameras with battery grips, 2 Speedlite flashes, all of my lenses, and accessories. It all crams in there. I wouldn’t recommend doing that if you’re going to be stuffing it into an airplane overhead compartment, necessarily… but it definitely fits if you have a lot of stuff you need to take somewhere.

Additionally I shoot with my Shootsac and it’s become an invaluable part of my shooting style. The interchangeable “true color covers” are awesome too for coordinating with my outfit or even the wedding colors! I love using it at weddings because it really allows me to just carry what I need on me and not have to constantly run back to my camera bag every time I need a new lens, plus i never have to worry about something falling out of my pocket – I just put it in my Shootsac, which has pockets that snap closed. It’s comfortable, easy to use, and gives me peace of mind. What more could I ask for? (and no, they didn’t pay me to say this) When I’m on a portrait session, I don’t even bring my big bag anymore since I normally just grab my cameras and take the lenses/accessories that I need in my Shootsac. Easy peasy.

I’m also a big advocate of the Chase Jarvis method of photography, which is that the best camera is the one that you have with you at that very moment – and since I don’t carry my huge 5D SLR camera everywhere, I use my Canon G7 and even my iPhone a LOT!

I absolutely love iPhonography, too — particularly the ShakeItPhoto app (only a buck or so) and the iPhone app, “Hipstamatic” and all the cool effects it can give my images. I’ve probably spent a total of about $10 on it, but it’s so much fun and oh-so-worth-it if you’re into photography or iPhonograpy. I also enjoy editing non-Hipstamatic pics with the very free Photoshop for iPhone app, which also has tons of fun effects that you can apply to your photos to really enhance them. It’s amazing what you can do even with an iPhone pic. People are always super surprised when I say that I took a certain photo just using my phone!