*Post updated Dec 2019 because I have purchase new gear!*
I have had questions in the past about what gear I shoot with, so today I thought I would add a post to the blog describing what photography gear I’ve got and how I use it! I remember when I was in high school looking at cameras, I read so many photographers blog posts about what photography gear they owned! Now I am over here reminiscing because my older sister is using my first DSLR–a canon rebel circa 2008–for her business! Teaching her how to use it has been a neat experience for both us.
Sometimes I feel like photographers like to keep their gear a secret as if the gear they use is the key to their work, or on the flip side because they think other photographers might judge them (I have definitely worried about that–there is a niche of overly opinionated folks in every community). Hopefully, this is interesting and maybe even helpful for you, and you don’t judge me too harshly. 😉 As always, if you have questions, please contact me and I’ll help you the best I can. Please note that that many of the links below are Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Main Photography Gear: My Camera and Lens
The camera body I used for almost 10 years was a Canon 5D Mark II, purchased in 2010 (or 11?) when I was in college studying photography. It’s still kickin’ but Canon has advanced well past my model. At the time, it was one of the better but still affordable full-censor cameras. It does also take video. I upgraded to the Mark IV this fall after Emme was born because my sweet, sweet husband purchased it for mw as a “push present” (I don’t know who told him about push presents, but bless you!).
This may surprise you, but I photograph almost exclusively with the Canon 35mm f/1.4L II lens. Yeah, its huge and weighs a bag of bricks, but it’s also insanely sharp and as close to the human eye perspective as you can get IMO (don’t quote me on that, it’s just how I feel!). It is just a little bit wider than a 50mm but not fish-eyeish. Anyways, I don’t have a whole closet full of lenses because #1 ya girl can’t afford them, and #2 I prefer to save my dough up, be patient, think on it, read a million reviews, and eventually get really high quality gear that will last me a long time. I recently purchased the 50mm You don’t need a lot of gear to take good photos, you just need the right gear for your purpose.
Lighting
I photographed exclusively with natural light until 2018. I did the thing where I blew lighting equipment off and called myself a natural light photographer (isn’t everyone). Then I finally got tired of getting stuck in situations where natural light wasn’t producing the results I wanted, and tired of rescheduling shoots. I caved and bought into the Profoto light system. I bought Profoto because it was (and still is) worth it to me to pay more for easy-to-use, reliable products. Time is money, people. Profoto is ridiculously intuitive and user friendly, and I haven’t had a flash misfire yet. I literally didn’t have to break out the manual to figure out either of my two lights.
The Profoto Photography Gear Deets
I started with the Profoto A1 because I knew I wanted to buy other Profoto lights later. The A1 was advertised by Profoto as, “the world’s smallest studio light” (it’s a round hot shoe flash). It has an air remote built in (a $420 piece of equipment on its own). That is what you need for your camera to communicate to other Profoto lights. By starting with the A1 I got a two for one. If you add the price of a normal Canon hot shoe flash and then add the air remote in, that is the cost of the A1 (made sense to me). If you are never going to buy another piece of Profoto equipment, the A1 is probably not for you. I saw the benefit of it being my gateway to other profoto tools.
Now I also have the B2 to-go kit, which I am currently obsessed with. I only bought the one light kit and I WISH so hard I had just gotten the two-light kit. Soon after purchasing the one light kit I bought another light head. The B2 is another flash head that is super, super lightweight, with a portable battery that you can carry. No power-cords required. I purchased it so that I can take my lights with me literally anywhere. If I really wanted to, I could have my camera in my right hand with auto-focus on, the battery pack around my shoulder, and a B2 in my left hand with a soft box or beauty dish on it! It is that lightweight, I’m not kidding. You need a Profoto air remote or an A1 to use the B2 with your camera.
Light Modifiers
I have two profoto 2×3′ OCF Softboxes and one 2′ Beauty dish in white. They require an OCF Speedring to use and mount them to a B2 light head. The OCF modifiers are crazy easy to use and super lightweight. You kind of feel like you might break the speeding when you are snapping the poles into place, but you won’t if you follow the instructions. Line them all up (they are color coordinated) then go around and snap them in. My favorite modifier is a big 7ft parabolic umbrella and diffuser though! My reflectors are a wicked cheap Neewer 5-in-1 80CM Reflector as well as a larger Wescott. Also used with this equipment are two (also inexpensive) Impact 8ft air-cushioned light stands. I bought this super reflector clamp on amazon, works great attached to the stand.
Photography Gear Accessories
- Canon Battery Grip → LOVE this thing when I have a long day of shooting! This is the one for the mark IV.
- Tripod → I recently purchased this Manfrotto Tripod that is pretty great! It does fold up pretty small but I think it is too heavy for traveling. It is expensive but I needed something that would help with flat-lays and stop animations and the transformable column rocks. You’ll need to purchase a ball head to use with it, I got this one but think about what you’ll need the tripod for and look for the right ball head for your purpose.
- Platypod Pro Max Tripod → I got this for free with my lens and have used it once. It is pretty great I just haven’t had a real need for it–not a ton of adventure traveling happened when I lived in Columbus, MS. It’s basically a really sturdy flat metal base for your camera so when your lens is heavy as hell like mine it can function resting on something if you don’t feel like breaking out the tripod.
- Canon Shutter Release → I tried the much cheaper amazon release first, I got a bum one that did not work). I previously used this when I am doing tripod family portraits but my Mark IV has a built in remote through my phone! 💁🏼♀️
- 10x12ft Background Stand → I got this one on amazon prime day for super cheap–has worked great!
- Savage Seamless White Paper Roll → Used with the background stand, I love it. They come in lots of different widths and colors, the wider you go the more expensive the shipping unless you are using amazon, they just take the price onto the item cost. My roll is 86,” I wanted the 107″ but it was a price jump. My size is fine for headshots/portraits/product photography.
- Compact Flash (CF) Cards → I have two 16GB cards, one 32GB, one 64GB and two 128GB (pulled the trigger on those 128GBs before I thought about what it would be like if a 128GB card of photos was lost). Knock on wood, I have never lost an image or had any issues with my CF cards. They are fast and I love them! I have an overkill amount for a non-wedding photographer IMO but I like to play it safe.
- Pelican Case for said CF cards → this is literally one of my favorite pieces of gear.
- Card Reader → I have this one, it has always worked great for me! It can read SD or CF cards
- Lens Pen → These are hard to mess up–any should work!
- Timbuk 2 bag insert → My sister got me this for Christmas years ago and it’s still great! Allows me to pop my camera in and out of my bag as needed. It fits my body, lens, pelican case, and actually quite a few other small things! I can’t find it anywhere but eBay now, but there are lots of comparable items out there.
- Camera Bag? I have always used regular tote and shoulder strap bags, or diaper bags, with camera inserts. They have worked great! In the past I used Stella and Dot Day Tripper bags. Right now I am just using a really nice Lucky brand leather tote that I got on Poshmark for $35. (Pictured in the stop animation I posted to Instagram).
Editing
I use Adobe Photoshop CC on a 27-in iMac that I customized with an upgraded processor and memory. I organize my files and edit basics in Camera Raw using Adobe bridge, then do my final edits/retouching and any image sizing in Photoshop. No batch filters here but I do work with actions sometimes.