Photography gear

Gear is the lifeblood of any photographer. Without gear, a photographer won’t be in business.

I think people getting their photos taken by a professional photographer take for granted the equipment used by the photographer. But that equipment is usually very carefully selected and well-thought out.

The gear I bring to a job varies on what the job is. I bring a lot more to a wedding than I bring to a more simple portrait shoot. Here’s an idea of what I bring to a wedding photography job:

2 to 3 camera bodies. I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark IV, a Canon 5D Mark III and a Canon 6D.

Multiple lenses. I have a selection of fixed focal length and zoom lenses. I have a macro lens that I use to take ring shots. The nature of the photo will determine which lens is selected. But there’s more than cameras and lenses. I have to take lighting equipment. That would consist of flashes and strobe lights. Also needed are modifiers which soften the output coming from these lights. Then there are light stands to hold the strobes. If I’m outside, I may need sand bags to hold the stands in place so the wind doesn’t blow them over.

For smaller photography jobs the list of gear brought is much less. To a typical portrait shoot I would take a camera and at least two lenses. I would take my flash and perhaps a strobe light.

Some photographers are minimalists, meaning they take probably just one camera body and one lens with no additional lighting equipment. Granted, that is a lot easier, but my first goal is to get the best photographs I can get. So if that means taking more gear to achieve that, so be it.

So next time you see a photographer walking around with lots of equipment, you hopefully will know why.