Professional Gear of a Newborn & Wedding Photographer: What’s in my camera bag?

I get asked often about my equipment and what I shoot with. So here it goes. Here is all the professional level gear in my camera bag.

Camera Gear

• Canon 5d Mark III – This is my camera body that makes the magic happen and I love it!
• Canon 5d Mark II – This is my back-up body because you never know what will happen.
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L – This is great for newborns and when I want a really shallow depth of field (ie fuzzy backgrounds). I like this lens and I won’t be getting rid of it any time soon but I don’t love it. I know a lot of photographers swear by prime lenses, but I’m not one of them. In case you don’t know, a prime lens is one that has a solid piece of glass in it. So it doesn’t zoom but you can get a sharper image because there is only one piece of glass.
• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L – This is my work horse. If something happened to this guy I would have to replace it IMMEDIATELY. I get nice clean sharp images (even in low light) and it allows me to zoom without moving my feet. For me zoom is super important during weddings and while shooting active kiddos.
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS – This lens is amazing. It produces super sharp images with the most beautiful bokeh (blurry backgrounds) out there. I prefer this lens during the wedding ceremony and I always try to grab a couple portraits with this lens as well.
• Canon EF 100mm F2.8 L IS USM Macro – This is another prime lens. This lens is a macro lens which means it is great for capturing small details like baby features and wedding rings. I use this lens every shoot for detail shots.
• Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT – I have two of these. I prefer natural light however flash is a necessary evil. These guys suite me just fine. The neat thing about these flashes is that they have wireless radio transmission which means that they “talk” to each other and my camera. This allows me to do things like backlighting.
• Canon 580EX II – This is my back-up flash.
• Black Rapid Straps – These straps are not the most fashionable straps, but they sure are practical! They allow me to easily use both my hands on anything (think posing a newborn baby) and then still have easy access to my camera. The straps are also great when I’m shooting weddings as it allows me to easily hold two cameras at once (which means two lenses). They are also super comfortable for those long days of carrying around heavy equipment.

As you can probably tell, I take great pride in investing in professional level camera gear. I don’t own every lens and gadget under the sun. However the equipment that I do own is top of the line and works for exactly what I need it for.

Fun Stuff – I always keep a few fun things in my bag.

• Chalk Boards and Chalk – Yes, I have more than one chalk board in my bag. You never know when they will come in handy. These are fun for any type of session engagements, kids, families, etc.
• Scrabble pieces – they are so much fun! It doesn’t matter if it is a wedding, family shoot, or what.
• Elmo – Elmo sits on my lens and the kids love him.
• Finger puppets – You can take pictures and wear them at the same time and kids love them!
• Kiddo treats – most of the time I keep Teady Grams in my bag, but sometimes kids get lucky and will find gummy bears. I’m not above bribing.
• Rechargeable Batteries – I have LOTS of rechargeable batteries in my bag. If you haven’t heard of Eneloop rechargeable batteries then you need to check them out. They are affordable and work fantastically!

I can’t talk about what is in my camera bag without talking about the camera bag itself, because I LOVE my camera bag! I’ve got the JuJu bag by Kelly Moore. It is cute, functional, and holds EVERYTHING I need for a session. It weighs a ton, but it makes every session into a good workout.