What's in My Camera Bag: Gear I Use for Every Shoot

What's in My Camera Bag: Gear I Use for Every Shoot

I am not a gear photographer — meaning I do not think gear makes the photographer, and I am sceptical of lists that make equipment seem like the answer to every problem. The best camera bag contents are the ones that are reliable, well-maintained, and appropriate to the job. Here is what I carry to almost every shoot.

Camera Bodies

Two camera bodies, always. Professional wedding photography without a backup body is an irresponsible gamble: cameras fail, usually at the worst possible moment. I shoot Sony full-frame mirrorless as my primary system. The specific model matters less than the principle: two bodies, same system, so lenses and cards interchange seamlessly.

Lenses

The 35mm f/1.8 is the lens I would keep if I could only keep one. Wide enough to include context, fast enough for low light, small enough to be unobtrusive. The ceremony, the details, the getting-ready shots — this lens handles most of them.

The 85mm f/1.4 is the portrait lens. The focal length that flatters faces most directly, the aperture that separates subject from background and creates the look that clients associate with professional portraiture. Every couple portrait session, this lens is on one of the two cameras.

The 70–200mm f/2.8 telephoto is the ceremony and reception lens — allowing photographs from a distance that do not disturb the event, and compression that creates specific aesthetic results particularly in group shots and reception candids.

Flash and Lighting

A Profoto B10 for portable off-camera flash, two Godox speedlights as backup and for on-camera reception work, a set of light modifiers. I shoot available light whenever the available light is sufficient. When it is not, I add light in a way that does not look like added light.

The Other Things

Memory cards in more capacity than I could ever need. Spare batteries for everything. A peak design clip for fast camera access. Lens cloths. A small reflector panel that folds to nothing. A printed timeline for weddings. That is the bag. Nothing exotic. Everything reliable.