A Matter of Equipment: Photographer’s Insight

A question that potential clients ask from time to time is what gear or equipment do I use. This is a very interesting question because it may mean that the potential client is also a photographer themselves (or at least has some understanding about camera equipment in general). I believe the question of equipment is a great one to ask as it’s an excellent way to make sure the photographer in question takes their job seriously and has invested in gear that won’t let you down on such an important and fast paced day such as a wedding.

I decided my website was the best place to answer the question of what equipment I use! I’m hoping this article will provide a little bit more information on which specific equipment I choose to bring to a wedding event along with the reason why. 

Gadgets Galore

I’ve always loved new gadgets. I feel like a child on Christmas morning every time I get a piece of shiny new photography equipment to check out. I’ve tested and used so much stuff throughout my career and my setup is constantly changing and evolving. I’m always on the lookout for better and faster ways to get the best results possible, therefore giving my clients a great experience overall. 

Since I’m constantly shaping my style by always learning and continuing my education, my gear and set ups have also changed and evolved over time. I wish I could say that I didn’t “waste money” on buying stuff I didn’t really need, but I like to think that I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t invested in my equipment. So really, all that money “wasted” is actually money well spent! After all, testing out new tools is how I realize what works for me and what’s not necessary.

Let’s take a look at some of my go-to wedding day equipment! 

Nomatic Petter McKinnon Backpack

First off is my main camera bag. For some reason I LOVE camera bags and I still own probably one too many, but they do serve different purposes and I will use a different bag if it suits a different job a bit better. For now I use the Petter McKinnon Backpack for most of my wedding jobs as it fits most of what I need perfectly, preventing me from overpacking. I used to bring a big rolling case to all my gigs, but now I only keep such a bag for when it’s really necessary. Otherwise, I found myself doing the following things: 

• Utilizing “quantity” over “quality” of the items I packed.

• Packing my flashes and lenses “neatly” but in too many different cases, making it difficult to stay organized.

• Packing in a way that looked nice initially, but became super cluttered overtime.

• Spending way too much time preparing my numerous amount of extra bags.

Narrowing down my equipment to just one main bag helps to eliminate all of these problems and helps me stay organized and professional no matter what job I’m headed to! I also bring a shoulder bag containing extra batteries, cards, and an extra lens or two. This bag is meant for those times where I need to go to a separate location and I only need to bring a few things. That way the other backpack stays at the main location while I use the smaller shoulder bag to easily bring along the essentials that I will need at the time. 

Now let’s talk about what’s in my bag

The Camera

My main camera is currently a Canon EOS R6. I LOVE this camera and it’s by far my favorite camera I’ve ever owned. I get excited when new cameras come out and when the Canon EOS R was announced I was excited for the brand to be entering the mirrorless world. But, I was very disappointed by the specs and lack of new features. The Canon EOS R6 finally checked all the boxes for me and I’m excited to see what comes next in the upcoming years. My Canon EOS R is now my second camera when I need to shoot with two cameras at the same time or just a backup for when I don’t need to be carrying both.

Lenses

If I could only own one lens the Canon RF 28-70 f2 would be it. I quickly fell in love with this lens when it was announced in 2018. I just kept renting it and loved it so much I had to buy one despite it’s price! At just around $3k this lens is more expensive than my camera and heavier as well; it’s a BEAST. The lens itself weighs 3.15 lbs and although it may not sound like much, it’s definitely a workout when you add the weight of the camera and a flash (not to mention carry it around for 8+ hours during a wedding). Despite the weight and size, this lens is amazing and I use it for 90% of a wedding day. It has made my other lenses become more of “specialty” lenses where I only use them or need them for very specific tasks. 

Here are just a few examples of what this lens can do: 

My second lens is the beloved Canon EF 135mm f2. This was the first lens I bought when I was starting my career as a wedding photographer. I wanted that beautiful compression of a telephoto lens combined with a wide aperture at f2. This lens is incredible! It is the only lens that I’ve had for over 8 years now and I still bring it to every shoot. Many other lenses have come and gone but this one is very special. I’m really looking forward to the new mirrorless version and seeing how Canon improves such an awesome lens.

Now let’s talk about the Canon RF 15-35 f2.8. Ironically, this lens was one of the first ones to be on my wishlist when I was in school. I loved landscape photography and this was my dream lens. However, when I started my career in photography and I could finally afford it, I didn’t buy it. This was simply because it just made more sense to buy other stuff first for the type of work I was doing. It took many years for me to finally get it, but I'm so glad I did! It's awesome for getting shots of an empty hall and showing off the decoration. I also like to use it during the reception and capture the guest having fun asit makes the viewer feellike they’re right there on the dance floor. Ironically I don’t do much landscape photography anymore and I haven’t used this lens for that perhaps much anymore, but I’m still very happy to have it in my kit.

The Follow Up Question: “Do You Bring Your Own Lighting”

The answer to this question is yes. I love to create my own light and it’s something I’m constantly improving on. By knowing how to use flash I’m ready to battle any circumstance that I may be into such as dark venues, or too much DJ color lights. There is no such thing as “natural light” at a reception, there is only available light and if the available light is not flattering, making your own available light is super helpful.

For lighting, I recently switched from Godox to Profoto although I still own a few Godox strobes. The more I take flash seriously, the more I expect out of the performance of my gear. I currently bring two Profoto A10s and one Profoto B10. If I need a lot more power and I know I will need to overpower the midday sun, I will bring my Godox Strobe: but for most scenarios the Profoto kit gets the job done.

Not all the photos below were taken with the Profoto A10 or B10 but this is what knowing how to make your own light can do:

Accessories

The rest of the items in my camera bag are mostly accessories for everything mentioned above. I use the MAGMOD system for one of my Profoto A10s and I use the Profoto version for the other two lights. The system includes corrective gels such as CTOs and CTBs— to correct or use white balance creatively— grids to control the light spill of the flashes, bounce cards, etc. 

When possible I like to bring a gridded Softbox. This is something I may not be able to use every time due to schedule, so it depends on the wedding. But when I can, I like to use a big 36” Softbox mainly for the couple’s session of the wedding.

Lastly, I bring a set of 3 Manfrotto light-stands in different sizes. The nano stands are great for tight spaces and the bigger versions are perfect for creating peace of mind when holding such expensive lights during the reception.

To Wrap it Up

Having top of the line equipment doesn’t mean top of the line results. The person using the equipment is the most important piece of the puzzle; you can even get professional looking results with just your phone if you know what you’re doing!

Although I genuinely believe that you can get amazing results using just about anything, and or any brand nowadays, what I look for in my gear as a working professional is it’s ease of use and reliability. I want a piece of equipment that will help me get from point A to point B a little bit faster and smoother and it won’t fail or break down along the way.