The Gear List | What’s in Our Bags

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When I first started photographing weddings and engagement sessions, I was still in college and newer to the photography world which meant I had a limited gear selection. I was introduced to B&H Photo in my freshman year of college when I was working towards my photography degree where I would make wishlists of camera gear I hoped to own one day! I would also pour over my favorite photographers’ blogs to see what equipment they were using to create the stunning wedding photographs I saw in their portfolios. As our business has expanded and I grew as a photographer over the years, so did our camera gear! After trials with different lenses and flashes, Arturo and I now have a solid arsenal of camera equipment we use to photograph our couples’ wedding days and engagement sessions. Today I’m sharing more about the gear we use to create our signature style!

Bags

KELLY MOORE THE KATE 2.0 - Arturo and I each have one of these that holds our main cameras and other gear we use throughout the day.
LOWPRO PRO ROLLER x300 - This rolling bag holds our backup gear and other items not currently in use on a wedding day.
KELLY MOORE THE 2 SUES 2.0 - We carry much less gear for an engagement session, so I use this to hold our cameras and the few lenses we do use during smaller sessions.

Cameras

CANON 5D MARK III - Our main cameras!
CANON 6D - Our backups, just in case!

Lenses

CANON 35mm 1.4 - We don’t use this a whole lot, but it comes in handy for very tight getting locations, large group shots, and epic wide portraits.
CANON 50mm 1.2 - This baby is my workhorse! It’s on my camera all day, with the exception of when I have my macro lens (100mm) to photograph details and engagement rings.
CANON 85mm 1.8 - Arturo uses this lens a lot during engagement sessions. It creates such a beautiful bokeh for portraits!! Some of my favorite photos he’s ever taken has been with this lens.
CANON 100mm 2.8 - I love this macro lens! I use it to photograph most of the bridal details, including rings, shoes, jewelry, and more.
CANON 24-70mm 2.8 - With the exception of the ceremony, this lens is on Arturo’s camera all day. We use it for groom prep, first look, wedding party and family portraits, and the reception.
CANON 70-200mm 2.8 - Arturo uses this lens during the ceremony since he’s often stationed on the side or at the back. It’s especially useful for wedding ceremonies with long aisles.

Flashes & Lighting

CANON 600 EXII-RT - We have several of these to use both on and off-camera. They have built-in wireless radio transmitters, which makes it super easy to set up multiple off-camera flashes if we want to!
32” SHOOT-THROUGH UMBRELLA - I put this on our main off-camera flash to diffuse the light.
MAGMOD MAGBOUNCE - While I find this gives us similar results to using an umbrella on our off-camera flash, I’ll usually only use it if we’re in a super tight space that the umbrella might be too big for.
8’ LIGHT STANDS - We set up our off-camera flashes on these. They’re light and compact enough to leave in my car in the hidden storage area of the trunk!

Memory Cards

Always keep plenty of extra memory cards on hand! Our 5D Mark III cameras have dual card slots, which is why we use both the CF & SD cards listed below.
SANDISK 64GB EXTREME PRO (CF)
SANDISK 64GB EXTREME PRO (SD)
SANDISK 32GB EXTREME PRO (CF)
SANDISK 32GB EXTREME PRO (SD)

Miscellaneous Accessories

HOLD FAST MONEY MAKER SOLO CAMERA STRAP - Since I don’t use a camera strap, every once in a while I’ll decide to wear this so I don’t have both hands tied up holding my camera.
HOLD FAST MONEY MAKER MULTI-CAMERA STRAP - Arturo wears this with a camera on one side and a small gear pouch on the other (see below).
HOLD FAST SIGHTSEER LENS POUCH - Since we each only shoot with one camera, Arturo adds this pouch to the other side of the Money Maker strap to hold extra batteries and memory cards (and sometimes a smaller lens).
CANON LP-E6 CAMERA BATTERIES - Always keep more than you think you’ll ever need on hand!
PANASONIC ENELOOP PRO AA RECHARGABLE BATTERIES - We use these for our flashes. Again, always keep extras around!

Computers & Hard Drives

APPLE 15.4“ MACBOOK PRO
DROBO 5C
LACIE 4TB RUGGED MINI

Whew! I know this might seem like an overwhelming list of photography gear, but remember that I didn’t have all of this at the beginning, and you don’t need to either. Keep experimenting to find what you like and what works best for you!