My Bag

Photographers and clients, its important to know whats included in the photographers bag! As an educator, I want to share whats in my bag and how each of these tools can enhance portraits. Starting with the camera body, there is now a shift between DSLR and Mirrorless options. I am actually going to have both in my bag very soon 😉

This is my Nikon D5 – my workhorse of a camera with dual card slots that hold two CF cards and a massive battery. I can shoot almost 3k pictures over 10 hours without having to change batteries or cards – amazing! I will say I use a 256GB card in my primary slot so it holds a lot of images. Brides, know that I am shooting 2 images with every shot – so when I take your picture, it write the images on two cards so that we have two copies just in case something were to happen to one of those cards (extremely rare).

Soon, my bag will have a Nikon Z6ii – the newest Nikon mirrorless dual slot camera to  hit the market with stellar photography capabilities!!

Any good wedding photographer is going to have a dual slot camera, backup memory cards, and lot of batteries in their bag to make sure they don’t miss a single thing! Even after the event, most of us will back up images to a hard drive even before leaving the reception. AND on top of that, a second camera body will also have two additional cards with images saved. We are double, triple, and quadruple making sure your images are safe in so many ways!

 

The 85MM

This next lens is my second favorite item in my bag (second to my camera itself). This is the 85mm lens – I call it the intimate portrait lens because it captures the most dreamy close up portraits and give your the perfect bokeh (blurry) background. Both the 1.8 and the 1.4 are amazing options and can capture insanely beautiful portraits. This is the lens I have on my camera about 80% of the time for portrait sessions – sometimes 100%. I usually switch out for the 50mm or the 35mm. But this is my absolute number one lens hands down. If you see me pulling this lens out of my bag, you know I am really excited!

 

The 50MM

The “nifty fifty” as most photographer call this lens. This is the 50 mm and I call it the every occasion lens a it is perfect for almost every situation. This is really a beginners / experts lens as it is so versatile and used by both frequently. If you want to invest in anything  (besides the 85mm 😉 ) you need to get a nifty 50. It has just the right amount of distance focus between you and the subject – it makes images feel very natural to the eye as you would normally see things. A must have for EVERY photographers bag.

 

The 35mm

My third favorite lens (yes I ordered them visually by favorites lol) is the 35 mm. This lens is perfect for those epic wide angle mountain shots or whatever beautiful location you are at. It is also perfect for those tight spaces in small rooms when you need to get a picture of everyone and everything around you! More than a 35 mm (24mm) will show even more but will give you a bit more distortion. So the 35 is the perfect wide angle lens and my third most used lens in my bag.

The 24mm-70mm

My zoom quickly lens. I put this lens on when I need to zoom in and out in a quick situation like chasing around kids at a family session or when the bride is walking down the isle and I need two different types of pictures quickly. A quick change of focal depth is helpful in these quick moments when you don’t have the chance to change lenses like you’d want to. I don’t use this lens as often but its a stellar choice for a photographer who wants lots of variety in one lens!

 

The 105 mm

The Ring Shot lens. This lens comes out of my bag at the beginning of the wedding for all the details pictures, especially ring shots. Have you seen those amazing ring pictures on instagram or Pinterest? Chances are those were shot with a 105 (100 for cannon users). This is a must have lens for wedding photographers or someone who might be doing product branding for Jewelry or other small items!

 

The 70mm-200mm

I call this the more than 6ft lens. But in all seriousness, this comes out of my bag when its time for the ceremony or I need to be a great distance from something. This lens is perfect for those far away shots and capturing things from a distance. Used by both wedding photographers and nature enthusiasts, its an amazing lens but more for specialty things so probably not as common but definitely important for wedding pros!

 

If you find yourself this far and are looking for lens advise, feel free to send me a message and I would be absolutely thrilled to help! My top 3 recommendations for lenses are the 85mm, 50mm, and 35mm! But again, I absolutely love chatting with fellow togs – send me a message or comment below!

Connect with me on Instagram and Facebook or send me an email at lauren@laurenelliottphoto.com.