What’s In My Photography Kit?
I love talking to other photographers about our kits, and sharing gear recommendations and reviews about our equipment!
My default camera body and lens combo:
Sony a7R V and 24mm f/1.4 GM
Also the sole reason my birth photography business has an inland marine insurance policy. 😮💨
MY CAMERA BODIES AND LENSES
What I bring to a shoot depends greatly on where we’ll be photographing at, and how much my back hurts on any given day, but generally I roll up to a photography session with:
my MVP combo for compact birth spaces: Sony a7R V + 24mm f/1.4GM
my tried and true for portraits in large spaces: Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 Series II
my just-in-case: Rokinon 50mm f/1.4 Series II
my second camera body: Sony a7R II
If my back isn’t killing me and I’ve got time to grab some extra gear, I’ll also bring my Manfrotto mini tripod and phone grip for sidelines phone recordings at births, and some rugged mini spotlights. (No, I am not the type of birth photographer who is blinding my clients and their babies with an ungodly bright on-camera flash. Sometimes we need a little extra ambient light for focus performance.)
MY CAMERA BACKPACK
I carry my essentials around in my favorite travel backpack of all time. Can’t sing its praises enough! I have the Large version in Peacock Blue, but I also bought the X-Large in Purple for an upcoming trip, so I don’t need to re-pack my camera kit every time I return from traveling. And I bought the Large again in Pink as an alternate. It’s been my default travel backpack for the last 3 years, and in comparison to other luxury camera bags - ahem, lookin’ at you PeakDesign - the price is INCREDIBLE, the zipper access with security buckles is FANTASTIC no matter what position it’s in, the zippers are smooth and sturdy, and it still looks practically brand new, despite being hastily shoved and smashed under at least a dozen airplane seats, haphazardly tossed into my car after grueling 14 hour days, it’s accompanied me on family photoshoot hikes, and I fully trust it with my entire kit. While the black looks great, I do have some paranoia about this $9,000 kit being mistakenly grabbed or stolen, so I’ve picked colors that I could easily spot in a bustling crowd, and I like that it looks more like a modern travel backpack (because it is) than an obvious camera bag.
The X-Large version is a bit more wide than I prefer for my photography kit, but it’s made a great travel backpack.
Coofay Travel Backpack: $34 at Amazon
Coofay Travel Backpack, Large, Peacock Blue
Listen, I’m not a PeakDesign hater, I own one of their wrist straps and I can attest that the quality is great… but don’t lie to me and say you’ve never been a LITTLE curious about how expensive the PeakDesign Everyday 20L backpacks are, just to have your wallet punch you in the face for even thinking you could maybe justify buying yourself a $280 backpack for Christmas. This is about 26L and It comes in WAY better colors. Save that money for a new lens, pal.
OTHER CAMERA ACCESSORIES
Godox V1-S Camera Flash, $199+
Wish I could have grabbed one in store or secondhand locally when I realized 3 days before the wedding that I’d forgotten to order it for my nephew’s wedding, but it wasn’t in stock anywhere, and I didn’t have time to wait for the extended shipping time for the alternative flash I had been considering at the time. Build quality feels fantastic, but I haven’t used it enough to give a thorough review. Wish I had it for my bestie’s handfasting ceremony though, since we socialized well past sundown and the refresh rate of the bistro/string lights literally wrecked my favorite shot of the entire evening since I’d apparently been shooting on Silent Shutter Mode. Never again!!
Padwa Lifestyle Embroidered Camera Strap, Vintage White, $17
Been rather fond of this one over the last few months, and the quality is great!
Padwa Lifestyle Woven Camera Strap, Dark Blue Green, $16
Did I also get a camera strap to match my backpack?Yes, yes I did. HEY, I LIKE TO MATCH, OKAY?
Ayvanber Padded Camera Bag Insert, $24
Comparable in size to the PeakDesign Smedium size camera bag insert and literally 1/3 of the price. I do wish it had zipper pockets for storage in the lid, and an extra velcro divider or two, but I took a few from my smaller SZONE organizer, and I’m content.
