Never thought I’d be in any kind of position to be having other photographers interested in what I brought with me to a shoot, and questions about specific accessories and tools, but it’s happened multiple times (during active photoshoots on a time crunch) in the last few weeks, that I've decided to type this up as a reference.

Many of my peers and client guests also enjoy photography, and I LOVE when we start chatting about our backgrounds, our photographic interests and styles, our favorite photographers, our favorite resources to learn tips and tricks from, what our “dream photography jobs” would be (mine is a National Geographic landscape photographer, but I really enjoy wildlife too!) and our journeys to refine our skills. If I sent you this link instead of indulging in another 45 minute conversation about my gear, it’s not that I don’t love those conversations, it’s probably that I’ve only got about 4 minutes left before golden hour ends or a baby exits a vagina. (Please don’t take this as a sign that I don’t have interest in talking shop with you, I probably just need about 30 minutes to finish with my client and debrief before we part ways, and you look like you’re not sticking around that long!)

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 backup juuuust in case literally all my batteries die: 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 flash.

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 (just now) 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. 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 stolen at an airport or busy convention center, so I’ve picked colors that I’d be surprised to see another stranger walking around with and 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.

Literally love it so much I bought it again in another color. AND THE COLOR RANGE!!! 10/10, no notes. While I still have enough extra room in my peacock blue bag for a rebozo, a light jacket, my camera flash, a micro spotlight, or maybe my big 40oz metal water bottle, I’m really excited to see how much stuff I can cram into the X-Large version. Hopefully I’ll update this post in a few months to a year or more with updates about durability and performance after I travel with it and tentatively use it at photoshoots… currently, my fully loaded peacock blue bag is pretty much the maximum I could comfortably carry through airports.

I guess I love it enough to actually go grab the link for ya. Coofay Travel Backpack: $34 at Amazon