My Gear

To all of you who may wonder what kind of gear I use, here’s the rundown. We’ll start with the equipment first…

Cameras:

-Two Canon 5D Mark II bodies

The Zooms:

-Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L — This was the first L series lens that I purchased and it got me through my first few years of shooting. Last year, I slowly started to transition into prime lenses and just recently filled the gaps with the equipment I was “missing”. However, I will keep my trusty 24-70 in my bag as a back up and  it’s still a great lens for quick changes of composition.

-Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L — This one is a must for getting photos in churches with super long aisles and closeups during first dances.

The Primes:

-Canon 24mm f/1.4L — Great lens for landscape shots with a big wedding party, shooting the inside of a large church, and wide perspective shots. Be careful not to get people too close to the edges of the composition frame though–it does distort!

-Canon 35mm f/1.4L — I use this lens for getting ready photos when I’m stuck in tight places, dance floor photos, and semi-wide landscape shots.

-Canon 50mm f/1.2L — This baby stays on my camera most of the time during weddings and sessions. I love it because there’s no distorting, it focuses fast, and makes beautiful images near and far.

-Canon 85mm f/1.2L — Absolutely beautiful portrait lens. It doesn’t get better than this. This guy is slow to focus though, so I only use it for portraits.

-Canon 135mm f/2.0L — I rented this one awhile ago, fell in love with it, and had to have it. I enjoy shooting with my 70-200 but it doesn’t give quite as pretty bokeh at f/2.8. This one gives me the best of both worlds.

-Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro — This one does take awhile with focusing, but it’s an awesome lens for details, makeup, and my favorite, ring shots.

 

And now the lighting gear…

-Two Canon 580EX II Speedlites

- Alienbee B800 Black Studio Flash — I use this for family formal portraits and dance floor shots.

-Einstein E640 Studio Flash with transceiver module

-Vagabond Mini Lithium battery

- 2 CyberSync Receivers

- 2 CyberSync Trigger Transmitters

-Quantum Turbo Battery Pack for Flash

-Canon Battery Pack for Flash

 

Computers:

-24″ iMac — My baby.

- 13″ Macbook– just used for travel and bookkeeping.

- Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS4 for editing, and Adobe InDesign for albums.

- Totally Rad Actions and Kubota Actions

 

And the items I get asked about most often are my bags… here’s what I use to help carry all this gear around.

-ThinkTank Airport International 2.0 — This roller bag is perfect for airport travel, with an exception for small planes. They WILL make you gate check it even though it has thousands of dollars of equipment in it. I’ve had to repack my carry-on with all my lenses in it because I didn’t want it improperly handled.

-Kelly Moore Bags: The Classic in Gray, The Hobo in Grass, and The Libby in Orange — I’m a little obsessed with these!

-ONA Venice Bag in Camel — My new favorite!

-ThinkTank Pixel Pocket Rocket — An awesome accessory for holding all my CF cards