What's in my Bag? 

One of the worst things happened at this Senior Portrait Shoot.  My memory card failed. All of a sudden there was a warning on my camera screen that my memory card was corrupt, and I could not take pictures, or view the pictures I had already taken.  Luckily, it was no big deal because my camera has two memory card slots and I always shoot to two cards as a back up.  So all I had to do was to replace the corrupt card with one from my bag and keep shooting.  The other card still had all the images from the first half of our session, so I hadn't lost a single image of beautiful Elise. 

And I am so glad...I would hate to have lost any of the pictures because she was absolutely killing it. I absolutely adore Elise and have for many years. She and her parents go to my church and I remember her at the age of 12 of so helping me with a VBS class.  She is so kind an sweet and a fun person to be around.  She's also my girls' babysitter and they adore her too.  She's just a beautiful young woman, inside and out. 

Fairly often, I am asked about what kind of camera I use and which are my favorite lenses.  Since I had the issue with the memory card, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about what's in my bag (and in my car) when I'm at a portrait session.

What I carry with me at a Portrait Session:

• My Nikon D750 (My Precious) 
• My Precious hangs from a BlackRapid RS2SW-1AS Women's Camera Strap (Black) -I love this shoulder strap, as opposed to the standard neck strap. 
• My Shootsac Lensbag - This is the bag that holds my extra lenses while I'm shooting.  I love it because it's super comfortable and moves with me. 
• Nikon AF FX NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G Fixed Lens -This is probably my favorite lens, though it doesn't always work with younger kids because they come too close to me.  But Elise's session was shot almost exclusively with this lens. 
• Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens - My Nifty Fifty - I like this one almost as much as my 85 mm, and it's really inexpensive for a lens. 
• Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens  - This is my newest lens, but I'm actually trying to sell it to replace it with a 20 mm prime lens.  It's a great lens but is optimal for my new full frame camera and I've decided that I'm a prime girl at heart and to stop trying to find zoom lenses that I like. 
• Lots of memory cards 
• Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash - I don't use this much as I prefer natural light, but I have it if I need it. 
• 3 Backup Batteries - Fully Charged
• Some other random crap like lens cleaner and business cards that I really need to update
• Suckers.  Always  (Your kids know this.) I always use Yummy Earth Organic Suckers.  I buy them in bulk from Amazon.

What's in my car - Just in Case:  

• My Tote & Shoot Camera Bag
• My Nikon D7100 - My Backup Camera.  But if I'm shooting a birth, this camera is also always in the room with me, just in case. 
• Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens - usually on my backup camera.
• Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Nikkor Telephoto Zoom Len
• Sometimes, my Macbook Pro - If I'm in Franklin or somewhere not super close to home, I like to download my memory card to my computer before I leave a location so by the time I get home, I can look through the photos and post a quick Facebook preview image.
• Random stuff like a poncho, a camera rain cover, a swiss army knife and batteries for my flash.
• A step ladder (I'm short, and sometimes it comes in handy)
• A Bubble Machine and Bubble solution - this has gotten me out of a bind before with uncooperative toddlers.  Life saver.
• A Paypal Here Credit Card Scanner, in case someone needs to pay me with a card and did not do so online before the session.

With me in Spirit:

• Equipment and Liability Insurance
• My Business License

Wow, reading that all together is a little overwhelming, but people ask often, so there it is.  Also, if you have ever looked at the pricing for a professional photographer and got sticker shock wondering why it costs so much, just know that this is actually a drop in the bucket. It doesn't include the stuff at home, like  numerous hard drives (to backup my backups), Adobe Subscriptions, numeral website subscription fees, lighting setups for studio type jobs, etc.  

As a disclaimer, I want to say this about what's in my bag, because my hunch is that those who ask mean it as a compliment, but are really looking to find what they can do to shoot better pictures.  So I want to say first and foremost that equipment is not the answer.  I started out with really basic equipment when I was learning and I would suggest that you do too.  I'm not saying that a great camera and nice lenses don't make a difference...they definitely do.  But what makes the biggest difference is practice, training and editing style (which I'll talk more about in a later post).  

If you want to learn more about photography, Click Photo School is a fantastic place to start and where I've taken lots of online workshops.