What's in my bag....
From time to time I get asked what I shoot with and what I carry around with me (far too much stuff!) so I thought I'd put together this quick post on 'What's In My Camera Bag??'
My main body is a Nikon D750. I have no real reason for picking Nikon over Canon (as is the usual photographer debate). When I first got into photography I was shopping for something used on Craigslist and I ran across a used D5000 for cheap with 2 lenses. So I became a Nikon-girl. Truthfully though I believe Nikon has a slightly faster auto-focus which was important to me since when I started my photography journey I was mostly focusing on photographing sports - running races in particular. The D5000 has been replaced with the newer D5500, which is a great starter camera.
I shoot with 2 main lenses - a zoom and a prime. A zoom is exactly what it sounds like - a single lens allows me to stand in one place and zoom in on a subject.
My zoom is a Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 lens. The 24-70 range is perfect for almost anywhere I shoot and let's me get up close without beingthisclosetoyoueverysinglesecondofthesession. It's already a little weird how close I get and I didn't even buy you dinner first, right?
A prime lens is a lens with a single focal length - your zoom is called your feet. The perk of a prime lens is that you can often get a very large aperture (let's in more light) which gives you that buttery background called bokeh. (Don't ask me to pronounce it...the war over that is as strong as Nikon vs Canon).
My prime is most recent buy and it was a bit of a splurge when I bought my new camera body. I had been hearing about these Sigma ART lens as the creme de la creme of sharpness and naturally I wanted in on the good stuff. So with a Christmas gift card and a little bit of 'screw it, I already spent how much? What's some more!' I proceeded to pick up quite possibly my most favorite lens that doesn't get nearly enough use. Mostly because the places I'm shooting aren't conducive to its focal length, but when I can play with it....oh baby, it's a thing of beauty - my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART.
Though I do love natural light, sometimes it just isn't in my favor and I have to bring in the big guns. I prefer a continuous (always on or, what you see is what you get) light over a strobe (exactly how it sounds) simply because, well I like to see what I'm getting. I shoot with a Wescott TD6 Spiderlite. It uses 6 daylight balanced bulbs to 'fake' natural light in most situations. It is however, a giant pain in the ass to move around and may or may not have fallen on me a few times. :-)
My latest lighting addition was an impulse buy that happened to be both cheap and shockingly practical. There are times where hauling around my big light just doesn't work. Or I want even less light or, more focused light than the TD6's can give me. For this, I added a NEEWER LED Panel light. Most often thought of as a video light, these little panels are becoming very popular as a second light or a small fill for kicking up the catchlights in your eye.
Naturally there's a variety of stands that accompany all my light shenanigans but the reality of those is deciding what is the most cost effective that serves my purpose. I really don't have an attachment to a particular brand or style of stand. Usually, it's whatever I put on my Christmas list and Santa brought me.
Other stuff I often carry around with me but don't always use:
Cowboy Studio 4 Channel Wireless Trigger
Do you have some favorite toys that I might enjoy? Questions on anything I listed? The comments are open and waiting!