Ever wonder what your photographer is lugging around with them all day?...
Well wonder no longer!
These are just the things that I pack with me on a wedding day but your photographer may carry more or less depending on what gear they prefer to shoot with and what kind of wedding they are shooting. This is the gear that I bring with me to an 8-10 hour long wedding day!
Let's break it down, shall we?
Cameras: I carry three with me but tend to use only two. My main is a Canon R5, my second is a Canon 6D Mark II, and my backup/ third is my first full-frame baby that I can't seem to part with, a Canon 6D.
Lenses: This can change but not very often! My main squeeze and one that never leaves my camera is my Sigma 35mm 1.4! Then I have my newest baby, aSigma 85mm 1.4, and my handy-dandy Canon 50mm 1.4. For this wedding I am also bringing along my Tamron 70-200mm 2.0 zoom lens just incase I want to be really far away at some point, haha!
Flashes: I typically use only my Godox V1 when I need to use flash because it is the most reliable but I also bring along my Yongnuo flash just incase. I also bring along a mini-LED light that I can attach to my camera if I want more light for photos without using flash.
To be honest.. I hate flash. There, I said it! But I need to have them just incase and I do sometimes love those fun flash photos when everyone is dancing.
So I guess they aren't that worst thing to have!
Accessories: The itty bitty things that are not so itty bitty at the end of the day! Extra camera batteries, lots of memory cards for all the mems, camera battery charger, AA batteries for second flash, dual-camera harness for hands free moments, lens cloth, extra lens cap for my 35mm because I always seem to misplace the one I start out with.., safety pins and a snack!
Now, this is definitely overkill but as a photographer you can never be too prepared! If this were an elopement, a shorter wedding or just a session, I would not have all of this.
This took me years to build up and I still don't have everything that I could need (or want). My first 2 years shooting weddings I shot full wedding days with just my Canon 6D and my Sigma 35mm 1.4 lens! Would I recommend that? No. But it is possible to do and shouldn't stop you from starting as a wedding photographer!
*This post isn't to gloat about what gear I have or show off in any way! It is to share with other photographers who may be building up their photo gear, those who want to get into wedding photography but may not know where to start (I can always share more on that if you're interested!), and also for clients or those hiring a wedding photographer! It is important that clients understand that there is so much more to what photographers do than just clicking a button on a camera! And this doesn't even show all of the other things that photographers use after the photos are taken to create the photos that you receive!
So if you are ever wondering why it costs as much as it does to hire a photographer, let this post be some insight into that :)*
