I’m often asked “what do you shoot with?” or “what’s your favorite lens?” The answer to those questions depends somewhat on what I’m actually photographing. I might carry a different selection of gear when photographing a live concert than I would when photographing a newborn. Here’s what you’ll usually find in my camera bag.
Canon 1D mark III. This camera body is the best digital SLR on the market for what I do. It’s lightening fast, excellent in low light, weather sealed, a battery that will practically run my whole house, and lots of nice features. It’s aimed mostly for sports shooters, photojournalists, wildlife & bird photographers, and concert togs. It’s like a machine gun firing off 10 frames per second and has dual processors so it can write all those images to the memory card without getting bogged down. And best of all, a million focus points (ok slightly less, but around 40) with lightning fast focusing abilities and great subject tracking.
Canon 50mm f/1.2. This is possibly my favorite lens in the world. It’s fast, sharp, has great color, and focuses quickly and smoothly. I use this for live concerts in very dimly lit venues, as well as portraits.
Canon 35mm f/1.4. Another wonderful prime lens, with a bit wider angle than the 50mm. I use this for live concerts mostly but also occassionally for portraits in cramped quarters.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. The white beast. This zoom lens is a monster. I love this lens and would use it all the time except that it’s pretty heavy and is too tight for smaller quarters. It is tack sharp, excellent color, and focuses fast and quickly without searching. This is my main lens for concerts at venues with decent size stages (4ft and higher), capturing drummers at the back of a stage, sports, and for outdoor portraits especially with fast moving toddlers. It’s a bit heavy and long for a general walkaround lens.
Canon 16-35mm f/2.8. This is my wide angle zoom. I use this lens for landscapes, concerts (for full stage or full body shots), portraits in tight spots, and environmental portraits. Care has to be taken though as there is a little bit of distortion at the wide end, which can result in unpleasant facial/body distortions near the edge of the frame.
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8. This zoom is a perfect focal length for a general walk around lens. It’s wide enough to be able to shoot in most tight spots, and enough reach to allow me to step back and not be eight in someone’s face.
Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye. This is a fun little lens. It’s not for every situation, but can be fun once in awhile. Itsvery wide with a fisheye effect. I use this lens sparingly, usually doing funky band shots or pets, and occassionally for a goofy baby photograph.
Canon 5D. This full frame camera is a great addition to my bag when I need to shoot with 2 camera bodies. I usually put my wide angle zoom on this body while shooting with a telephoto zoom on my other camera body, so I can quickly switch back and forth between the two. It’s not something I do in most portrait sessions, but when photographing concerts, doing band shots on a very limited timeline (15-20 minutes total), or when photographing a wedding or similar event, you’ll find me slinging two cameras, one over each shoulder. People love this 5D camera. I’m nit a huge fan. It does have excellent image quality, but it’s slow to focus, with too few focus points, slow to write images to the memory card, and is sluggish I overall. Since much of my work is very fast paced I get frustrated by the sluggishness of this camera. For normal situations, this makes an excellent camera choice, but not for sports or concert photography.
by leighann
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