Contrary to popular belief, there’s a lot more to taking a good photo than using a good camera, but it does help to have the right gear for the job.

Here’s some of what I carry around with me, and why:

camera bodies

• Canon 1Ds MkII
• Canon 5D MkII
• Canon 5D

As you can see, I’m a Canon man. That said, I could just as happily be a Nikon or even a Sony man. They all make great cameras.

I prefer to use cameras with full-frame sensors. The main reason for this is because I love shooting with fast prime lenses, and you don’t get the full benefit of these on cameras with smaller sensors, plus their focal lengths don’t make as much sense. If I was working primarily with zoom lenses, I’d probably go back to less expensive bodies like the 40D or 7D.

lenses

• Canon 14mm f/2.8L II
• Canon 24mm f/1.4L
• Canon 35mm f/1.4L
• Canon 50mm f/1.2L
• Canon 85mm f/1.8
• Canon 135mm f/2L
• Canon 45mm f/2.8 TS-E
• Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye
• Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro
• Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS (backup)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (backup)

I know that’s a lot of lenses, and you’re probably wondering how I could possibly use them all, but throughout the course of a wedding, almost all of them come out of the bag

My faves are probably the 24mm f/1.4L and the 50mm f/1.2L. I love what they let me do in low light, and even when there’s plenty of light, I love the look they give me at wide apertures.

Tilt-shift lenses are great too. Being able to move the plane of focus makes so many cool things possible!

lighting

• 3 x Canon 580EX Speedlites
• 4 x PocketWizard transceivers
• various modifiers

I believe in using available light wherever possible, but sometimes available light is just plain ugly. At those times, I find it helpful to remember that my flashes are “available” too

I very rarely use on-camera flash. When I do, I almost always bounce it off something – anything! Otherwise, I keep my flashes off-camera and manually controlled.

want to know more?

Ask away! You can post questions anonymously here, or if you’d prefer something a little more private, click here. You might also want to check out my workshop wednesday blog posts or the photography course I run.