My Go-To Gear for Wedding Days

~ For Photographers | Education ~

#WeddingTipWednesday | I have been asked a few times about what gear do I bring on wedding days, how much of my equipment that I brought do I actually use, what little things can I not live without…

Well today I am breaking it all down: camera bodies, what lenses I use when, small tech things, and new additions to our gear for our 2022 Fall Wedding season!

Lets talk Camera Bodies – Obviously, you need a camera body or two in your camera bag. I LOVE Canon products. I prefer Canon over other brands because I feel the camera buttons and software in the camera are more user friendly and natural feeling in my hand than other brands of cameras. Full frame cameras are the best when it comes to wedding photography, full frames are able to give you so much more detail and texture in the photo. However, there was a point in time when I was first beginning, I had to use a crop sensor camera because that is all I had! So I will list all of the bodies that I have used and feel are STRONG bodies for Wedding Photography, for all levels of photographers. And what I am planning on ADDING or RETIRING soon.

Full Frame DSLR Cameras

• Canon 5d Mark iii (this will be added to my wedding gear bag this fall!)
• Canon 5d Mark ii
• Canon 6d

Crop Sensor DSLR Cameras

• Canon 70D (this is what Michael has been 2nd shooting with, but it will be retired very soon and he will be taking the 5d Mark ii from me.)
• Canon 60D

Mirrorless Cameras – (I have no experience using these however, industry leaders are LOVING these)

• Canon R6 (hoping to add this to the gear list in a year or so)
• Canon R5

What Lenses am I grabbing? Surprisingly, I only pack 5 lenses! I shoot almost the entire wedding day with 1 lens. Let me break it all down for you – what lenses and when I use them. Again, like my camera bodies, I have used an array of lenses overtime. I will share what I use currently, what is retired and what I hope to add to my bag in the future.

50mm f/1.2L – This guy is the STAR of the show. I love the 50mm, it lives on my camera pretty much 24/7. I photograph getting ready, bridals, some details, first look, ceremony, portraits, reception & send off with my 50mm. (I also have the 50mm f/1.8, Michael will use this occasionally. But, for the most part it is retired.)

35mm f/1.4L – This one gets passed between Michael and I often throughout the wedding day. I use this lens for details & getting ready (if the room is tight and the 50mm will not catch the whole space). Michael on the other hand has this for shooting the first look, cocktail hour, the reception, and the send off.

100mm f/2.8L MACRO – This is honestly my second favorite lens right now. I use this lens primarily for small details like rings, jewelry, cufflinks, flowers, engravings, etc. But, I threw it on for a ceremony in the spring, and honestly I was LIVING for the photos I got with it. I am thinking about using it for portraits this fall season too.

EF 70-300mm f/4.6 – This telephoto zoom lens is GREAT for second shooters! Michael has this on his camera during the ceremony, first look (sometimes), and during the portrait hour. This is what photographers call a “kit lens” its fairly inexpensive because it can come with a Canon D Series camera kit. It’s great for photographers starting out and second shooters.

EFS 10-18mm f/4.5 – This WIDE telephoto lens is used only once or twice during a wedding. And I am honestly kinda sad it will be retiring soon. PRO TIP: An EFS lens is ONLY for crop sensor cameras. If you put this lens on a full frame camera, it WILL CRACK your sensor! (With the 70D going into retirement, this lens will too). But it makes for STUNNING wide shot photos of the ceremony and send off if there are sparklers, bubbles or fireworks. You are able to capture the whole space, ALL the guests or architecture or landscape easily.

Other great lenses that I am hoping to add or I retired:

• 85mm f/1.2L – want to add – great for portraits, bridals, & first look
• 70 – 200mm f/2.8L – want to add to retire the 70-300mm
• 50mm f/1.8 – retired (for the most part) – great inexpensive portrait lens great for everything.

We usually only use our Flashes in darker bridal/groom suites, receptions and send offs. I only have two flashes I recommend – a professional level speedlite and a hobbiest level speedlite.

• Canon 600EXii-RT
• Neewer TT-560

What else is in the bag?

• Extra SD & CF Cards
• Extra Camera Batteries
• Extra AA Batteries for the Flashes
• Reflectors
• Battery Chargers
• Laptop, Hard Drive, & Charger
• Detail Styling Kit
• Crash Kit (if you don’t know what my crash kit is – see this blog)
• Tripod

I use ALL of these at weddings.

We are ADDING something HUGE to our wedding gear to our Fall Wedding season…….
Michael will be now taking aerial photos at weddings & elopements during the ceremony, outdoor receptions, and the send off via DRONE!!! So what drone did we get and recommend?

• Dji Mini 2

We couldn’t be MORE excited to add this to our gear and to use it starting the 2022 Fall Wedding Season, I hope my brides are just as excited as we are about this not so little addition.