Lauren Bath
Travel | Last Updated: April 4, 2024
I am a 34-year-old chef turned travel photographer thanks to my success on the popular photo-sharing site Instagram. In January 2013 I quit my life in the kitchen to try and become Australia’s “first professional instagrammer”, effectively monetizing my online reach by working in the tourism industry.
Since then my career has gone from strength to strength. I’ve built a package of services that encompass my unique style of photography, my interest and affinity with destination marketing, my online reach (now exceeding 600,000 followers across multiple platforms) and my people skills. From solo adventures to campaign management and education, I’ve created my dream job.
If I’m pushed to put a label on myself I generally call myself a freelance marketer but my photography skills enable me to do this job effectively. I shoot with a variety of equipment and I believe in using the best products to achieve the best results. It’s important to find the equipment that works for you and that’s what I continue to hone during my time on the road.
So here it is, a comprehensive list of my kit:
Main kit
Cameras: Nikon D810; Nikon D750 (not pictured); Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye (prime); Nikon 35mm f/1.4 (prime) (not pictured) Nikon 50mm f/1.4 (prime); Nikon 85mm f/1.4 (prime); Nikon 14-24mm f2.8; Nikon 24-70mm f2.8; Nikon 70-200mm f2.8; Nikon TC-20E 2x teleconvertor
Tripods: A variety of Manfrotto tripods. I prefer carbon fiber legs and ball heads – I’m currently using the Manfrotto MH054M0-Q5 054 Magnesium Ball Head with the Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4 055 Carbon Fiber tripod. Manfrotto is a sponsor.
Filters: I use Lee filters and have a variety of neutral density and graduated neutral density glass plus a circular polarizer. Lee is also a sponsor.
Bag: I use the f-stop Tilopa BC with a large ICU.
Memory Cards: I use San Disk Extreme Pro memory cards in 32GB in both SD and CF. I shoot RAW files and duplicate to the second card.
Secondary kit
I’ve recently started a relationship with Olympus Australia as I was searching for a lightweight secondary camera system that would be suitable for skiing and physical adventures. Olympus have also come on board as a sponsor. This is my kit:
Olympus OM-D E-M1; Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 (35mm equivalent 14-28mm f2.8); Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 (35mm equivalent 24-80mm f2.8); Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 (35mm equivalent 80-300mm f2.8); Olympus 25mm f/1.4 (35mm equivalent 50mm f1.4)
GoPro kit
I’ve also always carried a GoPro with me for underwater and action work and recently GoPro has come on board as a sponsor. I currently shoot with the following:
GoPro Hero 4 Black
GoPro 4 Session
GoPro Hero+
I shoot with a variety of GoPro mounts including: head strap; chest strap; wrist mount; 3 way pole; flex clamp and floating hand grip.
Other
I travel with a MacBook Pro; iPad Air 2 with camera connection kit; iPhone 6+; iPhone 5; 2 Western Digital external hard drives
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