Inside My Camera Bag | Martin Makowski

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Hi there! I’m Martin, a wedding photographer from Nottingham, UK. I specialise in documentary wedding photography and I’ve been doing so for nearly a decade. I’m a curious observer and love shooting weddings in a completely unobtrusive manner.

I believe that wedding photography should be as unique and authentic as the people in it. I don’t apply a template or work to any pre-planned ideas. I approach each wedding with a fresh mind and open eyes. In constantly changing surroundings spontaneous photo opportunities await. It’s a bit like street photography at weddings.

Finding myself amongst a large crowd of people that is fully loaded with positive emotions is like a free ticket to a Funland! Being around happy people makes me happy. Creating meaningful and storytelling imagery for people is both very exciting and fulfilling.

Cameras

Fuji X-T3 x2 – Until early 2018 I was a loyal Nikon shooter, I then decided to go mirrorless. I switched to Fuji and absolutely love this system. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

I’m not a camera geek and technical aspects of photographic equipment are not that important to me. If the camera is capable of capturing the photo I’m aiming for, it’s a winner. Fuji gives me exactly that, yet it’s such a joy to handle.

It may sound weird, but I somehow feel an emotional connection with Fuji cameras. I love them for their image character, colours, grain, size, and exposure triangle dials.

Lenses

Fujinon XF 23mm f/1.4 – This is my most used lens during the wedding day and it’s fair to say that I capture 85% of my images with this beauty. I generally photograph in ambient light and would only reach for the flash at the dance floor, so having a faster lens is a massive bonus. It stays attached to one camera body all day long.

Fujinon WR 23mm f/2 – This is my go-to lens for street photography, days out, and travel. I absolutely love it for image quality and size. At weddings, it usually sits in my car as a backup to the main 23mm f/1.4.

Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 – This lens goes on my second X-T3 body. I trained my photographic eye to see in either 35mm or 85mm, it’s a pure gem. However, it only covers a small percentage of the overall wedding shoot.

Fujinon 16mm WR f/2.8 – This is a very recent replacement to its big brother the 16mm f/1.4. I use this lens mainly on the dance floor when I’m super close to the action, or in small rooms where 23mm is a tad too narrow.

To flash the action on the dance floor I use my trusty pocket FLASHQ 20 from LightPix Lab. I also have a Nissin i60 that I occasionally pull out of the bag, usually when the FLASHQ battery goes flat.

On top of the mentioned gear, I pack a few items into my Peak Design Everyday Sling bag 10L including various SD memory cards from Sandisk and Lexar, plus a few spare batteries for my Fujis. Not to forget a tiny umbrella for rainy days.

Over the years I went through some camera gear obsessions and by eliminating unneeded and unwanted stuff, I found my perfect cameras and lenses.

www.makowskiphotography.co.uk | @makowskiphotography