Inside My Camera Bag | Mick Shah

X Facebook Pinterest

Hi my is Mick and I am a Destination Wedding Photographer and also a bit of a ‘gear head’, I think it comes from my drumming days. Back then if any of my favourite drummers played with a certain cymbal for example then somehow in my head that meant “…if only I had that then I could play like….”. Somehow this has translated into my photographic journey so when I first started it was “…if only I had that lens then I could shoot like….”.

Obviously as you grow and the more you shoot the more you come to realise it’s more about your vision but the equipment makes it easier to fulfil what you see in your head. So with all of the above in mind I have quite a bit of gear especially for someone who’s started on this path of wedding photography quite recently.

I currently shoot Canon because I think it was the first Camera my wife bought me and it kind of went from there. However, I just love the look and colours Canon give you so hence why I’m still with them.

I shoot 2 Canon 5d mk3 ‘s and it’s almost the perfect wedding camera, great AF, awesome ISO… except for just 2 bug bears: The dynamic range isn’t that great so you can’t push and pull shadows as much as I’d like and the dual card slot configuration means that the SD card maximum buffer speeds means you severely slow down the overall FPS. But if they could fix those then it would be the perfect wedding camera for me.

I started out with zooms but switched to mainly primes as it nicer to get into the action with your feet and be amongst it all plus you start to instinctively ‘see in those focal lengths’.

I own 7 lenses and they’re all Canon apart from one:

Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 this is really for dance floor shots and group shots in tight spaces

Canon 35mm f/1.4: probably shoot about 60% of a day on this great documentary lens.

Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift: love the look this lens can give you and to be honest I only got it because all ‘my heroes’ had one but using it more and more now.

Canon 50mm f/1.2: I got this second hand and don’t use it as much for me it’s more for when I want that classic portrait look – can’t explain it that’s how I feel about it lol

Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro great for detail and ring shots.

Canon 85mm f/1.2 the dream machine when this lens nails it – it just has an ethereal quality about it I can’t explain.

Canon 135mm f/2.0 Another “I’ve got to get it because so and so…” I don’t use it as half as much as I should I’ve only kept it for those odd occasions when I need it for extra reach and I can’t physically get close to the subjects.

I have 3 flashguns: Canon 580EX II and 2 Canon 580EX ‘s

4 Yongnuo RF-602 radio triggers – cheap and cheerful and do the job and if I lose/break one they’re easy enough to replace

1 ebay video light: love this little thing great for creativity and when you need a little extra light.

In terms of straps I’ve just switched to the Holdfast Money Maker and I can’t recommend them enough look great and great weight distribution for having two bodies.

Finally my Shootsac don’t use it as much now but when I do it’s great for having lenses to hand and keeping those bits and pieces around you.

That’s it for now, I’m always tempted to sell some of these lenses or even add more but I find that’s usually during wedding season downtime and I’m not shooting as much but once you’re back in the thick of things it just usually go go go!

www.mikistudios.com

X Facebook Pinterest

Highly Recommended