Inside My Camera Bag | Rohit Gautam

I am Rohit Gautam and I am a wedding photographer based in England, UK. Originally from India, I was brought up in a family of photographers.

My family in India runs a successful photography business. I started doing photography from 2011 when I opened Sai Digital Limited, my company.

I have mainly been doing Asian wedding photography throughout my career and have now opened a studio where I will be doing fine art portraits for families as well.

I have won numerous awards from WPJA, WPPI and ISPWP. I am also honored to have been featured as World’s Top Wedding Photographer by Khush Magazine, who are a leading bridal magazine in the Asian wedding industry.

Since the early years, I have always been intrigued by photography, but it was only after coming to England that my hobby became my passion and I eventually set up my business.

Asian weddings are full of colour and emotion which I love to capture on camera. I love to create history for my clients which they can look back at in the form of images.

I always had Nikon gear since the start and recently moved to Sony Alpha cameras. I love the way Sony has evolved in time and have invested in helping photographers do their job with the best possible tools.

I have a Sony a7 III and Sony a7R III as my main cameras – the Sony a7 III as my main wedding camera and Sony a7R III as my main camera for portraits/studio.

The main reason for moving to Sony Alpha was autofocus and eye-AF which is just amazing to use in the real world. The Sony a7R III is perfect for taking those portraits and studio portraits because of its high megapixel sensor.

My main two workhorse lenses are a Batis 25mm f/2 and Sony 85mm f/1.8. I also own a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and use it when I am just using one camera.

Recently I bought a Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro and I just love this lens. It’s the sharpest lens I have ever owned. I also use this lens for portraits it the studio.

I use Godox AD200s and Godox V1 round flash-head for my main lighting equipment. Having just one brand means I can control many lights with just one trigger or with the flash. It makes life easier during a busy day.

I also have a Godox round head for Godox AD200 which I believe is great for bare flash as it is not too harsh.

I use MagMod’s MagBox with Godox AD200 during portrait sessions, which is perfect for an easy setup.

I also use Aputure Light Dome II for morning bridal getting ready pictures with a LED light. The light is very soft from the Aputure dome, hence it is my go-to modifier to use in the morning preps.

To carry the equipment, there is nothing better than ThinkTank. I own the ThinkTank Airport Advantage. Its small form factor means it’s perfect to take as carry-on luggage on travels.

I recently invested in a Peak Design strap and I must say I do not know why I didn’t buy it earlier. Perfect for attaching the straps on cameras and so comfortable.

As I am a portrait studio photographer too, a tripod is a must for some shots. I believe a good tripod is one that you can easily open and close and is easy to attach to cameras. So for this, I invested in 3Legged Thing’s Billy tripod. So light and easy to carry. It is also very sturdy.

Whatever we do as photographers, the most important part of our job is editing. So investing in good equipment should be the norm. One, it saves time; and two, it lasts longer.

I have a 2013 Apple iMac with maxed out configuration and I use an Eizo CX271 27” monitor for my editing. I calibrate every week/two weeks using DataColor’s Spyder 5. Eizo is the best in the business and having 100% Adobe RGB color gamut is great for editing.

Editing in Photoshop is easy with my Wacom Medium Tablet rather than using a mouse.

When I am on the go, I use a new Apple iPad Pro with Sandisk 1TB SSD for work. Having Adobe Lightroom Mobile makes it fun to work on the go with the iPad Pro.

I always believe in working to improve yourself from your last job. You need to ignore what everyone else is doing and focus on achieving.

Your life is about breaking your own limits and outgrowing yourself to live your best life and produce your best work as an artist. You are not in competition with anyone else. Plan to outdo your past, not other people.

saidigital.co.uk | @saidigitaluk