Photography Gear
As with most photographers, I have an abundance of gear, but what is in my camera bag on a daily basis? I tend to shoot headshots, editorial portraits and corporate events, so what are my go-to lenses and equipment for these types of photo shoots? Let us start with my bag, I've got a Click Elite backpack which can carry most of my kit, just. Inside you will be my main camera which is a Canon 5d mark 3 and my second camera, a Canon 6D. I carry three different lenses with me all Canon lenses. 85mm f1.8Prime lens, brilliant for headshots, 70-200mm f2.8, perfect for events and portraits and my third lens is the trusty 24-105mm f4 a good allrounder. I do also have a Tokina 16-28mm f2.8 wide-angle lens which can make its way into the arsenal if the project should require a wide-angle shot.
Also in my camera bag, I have my Godox V1 flash gun with the additional accessories and the Godox X2tc transmitter which allows me to use off-camera flash. Well, that's the main gear, in addition, I, of course, have spare batteries, memory cards a Tether Tools cable, pens, a notepad and a bunch of business cards. There is also space for my Macbook Pro if I'm shooting tethered.
When I'm shooting headshots for a large company with many employees I will bring along my lighting equipment to set up a mini, mobile studio usually in an empty office, or boardroom. My lights consist of two Godox AD200 flash heads, super portable and wireless. With these lights, I have a couple of light stands and two white umbrellas, if space permits I will use my Godox 120mm Octabox and a reflector. I sometimes take my own background which can easily pop up and collapse back down. All of this equipment is in a large carry case with wheels.
Editing Software
Photographing is the first part of completing the project for the client. After the shoot there is the task of editing your images, and what is the best way to do that? Well, I will load all my images into Adobe Lightroom. When the job is fully imported I can quickly look through my pictures and select and cull. Once I have my selection of images I can do a quick edit just as white balance and lens correction and sync the edits to the rest of the images. This is fantastic, especially when the lighting is consistent such as in a studio setup for business headshots. Again any other retouching with colour, contrast, and cropping can quickly be synced with the rest of the images in a matter of seconds.
Lightroom is great but if there is anything that requires a more precise edit or there are objects to be removed from the image, that is where Adobe Photoshop comes in. I will import images from Lightroom into Photoshop to complete my retouching and my retouched image will be visible in my Lightroom catalogue. When my portrait images import into Photoshop I will do a light retouch which includes blemish removal, quick frequency separation and a dodge and burn.
I have also recently purchased another great software called Topaz Sharpen AI. Again I can import images from Lightroom into Topaz and use their AI software to help sharpen images. This can be especially useful for events when things are happening so quickly that the camera may miss the focus. I don't use it that often but it is a useful tool to have.
Business and Marketing Tools
Whenever I'm not out on a shoot or on the computer retouching you will find me on my computer sorting through images for social media posts and updating my website, well it needs to be kept fresh and current. My website is powered by Wix and it's easy to use and navigate. Alongside the website, I have my Google ads which I luckily leave to someone else. On the social media front, I use a scheduling site called Later, this allows me to set up posts in advance and they will automatically post on the selected date and time. I use three platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. My LinkedIn page is kept more corporate and the other two are more fun and creative.
I have an app called Coconut Accounting to help me with my business account, my expenses and income. It's a great app to use as it is more targeted for freelancers. I can control everything from my phone and if needs be they do have a desktop version but I manage to use everything on the phone app.