For some reason photographers love seeing what’s in other photographers’ camera bags. For some it’s just a curiosity, for others it’s a matter of pride… like comparing cars or spousal hotness. Regardless, we want to emphasize that photography is really not about the equipment. Well, kinda.. for the most part… I mean, in this video, we are going to show you what’s REALLY in our bags.

We believe that you CAN create great imagery with any camera given the right knowledge of composition, lighting, and post production (see the iPhone Fashion Shoot). However, the key word in the last sentence is “CAN.” Though you may have the knowledge and ability, why wouldn’t you make your life easier with top-of-the-line equipment? Furthermore, there are just somethings you can’t do without that certain lens or that certain level of ISO performance in your camera body. Lastly, being a minimalist as far as equipment is no excuse to not properly backing up your shoots during the shoot or having cheap memory cards fail.

Basically, get some decent gear and learn how to use it well.

Below the video is a full listing of the photography equipment we use for our shoots (primarily wedding photography):

Photography Equipment Listing

1. Our Camera Systems

  1. Primary camera body: Canon 5D Mark II
  2. Backup camera body: Canon 5D Mark II

2. Our Lenses

  1. Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 L IS USM Telephoto Lens
  2. Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
  3. Canon 50mm F/1.4 USM Portrait
  4. Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
  5. Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
  6. Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 L USM II Wide Angle Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
  7. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM 1-to-1 Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

3. Our Lighting

  1. Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras
  2. PocketWizard PWP-TR 801-125 PLUS II Transceiver (Black)
  3. Dynalite RP400 400 w/s Power Pack with 12ft AC and 16ft Phono Plug Sync Cables
  4. Quantum Turbo C Compact Battery Power Pack.
  5. Brinkmann Maxfire Dual Xenon Spotlight

4. Our Photography Accessories

  1. The Fishbomb Lens Filter Case
  2. UNDFIND One Bag
  3. Pelican 1510 Case
  4. Tiffen Circular Polarizer Filters
  5. Tiffen 58mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter
  6. Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod Legs (Black)
  7. Westcott 750 Photo Basics 7.0-Foot Light Stand
  8. Westcott 1303 30in. Silver White Reflector
  9. Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH Batteries
  10. Epson P-7000 160GB Multimedia Storage Drive, Photo Viewer and Audio-Video Player w/ 4-Inch LCD
  11. Drobo S 5-Bay USB 2.0/FireWire 800/eSATA Storage Array DRDR3A21

5. Our Software and Computer Accessories

  1. Photoshop CS5
  2. Wacom Intuos3 4 x 6-Inch Wide Format Pen Tablet (PTZ431W)
  3. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
  4. ProShow Gold
  5. Adobe Premiere
  6. Luma Pix FotoFusion Standard

To check out the work created with all of this gear, see our Los Angeles Wedding Photography site.