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Set for Success - Gear

the next thing we're gonna talk about this afternoon is set for success. Right? So we talked about how important it is to get your business and pricing in your package set for success. But the other piece of that is being efficient and effective, actually on the wedding day itself, and that can actually really impact your workflow. So that's what we're going to take a look at. The first thing that that I do and everybody is different, Of course. So I hope you guys get the idea now that this is for your, you know, picking and choosing. But for me personally, this is my camera bag right here. And I have in here my two camera bodies. Um, so I have one that I shoot with and my other one is my backup. Of course, some people like to shoot with two bodies. I just don't. But what I do always do is I always shoot in manual mode, and I know that, you know, everyone's different. Some people really rock the aperture priority, and I think that's cool for me and my style of shooting. I've just found...

so much variation with the aperture priority mode, and I know obviously you have control with exposure, compensation and things like that. But I found too much variety, and I found it sort of a little unpredictable. And so for me, I went with manual mode because then if I screw it up, I'm screwing it up. And I'm not like wondering how the camera's gonna interpret something. So that's huge for consistency sake, which, you know when you're editing through 3000 or more wedding photos. Consistency is important, so that's one little thing that I do. People like to know about lenses. So I thought I would just do that quickly. And I have lots of other, like different lenses and things. The three that I use almost exclusively are the 16 35 2.8 I'm a cannon, girls of the cannon. But obviously you have all kinds of choices 16 35 to 8, the 7200 also to eight, and the 51 2 is my absolute favorite, and that's what's on my camera more than anything. So those three are usually like I could just shoot a whole wedding with those, and I'd be happy with that. The one the other one that I do also uses the macro the 100 millimeter macro lens, of course, like for the ring shots or anything else that might require Mac Roland's. But that's it, like, really those three. The macro lens stays in my bag until I need it, and I just pull it out. The rest I have on me all the time and we'll talk. We'll talk about how that shakes down. But of course, lighting is key when we do photography, right? So I have to speed lights the 5 80 x tooth, which I have one on my camera, one, of course, for backup in case that one bites the dust. And then as far as my off camera lighting goes, actually, I rock these two visitar to 85 and they're often cause they're like 85 books. So when they get kicked over on the dance floor and smash into a 1,000,000 pieces, which doesn't happen often doesn't happen often. But if it does, I'm like The other day I was shooting outside with it. It flew over like the wind took it and just anyway, and it didn't work after that, so I had to replace it. But the good news is it was $85 instead of five or 600. So I really like those for my off camera stuff, especially around the dance floor, where it's a danger zone a little bit. So that's what I rock. And I put those on these guys right here. They're collapsible light stands and I'll just show you So they go pretty tall mean this can go. I don't know that we need to show at all all of that, but they go pretty tall. But they also collapsed down because, like I mentioned earlier, I usually I'm a one woman show. So I'm rocking all this off camera stuff. All this stuff Bama self and that means I have to be able to carry it. Set it up, move it around. Run! This is my workout. You know, shooting the weddings is my exercise. So anyway, it collapses this tiny, so I'll show you exactly what I carry with me on the wedding day. But, um, this is very, pretty small, I think, for a light stand Pretty lightweight. So I have two of these guys for off camera or off camera stuff and they're just super great. And there's links to that in the resource guide as well, if you're if you're interested. But those are the lights, the batteries that run all this stuff. That's huge, I think, because, you know, I don't like worrying about things that I don't need to worry about. I'm already good enough at being a warrior. I don't want to worry about anything extra that I need. So on the wedding day, I do not want to worry that I may not have enough batteries. I don't like having to stop to change batteries. I just don't like any of that. So on my camera usually have a battery grip, although I haven't bought the one for my five d mark three yet because I thought it would be the same one. And it's not so that dang it. So anyway, I got to get me one of those, but I usually have the battery grip on my camera. And yes, it does make it a little heavier. But I've also found when I'm changing lenses, I love having it on there because it keeps it. When it's it's around my neck. It keeps it from flipping down because it's bottom heavy. So I like that. I just I like the battery grip. It's just a big, massive thing, but it is heavy, so it's a good workout. The other thing is for my flashes. I use rechargeable Double A's and I'll put them all charge. Um, you know the day before and load him up in there. They will ask me all day a single set of batteries. The key is with the batteries. You want to look for this M H number? I don't know all of the different brands and all of that. I'm not like a battery guru, but I have heard that the key is to have a high m a h. So these ones here are 28 50. So they come in all different, you know, like 2127 28 Whatever the higher the number, it's my understanding that the higher the number, the sort of the faster it might recycle, the longer it might last all of those kinds of things. So I go for the highest number I confined, and even if they're just cheap, whatever brand, I haven't cared too much about the brands, but I'm not the battery guru, so I'll leave that to you. But I They last me all day, so I'll put those in my cameras in there in the lights. And I never run out of juice for everything through the reception and everything. So Okay, there was a question back there. So that's the batteries. This is maybe my favorite thing. Okay, So sticky filters are kind of awesome. I will show you what they look like. I think they're here. So sticky filters are these little thingamajigs they come on, this is kind of a mixed set, because if you can't tell, it's been around a while. But, um, it's sort of like this. It comes in this little accordion wallet thing, and they're just these little cards that you pull out, and then they have these sticky things filters, and you just stick them on your lights. So here is like the vivid tar. I'll explain that thing in a minute. So you just stick it on here, and then you can color balance with the existing light. So here's an example. Here is a reception shot with no filters on the lights. And as you can tell, the background is orange. And this happens a lot, of course, because the ballrooms and such that we often find ourselves shooting in our balanced. You know they're tungsten, often times, and unless you're jelling, your flashes, whether off camera and or on your light coming out of your flash is gonna be a different color than the light that's in the room. So the people might look good, but the backgrounds going to be super orange or whatever. And you know, I like a warm image to, but I just I don't like it when it's super orange, super orange. And so I discovered sticky filters. And here's the same ballroom without the orange Um, and I just I love that. I mean, it has made my reception images so clean, so easy. I just and I'm shooting in manual mode. My flashes air in manual mode as well, which I know is weird. And I know some people do you know all the amazing e t. T. L stuff with lights, and I just I don't know personally, I e think that's harder. I don't know. I student manual mode. I sent my light what it is I control the exposures using my you know, shutter and aperture combination. And also, of course, the I s O. So I just and distance and I just move stuff around. But it really cleans up the reception shots and the color and everything. So it comes with all different colors in here. By far the most commonly used ones, in my case, are the tungsten, the fluorescence air. Nice to, um, and if you believe, I think I think they're like 50 bucks for a package like this. But it's nice because they're sticky and you can take them off. And then if I quickly, If I move and I need fluorescent, I might stick this on top and stick a fluorescent one on here if you want to make your own. If you don't want to spring for the sticky filter, that's actually the brand, that's not my my made up word. If you don't want to spring for the sticky filters themselves, you can get you know, the CTO. This is color temperature, orange gels from anywhere camera supplies on. I just cut this and I stuck Velcro on it, and I stuck Velcro on my flash and then you can actually goes this way. So I just do this. And I only made the orange ones for myself because I use them more than anything. And the sticky filters. I just wanted some backups and, you know, after a while they're not always so sticky. So I would find that I'm replacing these like every season, which is not behead. But, um, I think they actually do come with, like a lifetime exchange. If you send it back to them, I think they refill it, but they only refill like one at a time. So I was, like, screwed up. Just buy a new one or do this, but I really like this. So that's huge. That's been massively helpful as far as cleaning up the shots and just it makes a big difference. And it's also fun because when I'm putting them on my lights, the wedding guests are always like, Why are you putting those orange things on your lights? So it's a really great conversational piece to be able to explain to them. I'm balancing for the color temperature in this location, and they are just it's fun Okay, How do we manage and carry and deal with all of this stuff on actual day itself? So the big foundation of all of this is my Kelly more bag. I really like this because it's just awesome. So I There's four compartments inside, so I could just kind of show you, and I'll show you how I pack it. But so the inside has four compartments, and usually what I have in here is just like in the slide. The 16 35 goes in one, the 7200 goes in, another water bottle goes in another. Always I have that. And then I have one that I like to try to keep empty because sometimes, like I said, when I'm working by myself, if I'm shooting the ceremony and I met the front when the bride's making her entrance, I usually am switching between my 7200 and the 16 35 really quickly. So I like to just be able to take it off and get in there quick and not have toe double too much. So that's typically how I operate and on my camera. Then I have, of course, the flash usually my 50. That's my favorite ist lens. I always keep my sticky filters in a pocket somewhere. And then the other key is to have snacks in your bag on I. Actually, it's funny, because when I got here this morning, I opened this up and I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. And I found two granola bars. They were in here from the left wedding night shot. Eso I always bring snacks because I just get hungry on wedding days. I don't know about you guys, but I love my food. I love to eat, so I always have snacks. Um, I keep business cards, of course, and my cell phone, and this is kind of geeky, but I'm going to share it with you because I think it it's kind of awesome. Does anyone else do this Earplugs. I keep earplugs in my bag because I have really sensitive ears. And I don't want to miss the shot where I have to stand next to the speakers or right by the band and go death, right? Yeah. So I bring earplugs for for the dance. So I just have that easy. So maybe I'm the only earplug eke out there. But I even have backup earplugs in here because it's that important to me. So if you ever have your ears ringing in after, you can try that. So I love that Andi. Things like Chapstick and, you know, my wallet and all of that. So that's what I keep in my bag itself. And then on the bag I have this little guy. This is from think tank photo and it is a car bomb. And I like it because it opens up like this so you can obviously put all your cards in it and they're not going to fall out. This, then, is on a little buckle clip thingamajig. I don't know if we can get that on camera, but it's on a little clip that I clip onto this metal loop. I just touched it my mike again. I'm failing at that miserably. But anyway, I kill it. This on the loop, and it's not gonna fall off, and I don't have to worry that my cards are gonna fall out. I don't have to worry that I'm gonna drop the card, wallet or whatever. It's not in a pocket where it's just gonna fall So I love having that in their Andi. That's really simple. And the other thing is like, carry it all then And this guy, this is the think tank International Airplane International to or something like that. And it all fits in here minus the light stands. And I just carried that around. That's a big load, but it rolls right? So it's me. This my life. Oh, and I have some of these little umbrellas. This is the West cut 43 or something. It's in my resource guide. But this little umbrella is great because it opens up to like, full size with this thing extending out. But when you collapse it, it gets this time and so I'll just take it with my little white sands and off I go. You can go anywhere you can go, you know, around, do my business and it's super efficient and lightweight and easy and and I can rocket by myself. My one woman show. So that's that stuff. What questions you guys have about equipment, anything. I'm sure we dio right in the audience. I just want to know why you do you feel like having an assistant would hold you back. Why don't I have? Is it less efficient? Because that's just a personal thing. Yeah, totally. That's just I love and I can. When I do have a second shooter, someone is usually my husband, so that's really great. But I just I think, partially because I'm a control maniac. So I just I want to know. I mean, even if I have an assistant, I'm going to feel like I need to shoot everything anyway, just to make sure it's I've got what I feel like I need. So, yeah, it's just kind of more than you need to work. Yeah, I don't have to watch my I don't worry about the assistant. And the other thing is to like if I want to put a light over there, it's usually faster for me to just go put it over there. You know, it's on a stand like this. So you know there's new cords or anything, obviously, so I'll just run over there, set it down and do my thing. I mean, I'm just It's just how I have evolved. And I think maybe it's because, you know, when I was cutting my teeth on all of this stuff. I never was anyone else's assistance. So I've always worked by myself, and I I'm not sure what I really have them all do. Besides, you know, can you move that light? No. A little more. No. This way. So I don't know. For me, it just works to do it myself. But that's just a personal thing. So everyone's different. The question How do you trigger your flashes? Oh, super Great question. Pocket Wizards. Yeah, I guess I didn't include those because I was thinking that that was Yeah, obviously, I should have included that, but yes, pocket wizard. So they're they're in here. And I have I can tell you how I put them on my flash and everything, because I think I am. I've modified this over the years because, you know, you live and you learn, and then you change your mind. Trying to do this quietly dropped the bag on the table. It's not that heavy. It's tough, but I'm trying to do it quietly in the studio. So my pocket wizards are over here, and the lights should just set this, shouldn't we? So the lights going here and the funny thing about the vivid tars is they have, like, a funny little piece. So you have to get this little adapter to go in the pocket. Wizards and always have spared afters because they could, you know, get lost, and then you couldn't operate it. So that's key. So I was carry little spare. They're this big. They're like, 15 bucks for this little thing, but they make it happen, so you kind of have those. So get some extras, But anyway, so this is my set up for the light. And you could you know, you can hang this up here, you Condell crow, this or whatever you want to do to make make the pocket withered. Stay on there. And then on my camera on my flash, I have some Velcro here. So the pocket wizard that goes on my camera does not have the little string thing. I took that off, and then I just stick this on here. Although I will say this doesn't always hold as greatly as I would like. So I guess keep the Velcro fresh over what I have done in the past that I actually liked. But it's super. Um I don't know the word. It's just sort of a D I y eyes a bungee like a little ball bungee and just bungee that thing on there. And then I know it's not moving anywhere. But then you've got a bungee on your light, so I don't know if you want to rock the bungee, but you know what it works. So I think the key is just to do what works for you. But, um, that's how that's how I roll with the light. Yeah. Any other questions? Internet people were asking about the blogger wizard. So thank you. Yeah, good. Yeah, the pocket wizards. Of course, those were great. There's, you know, there's all kinds of ways to trigger the lights, but I love the pocket with I think we do it. More, more questions. So you don't think about having a system for editing? I've been making No, I have no assistance. I do it all myself, and I know like we'll talk about that. They were close right up next. But, um, it's just, you know, sometimes sometimes people outsource the album design and different parts of their business, and I think if that works for someone that's great. But for me I have made it so streamlined and so efficient. I literally think it would take longer for me to prepare hard drive, to ship or to upload or whatever to have someone else do with it. I swear it's faster to do it myself. And I also like I like that if there's a problem or if I do something wrong or make a mistake, I like being able to own that and take care of it rather than have Teoh Oh, let me check with you know the person who did that and it's just a lot of back and forth. But if that works for you, go for it. I just I'm just faster to do it myself. You have a question from Johannes Sophia? She says I'm not a wedding photo, but I've always wondered, where do you keep your equipment gear case to keep it safe during the wedding? Oh, that's a super great question. Well, if you really wanted Teoh, the think tank bag is pretty cool. Comes with this funky cable lock thing s so you could actually lock it to something so that no one could take it anywhere. But thankfully, I don't feel that concerned on wedding day. That would be hard to get it out in a hurry to. I usually just tuck it in the corner someplace or, you know, under the table or the back of the You know, you. I guess I usually keep it someplace kind of by a door, which is probably not the best theft prevention. They could take it and be right out the door. What do I get? The turns? I want it in the back where I usually kind of am, depending on what's going on so that if I need something, it's accessible. I just I like to have it close to me at the at the reception's. I might tuck it up by the deejay or the band or, you know, just out of the way in a corner, and thankfully, it hasn't been a problem. But that's that's the other reason why I carry on my body. At any given time. I have this, like this is on me all day with my camera I've got, I've actually got everything I really need to pull off the day on my person, especially of course, the the cards. So if if someone stole this, that be terrible. But I could still finish what I'm doing. Yeah, so this is mostly just holding spare bits on the wedding day. And speaking of cards packed blue from Auburn, Washington wanted to know about the kind of memory cards use if it's a pro. And I was wondering, like, Do you have a limit to the gigs that you use your case you're scared of? Yeah, that is such a good question. And my answer might be controversial. So Oh, look out, chat room. Okay, so here's the deal, cause I've heard it. I've heard it go both ways, right? I've heard stories of friends who have shot on, like, four different cards or five, whatever multiple cards all day. And of course, people do that because they think it's safer. And that way, if you lose something, it's just a part of something. But then they've lost or had stolen the whole card. Molly. So it was kind of or it fell out like one friend. It fell out, like at the church somewhere, and thankfully, she got it back that night or the next day like it was laying on the floor between people, so she got it. But, um, so that can still happen, even if you shoot on different cards. So I I That makes me actually more nervous than losing the one card. The other thing is, I have another another great friend who shoots on multiple cards and during her download, like Missed one of the cards and thought she downloaded it but didn't and then, you know, reformatted them and lost it. And I just know that for me personally, I would be that that's something I would dio. So I shoot on one card all day and I have spare car than here, of course. And so that's the controversy. I shoot on one card. It's like a sick 12 or 16 gig, and I just I go with that. Andi, I know that I'm putting all my eggs in one basket, but I like managing one basket instead of five or four or whatever people do. I don't know. I like the one basket and it's a big fragile. Got to take good care of it basket, but it's one. Well, we have a lot of folks I'm asking more gear questions, but I know that you list all of these out yet on your resource links. Teoh, I think pretty, very cool. So that's all available when you enrol for the class and you can download that pdf for free. But maybe I'll ask one more question on that. A couple of people have asked about the light stands. Do you have a sandbag or anything lightweight that you bringing news? Are you worried about it getting knocked over and do you put them in any kind of carriers? I don't usually one rocket. These guys, I'm usually, you know where. We have a lot of indoor venues because we have winter have a horrible hot summers. So I'm lucky in that. I don't have to worry about wind too much unless, you know, obviously, if I'm bringing them outside for portrait our or something. But otherwise they're just there OK, inside and I stick them out of the way, obviously, So I try to tuck them, you know, in the corners, somewhere where they're not going to be getting trip down and kicked all the time. It does happen, but not often. It's really it's not been an issue on, and I don't carry it in a case. There's so little in lightweight. I just I literally have the bag and I have this and I just go. So that's you could, though you could like, bungee this or put it in something. But what about a tripod? I don't use tripods all. I don't use them. Yeah, there, there. Obviously, I move around a lot. Even when I'm talking, I'm all over the place. So when I'm shooting, it's kind of the same way. And a tripod is just something for me to trip over or get in my way. I can't do it, so I just don't.