I remember my first engagement photography session like it was yesterday. Palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy (Eminem anyone?). But seriously, arms were so heavy. I packed my cheap unreasonably-heavy camera bag until it was bursting at the seams. It was about half my size. I realized the silliness of it all by the end of the shoot when all my adrenaline had settled. I felt like I had been hit…no. More like wrecked by a bus. Today, I do things a whole lotta differently thanks to making mistakes and learning from them. I now prefer to pack minimally taking only what I need. Here is a peek inside my camera bag when I’m out photographing an engagement session:

1) Bag. Newbie me used to drag around this huge leather camera bag that was nearly half my size and probably weighed about half as much too. Now I fit everything in my Ona bag which also serves as a statement piece to my attire 🙂

2) Equipment. Canon 5D Mk III, 50mm Prime Lens, 35mm Prime Lens. I have so many more lenses than these two but over the years I’ve perfected engagement sessions simply with these two pretty things and realized I needed nothing more. I use the 50mm when I want to get real close and focus on the subjects. I use the 35mm when I want to capture the details of the locations and environment.

3) The Back-Up’s + the Extras. In case my battery or memory cards fails me, I always carry these for back-ups.

4) Special Effect Equipment. I love getting creative with my engagement shoots and will most always use these special effect gadgets I’ve accumulated over the years. The optimal crystal prisms allows me reflect light around the edges of the frame. The LED fairy light string allows me to create a bokeh look around the subjects as well.

5) Business Cards. I always, always carry a stack of my Moo business cards in case anyone asks for my photography business information as I’m photographing my clients. The last thing I want to do is miss an opportunity with potential clients by verbally passing along information that will most likely be forgotten.

Hope this helped some of you!

xo,