What's in my bag?

I thought it might be fun to show my readers and clients what equipment I have in my photography bags. The camera above is my pride and joy, my Nikon D700. I started out with a Nikon D200 which I still have, but I just don't get the happy feeling with it that I get now with my D700. I noticed a difference in my shooting immediately when I started using the D700. If things go as I hope they do in 2011, I'll be getting a second D700 next year to use as my second body at weddings since I don't love my D200 anymore. And, the D700 does amazing things with low light situations in dark churches and buildings.

You may also have noticed the grip on the bottom of the D700. I originally bought it for sports because the extra battery power allows me shoot 8 frames per second. This grip never comes off my camera now though. I love it. I can shoot an entire wedding without changing my camera battery, and it gives me something else to hold onto when I'm carrying my camera with other equipment or without a strap (which I often do!).

The lens in the both photos above is my Nikkor 50mm f1.4. Last year this was my go-to lens. I think I actually shot one or two weddings solely with this lens (or close to it). I do still like this lens for portraits, low-light situations and some detail shots, but I haven't pulled it out of my Shootsac much lately.

I don't have a photo of my favorite lens, except for the one above of me in action. It is the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8. I bought it in late December 2009 (hello tax deduction!) and it rarely leaves my D700 nowadays. This lens is great because it is somewhat wide angle, has a great zoom range, and is fast enough for most instances that I need it. It's also pretty sharp so far, whereas the 50mm lens sometimes gets a little soft and has lens aberration when shot wide open.

My last lens is my Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 which I don't have a picture of. It was one of the first pieces of equipment I bought. It was purchased mostly because I knew I'd be shooting sports and would need a decent zoom. I've used this for dozens of football and basketball games and even though it is the 200mm lens without vibration reduction, it does a great job for the most part, especially since I've gotten my D700.

I won't go into detail about the rest of my equipment, but here's a short list of some of my accessory equipment: Nikon SB-800 & SB-600 speedlights Metz 58 AF-1N speedlight Pocket Wizards (to wirelessly trigger speedlights and strobes)