If you’ve ever wondered what you need to bring with you for certain types of photography below is a list with the whys and therefores.
Travel Photography Equipment List a. For low light or night time i. Tripod – to keep camera steady when using a shutter speed below 1/60 of second when avoiding the use of a flash. Also, so you can use the self-timer on your camera and put yourself in the photograph ii. Lens – that can widen to an aperture of at least 2.0 –This will allow you to record more available light than a camera with a lens that cannot open that wide. So if you don’t like using flashes using a lens with a lens speed of f/2.0 or faster may delay the need for a flash iii. White card to record correct color temperature in mixed lighting situations iv. External hot shoe flash – For indoor use to brighten a dimly lit room v. Colored Gel filters – To tint the light emitting from a flash so it matches the ambient light in the room vi. RECOMMENDED CAMERA: a camera that can be mounted onto a tripod, allows the recording of custom white balances and the use of an external hot shoe flash b. For capturing architecture and monuments i. Wide angle lens (a lens with a lens focal length of 10mm to 24mm) – in order to increase the chances of capturing the breadth and/or height of a building or monument in one shot. Otherwise you may have to shoot several slightly overlapping shots of the structure and stitch them together in an image editing software that has that capability. ii. Image editing software – that can stitch photographs together to create a panorama; software that allows you to combine two or more images into one. iii. RECOMMENDED CAMERA: one that allows for the use of a wide angle lens; and has auto exposure bracketing as a function to help create high dynamic range images. (See previous’ issues post to see why you may need to shoot more than one exposure of the same scene.) c. Candid portraiture i. Lens – When you’re travelling you may want some distance between you and the people you’re shooting, if they are strangers. On a 35mm film camera or a digital camera with a full-frame sensor a medium telephoto zoom lens with a range that includes 75mm to 200mm. should do. Remember that if your digital camera’s sensor is less than full frame the lens you use should account for the camera’s lens crop factor. For a good explanation of crop factor please read this article http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/crop-factor-explained/ by Darren Rowse. 2. Studio or Formal Portrait Equipment List a. Individual or groups i. Backdrop - which should be either uniform in color or textured but not clash with the clothes of the people you’re shooting. ii. Studio light for one individual– a common way to light up an individual for a formal portrait is to use a 3-point lighting set up: a main light brightens 3/4 of the face, a second, less powerful light source lightens the other side of the face to reduce shadows; a third light is used to brighten the hair or remove shadows on a background caused by the first two lights. This mode of lighting aids in making the portrait more three-dimensional. However, two lights are one may be used for a more dramatic effect. iii. Studio light for two or more people – If shooting indoors be prepared to use at least a four-light set up for groups – two lights overhead and one from each side, plus lights at the front shining up from the floor if the goal is even lighting. Composition-wise you may want to avoid placing groups in straight rows in order to achieve a more dynamic feel. If using continuous lighting they should have variable power for controlling light output iv. Soft box – to achieve diffused lighting; diminish the appearance of wrinkles. Soft boxes often are used fill lights. v. Reflectors – an alternative to using soft box. vi. Tripod – to avoid camera shake. vii. Cable Release – helps reduce camera shake viii. RECOMMENDED CAMERA – a Large format, medium format, dSLR that can record at least 8 megapixels (the more pixels the larger print you should be able to make in theory), or 35mm camera will do. The difference between them depends on the largest print you intend to make. 3. Event/Wedding a. The ceremony and reception i. Flash with a fast recovery time so that you don’t miss a shot ii. 50 mm lens that can open to an f/stop of 1.4. This will help you record more ambient light in low-light situations and it’s also very easy with a 1.4 aperture to take a picture that blurs the background which lets your subject stand out. iii. Wide-angle lens to capture a location shot of church or banquet hall if the size of these venues is immense iv. External, hot-shoe flash with a high guide number. The higher the guide number the more powerful the flash in terms of the distance it can project the light. When shooting a banquet hall you’ll want a light that can light up as much of the room as possible. You’ll also want to be able to rotate the flash so you can use the bounce technique which will place a more diffused light on your subject. v. Colored gel filter to adapt the color temperature of the flash to the room. The combination of bouncing a flash that has a colored gel filter that matches the room can result in a picture that looks like a flash was not used. vi. RECOMMENDED CAMERA – dSLR or 35mm camera for portability and versatility b. Candid shots – Unlike travel photography the candid shots you take in a wedding will be of people who are known to the groom or bride and expect to have their photographs taken, therefore, a lens with a shorter focal length will do. i. Lens – 50mm with an aperture that can go as wide as f/1.4 ii. External flash which can be swiveled away from guests faces to avoid the harshness of direct light; a flash whose intensity can be reduced since the distance between you and your subject will be short. iii. Gel filter on flash that matches the color temperature of the room. iv. RECOMMENDED CAMERA – dSLR or 35mm camera for portability and versatility c. Formal Portraits indoors at the wedding or reception. i. Backdrop – portable backdrop unit and lighting kit. ii. Lighting – the lighting should be very portable. Brining flashes that can act as slaves (be triggered by a master flash) will reduce the weight of everything you’re bringing. iii. Long grounded electric cord – to connect the lights to electrical outlets or buy lights that are battery powered. iv. Duct tape – often something will try to fall or tear. Duct tape can be a miraculous savior. v. Clamps – to secure the backdrop to the backdrop posts. It helps keep cloth backdrops taught and reduce wrinkles. vi. Portable steamer to steam out wrinkles on a cloth backdrop (rarely do wedding photographers bring a steam with them, but a crisp backdrop can reduce editing time.) vii. Soft box – to achieve diffused lighting; diminish the appearance of wrinkles. Soft boxes often are used fill lights. viii. Reflectors – an alternative to using soft box. ix. Tripod – to avoid camera shake. x. Cable Release – helps reduce camera shake xi. Printer – if you’ll be selling prints at the wedding bring a printer optimized for photography and plenty of back-up ink, paper, and cardboard photo frames, and a stamp with your business name and contact info to press onto the back of the photos in case someone want to contact you for more copies of the photos. xii. RECOMMENDED CAMERA – dSLR, 35mm film, or medium format camera. d. Formal portraits outside i. The solo photographer – if you’re by yourself doing the shoot you only need dSLR or 35mm camera with an external flash to help freeze action and movement of clothes and flowers on a windy day. ii. The photographer with assistant(s) – you may want to also have with you a larger reflector to make sure everyone in a group shot is lit well. One very important accessory not mentioned is the battery. The constant use of flash at events such as weddings drains batteries very quickly. Make sure you have two more sets of fresh batteries than you think you’ll need. For the camera body you may want to consider investing in a battery grip which allows you to shoot with the power of two batteries at the same. That way you don’t have to stop as often in the middle of a shoot to swap batteries.
1 Comment
12/8/2010 11:35:45 pm
Hi Katriel,
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