Whats in My Camera Bag? It’s not as fancy as you might think when looking at my photos.
I get a lot of questions and comments about my photos, so I thought it was about time to start a food photography series. I want to kick it off with a quick run down of the gear and software I use. Although my photos might look like I have a lot of fancy gear, I really don’t. In fact, you could probably get the same setup for under $600 total if you wanted to get an older camera like the one I have. (Also, apologies for the cell phone photos, but I can’t very well use my camera to take a photo of my camera…)
Camera:
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Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR – currently $300. This camera used to belong to my hubby. Technically, it still does, but you could say that I’ve permanently borrowed it in such a way that he now refers to it as my camera. (Love you Hubby!)
**Update! 8/31/15: I now shoot with a new Canon EOS 70D Digital SLR Camera (affiliate link) – $999.99 After 3 years with my old body, I finally managed to trade it in and save enough pennies to invest in an upgrade, and I LOVE it!! I still think an older camera body can be a great way to save money when you’re first starting.
Lenses:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens -Stock lens that came with the camera. I only use it when I want wide angle shots.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens (affiliate link) -$125. This is my absolute favorite lens. 99% of the photos here are shot with it. You can’t beat the price either!
**Update 2/15/15: I added this Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Wide Angle Lens (affiliate link) – $500 to my collection with some Christmas money. The wider angle gives me more options for my shots and the focus is pretty dreamy. On a DSLR with a crop frame sensor, this lens gives you more of a natural view, so what you see framed through the camera is approximately what you’d see at the same distance from just your eyes.
Memory Cards:
I use two Class 10 32GB micro SD cards from Micro Center – $15 each. I chose the micro SD cards over regular SD cards when I went to Spain last summer because they fit inside my tablet, phone and camera with the included adapters (see above). Note: I shoot all my photos in RAW (more on this later in the series), so the file sizes are HUGE. Most people want to use smaller memory cards.
Reflector:
A $2 piece of foam board I scored down the center and fold in half to reflect natural light from my favorite kitchen window. It’s the white background you see in the photos above. Check out my tips for using a foam board reflector here.
Light Box:
I prefer to shoot in natural light, but for the times when I can’t, I made a DIY version of the Lowell Ego Light for less than $30. I’ll be posting a tutorial and schematics for it here in the next few weeks. Click here for my tutorial for a DIY light Box under $30!
Tripod:
I have an older super heavy one that, again, used to belong to my husband. You can find a similar one here (affiliate link) for $15. I don’t use it very often, but it comes in handy every now and then when shooting from above or trying to get a shot of myself cooking.
Photo Editing Software:
Adobe Lightroom 6 – Lightroom has made the absolute biggest difference in my photos (even the cell phone shot I edited above). I can’t believe how long it took me to try it out. There’s now a 6th edition, Lightroom 6 (affiliate link) for $150 on Amazon.
Laptop:
Lenovo Ideapad Y470 running Windows 7 64 bit. I love Lenovo’s products, and highly recommend them to anyone looking for a new laptop.
So that’s it! Are you surprised? I don’t have anything super fancy or expensive, I’m just using what I have well. I’ll explain how I use each of these things, my editing workflow, how I set up lighting, a tour around my food props closet, and much, much more in future posts in this weekly Food Photography Friday series.
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I am in the process of learning about photography! I know nothing about it! So I am excited about your series! Xo!
I’m excited about it too! I’m going to lean more in the direction of food photography (since that’s what I mostly shoot), but a lot of what I have planned will carry over to other subjects as well. Any requests for topics?
I was pretty much going to write the same post as Jamie’s above! Trying to learn more about photography, so I’m really glad to have run-into your post 🙂
Awesome! I’ll be making new posts every Friday, so be sure to stop back by! You can even subscribe specifically to my photo and blogging posts via email if you want to. This week I’m going to be sharing my $2 secret to better lighting in your photos. 🙂
This is so helpful! I have a Canon Rebel EOS XS that I’ve had for quite awhile. It definitely gets the job done! Maybe one day I’ll invest in a new lens. The one you have sounds awesome!
It is seriously the best thing in my camera bag! They don’t call it the nifty fifty for nothing. If there’s one thing on this list I’d buy, it’s definitely that 50mm lens. It lets you get the shallow depth of field that blurs the background and puts the focus exactly where you want it to be – on your food! The XS that you have is just one model year older than mine I think – it’s still a great camera. Are you using the kit lens that came with your camera?
Such a fun post! I keep looking in to getting a camera. I don’t currently have one & think it would be a great investment. I love reading about what others have & use!
Thanks Sarah! A nice camera is definitely a huge step up from a smartphone (if that’s what you use now), though there’s still a lot you can do without one. (Like the photos in this post for example!) I’ll be talking about one of my favorite tricks for lighting later this week which makes a HUGE difference in any form of photography.