What’s in my camera bag? Big Island Wedding and Family Photographer

I confess, I am a bit of a gear junkie! And because I frequently get asked about what I shoot with, and what lens I used on certain photos I share on social media, I thought it would be fun to share my tools and how I use them to fulfill my creative vision. These do not actually fit into one camera bag–more like two or three! For weddings, I typically take two bags with me. I shoot with two digital Nikon bodies (Nikon gal for life!)– the D4s and D750. I also own a film camera (Nikon F100) which I take on vacation and local trips! It helps me avoid the urgent want to upload my photos and edit when I really should be soaking up time with my family! I love this travel set-up and now most of my lenses work on all three camera bodies 🙂 I started my career as a budding photographer with the D700 (used to take image below) and she is off to a new home with a wonderful local artist soon.


I now own seven lenses (one is on the F100 above) and the last one was on the D700 used to take the shot below. So from left to right, and the images from these lenses:


70-200mm f2.8 – This is one of my favorite wedding lens! The compression it make is absolutely dreamy. I love how I can capture wedding moments without being intrusive and create portraits with creamy bokeh.

105mm 2.8 – This the macro lens I use to capture wedding details like rings and baby details like lips and eyelashes. Its my least used lens but the macro capabilities just cannot be replaced! See below:

Sigma Art 35mm 1.4 – This is my newborn lens! Besides the macro lens, all my newborn work are taken with this. It also comes along with me on family sessions!

85mm 1.8 – This is my favorite portrait lens! Sharp, and gives me creamy bokeh. I typically start my sessions with this and I also call it my bride lens!

Sigma 15mm 1.5 Fisheye – This is my newest lens and my current favorite! It is a fun lens and produces stunning beach images that I just cannot replicate with any other lens I currently own.

50mm 1.4 – I now have two of these lenses. The D version stays on my F100. It is also an amazing portrait lens. I love how I can get good bokeh while not being too far away from my subjects. If you are looking for one I might be selling one of them soon!

And lastly…

Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 – Not pictured above because it was used to shoot the gear photos. This lens is one of the first I got when I started out. It is a pretty good zoom lens for the price! It is sharp and I always thank the flexibility of a zoom lens for family sessions.

Not pictured are lighting equipment that I only use for weddings.

So which one is MY favorite? Well that will have to depend on where I am headed and what I will be photographing 😉 I pretty much take them all to weddings! I take a couple with me to portrait sessions. Do you have a favorite? Leave a comment if you have questions or enable me towards my next gear purchase :p

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