Wedding Photography Gear
Nikon Z9
My career launched on the back of the legendary Nikon D700, followed by the D3S, the D810 and D850.
I’ve continued that line up today with the Nikon Z9 which continues to impress me today. What I love most about this camera is that it fits me like a glove - every camera before this feels the same and it’s like stepping into an old pair of shoes. With that comfort, I never have to think about what I’m doing behind the camera, it comes to me second nature.
I usually have a Nikkor Z-mount 24-70 F2.8.
Nikon ZF
As a big fan of film photography, I love photographing with my Dad’s old Nikon EM as well as the professional F2s and F3s of the 70s and 80s. There’s a lot of nostalgia in those cameras. So when Nikon released a retro-mirrorless camera, I found the perfect “everyday” camera that is just at home at a wedding or commerical shoot.
The Nikkor Z-mount 70-200 is usually bolted to this as well as an old F-mount 105mm F2.8 for wedding photography. You might also see a Sigma ART 85mm 1.4 bolted to this on a wedding day as well.
When the camera is in “everyday” mode, I’ll have a prime 40mm F2.
Cheetah Stand C8 Light Stand
I’m HUGE into enhancing every scene with the correct lighting situation. You can never just depend on natural light because sometimes the natural light won’t be there. These light-stands helped me elevate my photography career because of how amazingly quick they are to setup and take a photo of a scene with their automatic legs. It’s the little things that make your workflow faster on a wedding day, it makes you not stress! Plus Cheetah Stand is local to Dallas and I love supporting small businesses.
Cheetah Stand 43” Umbrella
My go to modifer is the 43” Cheetah Stand Umbrella. With the closed off back, I can make sure that there is no light spill while doing my off camera work but it’s big enough to cover large areas. And because it’s silver, I lose less power overall when I bounce my flash through it. And deploying it is easy since it’s just a basic umbrella.
Godox AD300Pro Strobes
And to finish up my system, I’ll have these lights used for my reception. I’ll pair them with an Godox S2 Bracket to hold them in place followed by a 7” Reflector so that they can spread the light onto the dance floor. I fire both the AD300Pro and the Godox V1 Strobes with the Godox XPro II Triggers.
Data Back-Ups
And finally, it’s imperative that a professional photographer has a back-up in place and I’m no different.
I use an QNAP NAS RAID-5 server to back up your data while I cull and edit off a SanDisk SSD that travels with me which is a secondary back-up. And I back that up with a 3rd hard drive.
All active wedding files head to the cloud as a “just-in-case”!
Cheetah Stand C12 Light Stand
For receptions, I’ll end up putting these in the corner of the rooms. Going up to 12ft, they are heavy-duty however with the ability to fold their legs automatically, they’re also used to setup for exits real quick as well!
Godox V1 Strobes
For my walk-around strobe - I like to use something light and compact that can add flash quickly without too much thinking. The Godox V1 fits this bill neatly.
