Technical Tuesday | The FengLong Backpacker's Studio - What's In Our Bag?

Sorry for the brief delay as this post actually gets published on Wednesday instead of Tuesday! We are getting ready around here for Sam & Sana’s Indian wedding over the weekend at ZYKA and since they are in town we were supposed to shoot an engagement session for them but they had a last minute cancellation. Trying to plan a wedding when you live in two separate cities (Connecticut and Virginia – their family is in Atlanta), I can only imagine the flurry of details they are trying to wrap up this wedding before the ceremonies on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So with a cancelled shoot, luckily Joanna was able to find a quick model for us to still go out and get behind the camera last night!

Earlier on Tuesday we met up with Joanna and her kids at Inman Park Pool to take Miles for his first swimming lesson. I think the water was a bit too cold for him compared to the nice warm baths he is accustomed to. Either way it was nice to be at a pool for the first time in over a year. Joanna, who is a children and family photographer, was originally going to help me with the engagement session but the tables were turned as she rounded up a very pregnant neighbor and I was her assistant for an impromptu maternity session at Freedom Park.

That got me thinking about the perfect topic for today’s blog post! Last weekend was another CreativeLive weekend this time with instructors I was *really* looking forward to seeing, Mikey and Andy from LightenUpAndShoot! I have been a long-time reader of their blog because these guys are just top-notch in their approach to photography because it aligns so well with my own philosophy – lighten up with all of the gear and other things you could be worrying about and just start shooting! For anyone reading this blog who is an aspiring photographer I highly recommend taking a look at their blog, their style may not be for everyone but since it’s so similar to mine I love reading it. They seem like guys I could just hang out with all day, lol. Ok, on to the reason for this blog post and tying this all together… the FengLong Backpacker’s Studio!

Mikey and Andy do a lot of street photography where they live in Colombia, South America. As such they developed a “philosophy” if you can call it that of the Backpacker’s Studio, how they travel light doing street photography and still get images that look like they could have been made in a studio. Hey, that’s pretty much what we do with wedding photography too! Weddings are NEVER in a studio, so as professional wedding photographers we need to have the skills and techniques to make masterpieces wherever we end up – which is one of the reasons I love wedding photography so much, the creative challenge!! Head over to the LightenUpAndShoot blog to see the post on their version of the Backpacker’s Studio, and as I was packing for tonight’s engagement/maternity shoot I realized we had a pretty similar setup of our own. For weddings we’re wheeling 2 bags full of cameras and lights but for engagement shoots I’m traveling pretty light since we shoot in a more “lifestyle” mode to capture the true essence of our wedding clients, which also means carrying just the essential equipment and letting the gear get out of the way.

The bag I use is the LowePro Flipside 300, (but I secretly want a Flipside 400 so if you are reading this and work for LowePro or B&H and want to sponsor me with a new bag, send me an email! I want a Flipside 400 AW really bad!). I have tried the sling bag but when you start adding equipment you need the second strap! Inside I can fit 2 SpeedLites (or in my case, Speedlights, the Nikon version), 2 lenses, PocketWizards, and a few other small accessories. The other thing I love about the backpack is the tripod mount on the back of the backpack, which here I am using for a light stand and umbrella. If I am doing landscape work then an actual tripod goes there, but for this shoot with people I needed lights! Also with the flexibility of the inside inserts, I can rearrange the padding to fit everything from a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with flashes and still cram another small prime lens!

Let’s take a quick look at the FengLong Backpacker’s Studio for an engagement session! Here is a typical setup for me, however the two lenses usually switch based on the location we are shooting at:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + BG-E6 Battery Grip
I love the Mark II of course and prefer working with the battery grip so my hands have a bit more to hold on to and I can easily shoot in portrait orientation as well. I know it’s added weight so it may not be for everyone but for me you won’t see me at a wedding or portrait session without it! Not shown here is that 7D or spare 5D Mark II that usually sits in the car as a backup camera just in case something goes wrong.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II
Attached to the camera is one of my favorite lenses, Canon’s widest “L” glass the venerable 16-35! Yes I know the 17-40 is MUCH cheaper but that lens is an f/4 lens and when you’re shooting a wedding or engagement session in the evening, the extra stop of light to go down to f/2.8 is worth it for me.

Canon EF 135mm f/2L
I always have a portrait length prime lens with me as my primary lens, yes I know it wasn’t attached to the camera in this photo. Some days it’s the 85mm f/1.2L – other days it’s this 135mm f/2L, and if I know we are going to be in close quarters it’s the 50mm f/1.2L. Since I knew we were headed over to Freedom Park, which is a HUGE open area, I chose the 135mm.

Nikon Speedlight SB-900
You may have heard this before but, I’m an available light photographer – if the light is available to me, I’ll use it! When I shoot Canon, why do I use a Nikon flash? That won’t fit on top of your camera? You are correct! The Nikon flash won’t fire when plugged on top of the camera, but I don’t want my flash on top of the camera, especially outdoors. The Nikon speedlights just seem to work better with the next piece of gear, radio triggers. I’ve tried and tried with the Canon 580 EX II but they are just too inconsistent in triggering due to a well-known interference issue with the radio signal.

PocketWizard PLUS II Transcievers
These are what I use to trigger my off camera flash when I decide to use them. Reliable, consistent, the industry standard. Radio triggers are superior over the built-in systems inside your camera because those systems work off of Infrared technology and require line-of-sight between the flashes. With a PocketWizard I can place my lights anywhere I want and however far away I want (within reason) and know they will always trigger. Granted you need to be a bit more knowledgeable about flash because you will be setting the power manually as opposed to the ETTL/iTTL systems, but once you study and learn you are in complete control over your light.

Sanyo Eneloop Rechargeable AA Batteries
Another “industry standard,” Eneloops are one of the most reliable rechargeable batteries out there since they are “slow discharge” meaning they don’t lose their power as quickly as other brands. So, even if I charge them and don’t use them for a month they will still have almost their entire power left inside whereas your typical cheap rechargeable may only have 75% of it’s power left. You may notice some batteries in my baggie are black, those are the new Eneloop XX batteries which are a higher-capacity premium version – I haven’t seen enough performance improvement to justify the cost yet (twice of normal Eneloops).

Manfrotto 5001B Nano Light Stand
I like these stands for their portability, they are super small and light, but that comes with a tradeoff of course as does everything in photography- they aren’t super sturdy if it’s windy. I would like to upgrade to the next level up in Manfrotto stands, the 1052BAC Air Cushion version, so again anyone out there that wants to sponsor me let me know! For now, these work great as long as you understand the limitations and don’t put a huge modifier on it if it’s windy outside.

Photoflex 30″ Umbrella & 20″ Umbrella
For the traveling photoshoot I prefer using translucent shoot-through umbrellas for their small size and portability. We do have (and love) the 28″ Westcott Apollo softbox that is gorgeous but without an assistant it can be a little difficult to manage when you are out in the field running and gunning during a lifestyle engagement session in Atlanta. I would like to get an even *larger* umbrella next but I need to wait for Betty to approve that purchase as the CFO :).

So that’s what’s in our bag, usually, when we’re on an engagement shoot. Of course this is a fluid list, maybe I’ll write another full list like this for an upcoming wedding. This weekend is a three day Indian wedding in Decatur at ZYKA and by the Atlanta Airport at the Hyatt Place South, and since we are both the photographers and videographers we will be brining *a lot* of gear! That’s the only tough thing about video, you need a lot of stuff to make the video come out professional. Sorry for the delay in the post, now I need to finish the Wednesday post as well, ack!!

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Zachary Long is a wedding photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia that subscribes to the philosophy that less is more and let the gear get out of the way of taking great pictures of his amazing wedding clients. You can view our full portfolio at http://www.FengLongPhoto.com/ and use the Contact Us page to inquire about wedding date availability or send us an email directly to FengLongPhoto@gmail.com