Tuesday Tips – What’s In The Bag?

When I find a new photographer who’s pictures and style I really like, I always want to know what kind of camera and lens, etc., they are using.  Some of them have posts in their blogs about what’s in their camera bag, so I decided to do the same.  Even though I’m still a beginner, I’ve learned a few things and made some purchases that have been good investments.

First, here is my bag.

It’s a Tenba messenger style bag with a padded insert for camera equipment.  I really wanted a bag that didn’t necessarily look like a camera bag.  See, it kind of looks like a school book bag.  Much better if I have to leave it in my car.  It’s not black and square with Nikon or Canon emblazoned on the front.  Plus, it’s convertible!

You can remove the inner padded insert and use it as a carry-all.  And it comes in a variety of colors including olive and plum.  Mine’s chocolate, of course!

In my zippered front pockets, I keep all my personal stuff like cell phone, keys, tissues, mints, etc.  In the slash pockets under the flap, I keep pens, spare lens covers, extra flash cards, and my trusty light meter.  Gotta have one when I shoot indoors with the studio lights and sometimes it comes in handy for other tricky lighting situations.

Here’s the removeable insert in the bag.

It holds my Nikon D90 body and the Nikkor 18-105 mm 3.5 with vibration reduction kit lens.  There is also space for an older Tamron SP 24-135 mm that I like to use and my brand new Nikkor 50 mm 1.4.  That is a sweet lens!  You will also notice the Nikon Speedlight SB-800 in one of the middle sections.

Inside the bag, there are smaller pockets to hold extra batteries and other small items.  Here’s all the stuff:

Most of the time, I’ll also carry my Nikon D70 as backup.  Fully packed, it’s not too heavy and is comfortable to wear with the padded strap across the body with the bag to one side.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Warm Cards.  They are pictured above at the bottom of the photo in that little black bag with the clip on it.  When doing portraits, it’s nice to have a bit of a warmer white balance than neutral.  I use these cards to set the Preset white balance on my camera.  Need to learn about white balance?  See my post from Dec 16.

Finally, when I go on trips, my Tenba bag does double duty as a laptop case.  On the padded backside is a zippered slot just the right size to slip in my laptop.  Then I have my camera and computer equipment with me where ever I go.  What more could I want?