What do I use?
When any new photographers ask what I photograph with and get overwhelmed with my response, I try to remind them that we all start somewhere and this wasn’t an overnight success! I remember asking other photographers when I first started out what gear they used, what software, etc, and feeling the same way. Here's what I use on a daily basis with my business.
Disclaimer, I do receive affiliate credit for Shootproof, Pixieset, and Lensrental. However, I would recommend them regardless. I do not receive credit for any other recommendations of gear.
SOFTWARE
Shootproof
This is the software that hosts all my show photos! The reasons I love using it:
📸 It has a remote uploader that I can drag and drop folders into and it will auto add it to existing albums (with matching names) or will auto-create those albums. This is a LIFESAVER when we're uploading 200+ rider albums per show!
📸 The user experience is one of the most friendly out there.
📸 I just switched over to it for invoicing instead of PayPal and have been very happy with it. All my income for show photos and portraits is finally in one place and that's a lifesaver during tax season.
📸 They have a lot of plan options to fit your needs. I have the unlimited photo plan so that I can host multiple years of show photos on there! Currently I have over 300,000 photos in my galleries.
Pixieset
I used to use Pixieset for show photos and portraits, but the amount of exhibitors outgrew how Pixieset handles albums. Now I use it for show photo delivery and portraits! It's clean, easy to download photos from and easy to work with website. I love how it handles show order delivery and the email templates I can create and reuse to make my life easier.
I also use them for my main website! I love how easy it is to design, add pages and update throughout the year as needed.
Get $20 off your first bill!
Lensrental
With everything I do, there is no way I can afford to own all the equipment I use every show! That's why I absolutely love Lensrental. I've saved thousands of dollars and had access to gear I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise over the years. I've only had an issue with one lens that I rented through them and they were QUICK to help! I actually even bought one of my main arena lenses from them after renting it to make sure I liked it.
They have an option to pay $99 per year and receive free shipping on ALL orders in that year which paid for itself in 2 rentals! They also have a Rental Rewards club so you can save even more.
Get $25 off your first rental!
Storage
I store and backup images/videos on multiple hard drives, but my cloud storage is via BackBlaze! It's unlimited, automatic, and has saved me from losing files when a hard drive corrupted on me 🫣 It's only $99 a year which is a STEAL!
Get a month free!
Editing - Adobe
I use Adobe products for editing both photos and videos.
💻 For photos: Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
💻 For video: Premier Pro and sometimes Rush
CAMERA EQUIPMENT
Photos:
📸 Arena photos: Canon R5 paired with a Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II. For small arenas, we use a Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 iii!
📸 Canon EF-EOS R Mount Adapters
📸 Trigger for strobe lights - Pocket Wizards 🧙 and Pocket Wizard Raven
📸 For candids/remote image photos: Canon 5Diii or Canon R6 paired with different lenses depending on the need! The team favorite lens is the Sigma ART 135.
📸 Trigger for the remote camera - MidiPlus SP-2 Sustain Pedal and Pocket Wizards 🧙 📸
🔋 Batteries- Canon
🔮 Canon R5 and Canon 85 f/1.2 skin are from AlphaGvrd! I'll be decking out the rest of my gear at some point.
VIDEOGRAPHY
📸 Canon R5C paired with a Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 iii or Canon 135 f/1.2
📸 Canon EF-EOS R Mount Adapter
🔋 Battery for video - NEEWER Mini V Mount Battery & USB-C power supply cord
📸 For those asking about gimbals, I handhold for all my videos. Lots of back workouts over the winter and weeks I'm home!
Cards/misc Equipment
🛠️ Lens filters (protect those lenses!) - Breakthrough Filters
💾 SanDisk Extreme Pro Type B CF express cards
💾 Lexar Professional CF express Type B Memory Cards
🧽 COLORCORAL Cleaning Gel Universal Dust Cleaner (for cleaning the dirt out of the small spaces!)
🖥️ Mac Studio paired with two gaming monitors
💻 Macbook PRO 2024
💻 iPad Pro for watercolor backgrounds
🖥️ Western Digital 16TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive
🖥️ Samsung T7 Shield 2TB Portable SSD
🖥️ Custom-built NAS systems for storage and cold storage archives
🎒 Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW II Black Pro (I've had mine since 2020 and LOVE it!!)
💡 Alien Bees b800s & b1600s (my mains!)
💡 Neewer ML300 300W Outdoor Studio Flash Strobe (when no power supply is available)
🗜️ Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp (clamps for lights)
🪜 Flashpoint Color Coded Pro Air Cushioned Heavy Duty Light Stand for Photography (stands for lights)
The Canon Rebel t5 I started on in December 2015. Never forget where you started!
