As professional photographers, we carry around a bunch of stuff. I can easily rock up to a shoot with way too much kit for the job. My daily carry-around equipment is quite different, though. Let's talk about some of the must-carry items.
Every photographer will have a slightly different everyday carry. For some, it might include a camera, while others will carry around a small light, tape, and a bunch of other stuff. The everyday pack does vary from day to day, of course; I am no exception. However, there are some core items that I do carry around daily, no matter if I have a shoot or am just going to the studio to do office work. The core items are the same, and those are the ones I will discuss in this article.
The Bag
A while back, I tested out and got to keep a GuraGear Kiboko city commuter bag. I've been in love with the bag ever since, and it fully replaced my aging Lowepro 400AW. There is lots to love about this backpack. While it is meant as a camera bag, I managed to make the compartments fit my SSDs, chargers, and other stuff. There are also plenty of pockets to house all the cables and small items. The best thing about this backpack is the magnetic locks and rear-access main compartment, meaning that I don't need to worry about anything getting stolen. There is also a quick access top compartment which serves as easy storage for clothes or anything else. While I was initially skeptical about the magnetic Fidlocks on the bag, they have proven themselves to be reliable and thief-proof. Most people who never saw this lock will struggle to open it, which I love. A dedicated laptop compartment means that I no longer need to carry around a laptop case.
The Water Bottle
I started using the Air Up not too long ago, and while initially skeptical about it, I could not be happier with it. It was actually my younger sister that pushed me to try it. As someone who drinks stupid amounts of coffee and not nearly enough water, I now have an incentive, if not a habit, of drinking water. It all comes from the flavored pods that you can put on the Air Up, making it so great. While it sounds like a gimmick, for me, it really is a game-changer in terms of hydration. I go through 2 liters of water per day easily with the Air Up, which is nearly two liters more than I would normally drink. Sure, it won't replace a good soda, but I stopped buying sugary carbonated drinks at all. The only carbonated drink I did keep is beer, but hey, no Air Up can replace that, can it?
The Power
As for power, I ended up using the TetherTools power bank meant for location tethering. Because it is a proper power bank that lasts a few days at least, it can simply live in my backpack without the need for constant charging. I couldn't count the number of times it has saved me from a dead phone, watch, or headphones. I use it to charge my devices even when there is access to mains power. It is a really convenient device. As far as power banks go, this one is fast, reliable, and with plenty of juice to keep your devices powered for a while. If your laptop starts to die, you can use it to power that as well, which makes it essential in my everyday carry.
The Cables
I have a USB-C to USB-A as well as a USB-C to USB-C cable permanently in my backpack. They live in one of the compartments and rarely get taken out. This is for redundancy purposes in case I do forget my regular cables somewhere. The reason for keeping a USB-A cable is that sometimes I need to transfer images to a client who might not have a computer with USB-C ports. Additionally, I keep a lightning cable in my bag permanently. As such, I know I can charge my laptop, phone, and headphones should anything go missing. Additionally, I keep an EZquest hub in my kit for similar purposes. I can’t tell you the number of times I arrived on set and the studio did not have the right USB-C adapter. While it is a bit of a pain having to carry all these cables around, they do come in handy. As such, the hub has a built-in SD and MicroSD card reader, two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, one USB-C for charging, an Ethernet port, HDMI port, and a spare headphone output. I love using this hub for how much it is able to deliver in such a small package. While I have never put every single port to use at the same time, they all do come in handy.
When it comes to other cables, I put a MacBook charger, Watch charger, and Lightning cable. Since I use my devices quite a lot, and sleep with my Apple Watch, I end up having to charge them at random intervals from whatever is available.
The Devices
As always, I bring my MacBook with me wherever I go, as I like to sit and get some work done at any spare moment such as a commute. To supplement my MacBook, I bring my two work SSDs with me as well. While it is something unusual for most people to get their laptop out on the subway, I like to make full use of the time I am awake, so my laptop ends up being used quite a lot. A 30-minute commute is the perfect place to draft an article, send off a few emails, reply to comments, and do other things. You might say that I can do most of those things from my phone; however, I simply don't like to get my phone out as I end up scrolling through Instagram.
Lastly, I love to take a Profoto C1 Pro wherever I go. This is because I use my phone for casual photography and skip taking a camera whenever I can. This light can be used for lighting anything from portraits to food pictures, either as a flash or as a small portable LED. The battery life on it makes me wonder when was the last time I charged it.
Closing Thoughts
So there we have it; here is my EDC as a professional photographer. While it does not include a camera, it does include some things that allow me to play around with photography and get work done all while keeping hydrated and powered on the move.
What is your EDC? Let us know in the comments below!
Like the bag. Never understood the importance of water bottle in EDC. Pointless unless you take lots of pills or live where water is scarce or not healthy. There seems to be those that think not having a traditional camera is better as in the cell phone is good enough. Maybe it is, but a photographer by trade it does not make a lot of sense. There are plenty of high quality smallish cameras and options that would seem to perform and function a lot better than a phone camera.
How about camera makers incorporate the features of a mobile phone to their cameras, so no need to bring your phone with you?
they do. try out the new canon r50. the auto modes are fantastic. it has multiple hdr modes including one where it takes multiple exposures and combines them into one. it has things like a bokeh slider to increase or decrease dof. it has the well-liked skin smoothening slider. it has multiple scenes including one that simulates a tilt shift effect. it pairs very well with a smartphone where you can pass photos and videos easily to phone.
I did not explain it clearly, I mean making a phone call using a camera.
So you /are/ carrying a camera ... otherwise no need for data cables and laptop and power. The fact your phone is your camera is irrelevant. ;-)
Couldn't read this. When it's starts with a dumb statement like: Why I Don't Take My Camera With Me Anymore, I shook my head and laughed. Wasted words on a page or aka, slow news day.
Start your own, like 'Why I don't think about photography while taking pictures.'
It's a poorly veiled, obvious money grab. I mean all of those links to every product is so that they can get referral money - a tiny percentage from each item bought via the link in the article.
I always start fresh with a new browser window and then enter the product in my search bar. That way I am not encouraging articles that are actually more like advertisements.
I read articles on photography sites to learn something or to stimulate me to do better. Nothing worthwhile came from this article
At all
At least you read it and came to that conclusion.
I EDC my Canon R5 with a 24 mm 1.8 on it
Good article. I work with medium format cameras in the studio defo too big to walk with, I carry a smaller camera and lens with me when I am out because full frame is just too bulky and they seem to break too easily. If there were not small excellent mirrorless systems available I wouldn't carry a camera either. Does that bag look like a camera bag? Its hard to see in the pictures,