For those curious about how I get my photos to look the way they look, I wanted to share what exactly is in my camera bags on a wedding day. I love the look of the film, but I also love the security digital cameras bring. I do love the way light looks in film, so I have worked extra hard to try to mimic that look in my digital photos. Through the years, one of my biggest goals for photography skills was to get as close to what I want my images to look like in camera so when I go to edit it is as true to life as possible. This is what gives my photos a timeless look and how the memories of the day come rushing back when you look at your wedding album. I want you to relive and feel the day like it happened. See your wedding day vision come to life through photos.

To my fellow photographer friends: I truly think you can have a film style without having a film camera. Here is a look at how I work on a wedding day. I hope it helps you achieve your goals as well!

CAMERAS

Main Camera – Canon R6markii
Buy the Canon R6 mark ii

Lenses

50mm

This is my go-to lens for wedding days. I love the look of portrait photos with this lens. I usually carry two cameras on me on wedding days and this is my most used lens for the day.
50mm

28-70mm

This is my other workhorse for wedding days. I love the versatility of the zoom and the ability to get wide shots with little space. The 2.0 aperture really helps keep the look of my photos consistent with more light.
28-70mm

70-200mm

So, I do have a love/hate relationship with this lens. I love it for ceremonies and toasts to get those close-up shots of reactions. I started reaching for this lens a lot more for toasts and have been so happy with the result.
70-200mm

85mm

I LOVE the look of this lens. But, the only downfall to it, and why I love the 50 more, is you have to have a ton of room to get everything you want in the frame. I do love the bokeh though that this lens creates. It makes for such dreamy photos that give images the look of a painting.
85mm

100mm Macro

This is mainly used for my ring and detail photos. It gives the most gorgeous looking ring photos with this lens. But, I only use it for ring photos typically on wedding days. This should be a last upgrade purchase considering there are filters that work really well too.
100mm Macro

Lighting

Lighting is a little more complicated since I’m mainly a natural light photographer who likes my photos to have a similar glow when I use them for receptions and portraits. I have been using video lights to see how they compare to off-camera flashes and I think I will be adding those to the list soon. Stay tuned!

A10 Profoto On camera flash

This has been my favorite lighting purchase since starting photography. I love this Speedlite so much. It is so fast and has the power of multiple speedlites I’ve used before. It is pricey, but I will say very much worth the investment.

Buy the Profoto on Amazon

Light Stands

For when you need some extra light off-camera, these are my go-to light stands to turn on camera flashes into off-camera lights.

Buy light stands

I am always learning and looking into different ways to get my desired look for photos. My best advice for trying to decide what equipment to buy is to rent items and play! Practice and see if you like it before you invest thousands of dollars. I will continue to update this page with items that I use on wedding days. I hope this helps you get a better idea of how I achieve the look of my photos!

If you decide to use any of the links above and buy through them, I’ll receive a small commission back.  All of those affiliate income commissions help support my small business.