The Best Equipment to Use for Photographing Fashion Bloggers
One of the most frequently asked questions I receive: "Love this shot of ________, what lens do you use?!" It's a great question, and one that I would probably ask too, so here's the rundown on how I photograph different bloggers!
CAMERA BODIES
I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Mark IV- it's a great camera, I like how it feels when I shoot, and I love the quality of images I get with it. Previously, I was shooting with a Canon 6D (and sometimes still do). It's a little different how it feels when you shoot - both are really nice - both come equipped with, wifi which is handy to use to send photos to your phone to edit and post immediately (which is how I sent photos so quickly during NYFW).
LENSES
SIGMA 35 MM 1.4 ART
KRYSTAL SCHLEGEL
Pros: A favorite lens for photographing events and photographing bloggers when I'm focused on overall composition rather than just the blogger or when I am shooting standing close to my subject. It's a wide angle so I can get a lot in the image without having to stand far away, and it has a low depth of field that gives great a great blurred background and allows you to shoot in low light. Example: It's great for getting coffee photos inside so you don't have to stand on a chair to get the shot. It captures detail beautifully and I just like the overall clarity and color I get. It's also pretty small and light which makes it easy for travel.
Cons: It can distort the image - think about the lower the number (like a 35mm lens versus a 50 mm or an 85mm) the more it starts to get a slight fisheye effect. This can easily be fixed in processing under "lens correction". Some people prefer to shoot with a 35mm almost exclusively, but I usually err on the side of wanting things more zoomed in and focused on the blogger.
SIGMA 70-200mm 2.8
FASHION JACKSON
Pros: It's a really fun lens for street style photography and allows you to zoom in close to create a beautiful blurred background keeping the blogger in focus. The f-stop goes down to 2.8, which is low enough to shoot in the evening and still let enough light in.
Cons: If you are shooting zoomed in, you need to make sure the shutter speed is high enough that you aren't getting any camera shake just by pressing the shutter, so sometimes you have to bump up the ISO to get well-lit images, which can cause some loss of detail in the photo. It's also very large and not as easy to carry around.
CANON 50mm 1.2
THE TEACHER DIVA
Pros: This is my favorite lens - it's how I see the world. As soon as I switched from the Canon 50 mm 1.4 I noticed a huge difference in the quality of my photos. A 50mm lens is very close the the way we see with our own eyes in terms of distortion, how close subjects appear, and field of view. I hardly shoot with the f-stop as low as 1.2, but this lens has a great capacity to shoot in low light . I prefer to photograph bloggers with this lens because of the clarity and detail it captures, but also because I think it has an effortless feel to the composition of the image. It's decently small in size so that you can put the camera + lens in a large purse or bag and be good to go. It's also small enough to get different angles easily but holding it up high or down low with one hand.
Cons: Price. It's an investment but one worth making if you are feeling limited by your current setup.
The biggest tip I can give is to use your equipment until you feel like you've hit a road block and know where you want to go from there. There is a balance between equipment and technique. I rocked a Canon Rebel and 50mm 1.8 for years and photographed my first wedding with that setup. But I hit a point where I knew I needed to invest in the proper tools because I had outgrown my "starter kit" (which I'll also link) and was knew I could do more.
Happy shooting! And as always, let me know if you try any of these, I love seeing how your photos turn out!