What's In Our Bag | Must Have Photography Gear • Kati Hewitt Photography

What’s in Our Bag | Must Have Photography Gear for Wedding Photographers

Our Gear: An Overview

We absolutely love photographing weddings, and we’ve found that we feel much more confident and prepared walking into a wedding day knowing we have all of the gear we need for any situation! Super tight dance floor? Our 24 mm is coming in handy! Super long aisle in the church? Our 70-200 mm is still capturing the emotions of the couple at the altar. If you’re a photographer searching for your next lens to invest in or some handy accessories to help with organization, then this gear list is for you!

We don’t believe you need all of the lenses in the world to be successful or to feel proud of the images you’re capturing. The main thing is to feel confident and well prepared when you step into a wedding day, and that’s going to look different for everyone! Since we are a husband and wife team, we split up our equipment on a wedding day and ensure that we each have the gear we need for any situation ranging from details to portraits to the reception. With that being said, we want to share some of our favorite lenses and the specific times we use them throughout a wedding day!

Below, you will see a condensed gear list for easy reference. Continue scrolling if you would like to see a detailed breakdown of how we use the gear, what we like about it, etc.

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. By purchasing gear from this blog post, we make a small commission, and we are so thankful for your support! Of course, we always encourage you to research products before investing to make sure it’s exactly what you are looking for.

Our Gear List: Cameras & Lenses

Main Bag
Back Up Bag

We’re not elaborating on theses lenses below because they are in our back up bag. We think it’s important to have back up gear in case of emergency, but these lenses are not our go-to lenses!

Our Shooting Accessories: Straps, Bags, & More!

Think Tank Photo Streetwalker HardDrive V2.0
Hold Fast Money Maker Harness (Chestnut; Medium)
Shoot Sac (Black)
Herringbone Leather Camera Hand Grip
Hard Case AA Battery Holder
AA Rechargeable Batteries, 4 pack with Charger (for Speedlights)
AA Rechargeable Batteries, 12 pack (no charger included)
Camera Batteries (Gray; EN-EL15a Rechargeable Li-ion; No charger included)
Hold Fast Camera Accessory Clip
XQD Memory Card (no card reader included)
XQD Memory Card Reader
Protective Lens Filters
- 58 mm
- 67 mm
- 77 mm
Ear Plugs- Sure Fire EP 3 Sonic Defenders

Cameras & Lenses: Detailed Breakdown

Main Bag
- Nikon D850 (x 2):
  - We value our Nikon D850s for several reasons. First, they handle low lighting situations very well. We’ve noticed the final images retain much more color and detail than the 750s. The 850s have a handy touch screen that make photo playback easier. Compared to the 750s, the 850s have a more strategic button placement for the camera settings that we feel is more intuitive for photographers.
  - The 850s have double card slots that use XQD and SD cards. We like to use use backup card slots so each image is being recorded on two memory cards.
  - There’s a Bluetooth +WiFi feature that connects to your phone for remote photo taking or photo transfer.
- Nikon Speedlight SB-5000 (x 2):
  - We’ve found these external flashes are reliable and easy to use. They are compatible with remotes, off camera lighting systems, etc. They have a built in receiver/remote feature that can connect with compatible Nikon products without adding extra attachments.
- Nikon 35 mm f/1.4
  - Common uses: wide ceremony shots, group bridal party shots, dance floor shots, tight getting ready spaces, family portraits, wide bride + groom portraits
- Nikon 50 mm f/1.4
  - Common uses: all types of portraits, ceremony, solo shots
  - This is Kati’s favorite lens for all parts of a wedding day!
- Nikon 85 mm f/1.4
  - Common uses: bridal portraits, head shots, ceremony, reception details, intimate First Dance/special dances, bride + groom second shooter shots
- Nikon 24-70 mm f/2.8
  - Common uses: wide bridal party shots, wide ceremony shots, wide reception room shots, dance floor
  - We prefer prime lenses, but this lens has proven to be the most versatile of our lenses since we can quickly change perspectives/focal lengths during portraits and reception.
- Nikon 105 mm f/2.8 VR
  - Common uses: bridal details (rings, jewelry, other small accessories)
- Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR
  - Common uses: close up shots of the ceremony
  - This is Alex’s favorite lens because he loves capture the emotion during the ceremony!
  - We highly recommend that your 70-200 mm includes Vibration Reduction.
Back Up Bag
- Nikon D750:
  - We now use this camera for traveling since it’s much lighter than the newer 850s. These have dual SD card slots. We used these cameras for about four years and did not have any complaints. We chose to trade in our first 750 for an 850, but we kept the second 750 as a backup camera.

Accessories: Detailed Breakdown

Think Tank Photo Streetwalker HardDrive V2.0
- This camera bag is like a Mary Poppins bag- it can fit way more than meets the eye! This particular style has backpack straps for easy transportation. There are other styles that roll, but we opted to keep the bag more light weight in nature since we can’t roll on a lot of wedding day surfaces like gravel or uneven pavement anyway!
- This bag is passable as a carry on bag at the airport which is great for destination weddings. In our experience, it can fit in the overhead compartments on standard sized planes. However, you always need to cross reference the dimensions and weight with your specific airline’s rules and regulations before flying.
- The bag has velcro inserts that can be positioned to fit different sized lenses however you’d like. A perk of this bag is that it can fit a 70-200 mm lens. We currently have 6 lenses, 2 camera bodies, 2 flashes (stacked), and our hard covered battery pouch in the main section of our bag.
- There are zippers on the internal main flap of the bag, and that’s where we keep our memory card pouch, camera batteries, and other small accessories. The outside of the bag also has some pockets where we store small items like granola bars and Tylenol. There are side pockets that we use for our 4 battery chargers.
- There are attachments on the outside of the bag that allow you to easily strap on a tripod for transportation.
- Lastly, there is a hidden laptop pouch that can fit up to a 15 inch laptop. It’s padded, so laptops fit best without an additional laptop case.
Hold Fast Money Maker Harness (Chestnut; Medium)
- This leather harness is incredibly durable. It’s meant for shooting with two cameras at a time, and there are camera attachments on the left and right. Or, you can do what Alex does and opt to attach a lens pouch on one side and a camera on the other. This harness is very practical especially for a second photographer because you can easily be hands-free to help fluff dresses, move light stands, etc.
- Alex thinks this harness is comfortable and says he forgets he is wearing it because it distributes the weight of his gear well. He says it helps with wrist fatigue because he’s able to drop his camera by his side while taking a break from shooting.
Shoot Sac (Black)
- I will admit that at first, I didn’t think I would like this Shoot Sac simply because it’s not a typical “cute” camera bag. However, those “cute” camera bags were giving me back problems, and they were too bulky for a long wedding day. Now, I will forever use a Shoot Sac which is specifically meant for carrying extra lenses! Because it’s a lens bag, it’s a lot lighter and better at distributing the weight of the lenses than a regular camera bag that’s slung over one shoulder. The Shoot Sac is a cross-body which I’ve found to be more comfortable.
- There are 3 lens pockets and 3 accessory pockets. I usually keep 1 lens pocket free so that I can change out lenses quickly and efficiently. I keep my memory card holder, extra batteries, and a printed out timeline of the wedding day in the accessory pockets. If I’m at an engagement shoot, I also keep my wallet and keys in the accessory pockets. The pockets are deep, so I can hold keys for my clients as well.
Herringbone Leather Camera Hand Grip
- I found this strap on a whim after doing endless Google searches for the exact style I was looking for. I didn’t want to continue wearing a traditional neck strap because it made my neck sore. (Photographer problems, am I right?) I wear this very loosely on my hand, so to me, it feels like I’m not wearing a strap at all…but with an added safety net built in just in case.
- Side note: You do need a camera clip to attach this strap to the bottom of your camera (where a tripod fits onto your camera). When I first purchased this, a clip was not included. It looks like one is included now, but it comes with a plastic piece that may be too bulky depending on your preference. I attach mine using a Hold Fast camera accessory clip that I bought separately. You’ll see the camera clip linked below as well.
Hard Case AA Battery Holder
- This is such a game changer for organization of your used and unused AA batteries. We keep this hard case battery pouch in our main bag. The case holds 48 batteries and has a small mesh pouch that fits a compact battery charger.
- The batteries are vertically oriented in the case, so you can flip them to indicate whether they have been used or not. We keep the positive side up to indicate they are fresh batteries, and the negative side up to indicate they have no charge left.
AA Rechargeable Batteries, 4 pack with Charger (for Speedlights)
- These batteries are meant for high capacity devices, like Speedlights.
AA Rechargeable Batteries, 12 pack (no charger included)
Camera Batteries (Gray; EN-EL15a Rechargeable Li-ion; No charger included)
- Compatible with Nikon D750s and Nikon D850s
- We prefer these gray batteries over the standard black batteries because they have a longer battery life which is great for long wedding days.
Hold Fast Camera Accessory Clip
- This handy clip is compatible with the Hold Fast Money Maker Harness. It’s a small clip that attaches to both the harness and your camera to pair the two together. I also use this clip on my hand strap to attach the strap to my camera.
XQD Memory Card (no card reader included)
- We’ve found that XQD cards read and write faster than regular SD cards, and we prefer the 240 GB XQDs.
XQD Memory Card Reader
- This is a single card reader with a USB 3 attachment.
Protective Lens Filters
- These filters are meant to protect the surface of your lenses from getting scratched or damaged. They also block out some UV haze without dulling the color in your images.
- It’s important to note that these filters are measured by the diameter of the lens which will not directly correspond with the focal length of your lens. (For example, our 50 mm lens uses a 58 mm lens filter.) The back of your lens cap may tell you diameter of that lens.
  - 58 mm: Compatible with our 50 mm f/1.4
  - 67 mm: Compatible with our 35 mm f/1.4
  - 77 mm: Compatible with our 85 mm f/1.4, 24-70 mm f/2.8, and 70-200 mm f/2.8
Ear Plugs- Sure Fire EP 3 Sonic Defenders
- To protect our hearing, Alex and I wear these ear plugs at weddings once the open dance floor starts. The ear plugs allow us to stay present at the reception without being completely overwhelmed by the loud volume of music. The ear plugs block out much of the music volume but still allow us to hear conversations in case someone needs to speak to us.
- With the ear plugs on, we find we can be more mobile on the dance floor even if that means standing closer to the speakers than we normally would. And of course, it prevents headaches and ringing ears!