What’s In My Pretty Yellow Camera Bag?

Two years back, during finals week of my junior year, I ordered a Nikon D5000.  I tend to spend large sums of money during finals week, probably because my brain is so fried I am unable to think clearly about what I am doing.  Or, that’s my excuse. ;)

I loved that camera more than words could describe.  I learned all that I could find about ISO, shutter speed, aperture, metering, light, composition, and exposure so by the next year I had moved beyond of Aperture Priority and began shooting in manual.  I never felt very good about my indoor shots because most of the places I take photos of inside have limited natural light which is what I like to work with exclusively.  Our current apartment has been horrendous to shoot. Nothing ever looks the same on camera as it does on person, which is definitely my own fault because I don’t know a lot about shooting indoors, especially with low light.  I never purchased an external flash and I never used the one on my camera even once.  For over a year I have been thinking about upgrading when I had a good reason to.

Well, if opening my own photography business isn’t a good reason to get a more professional DSLR, then I don’t know what is!  After many weeks of researching, I decided to stray from Nikon.  As much as I loved my old camera, I decided that Canon, in my opinion, offers better features at a lower price.  Everyone has a different opinion about the ongoing Canon/Nikon debate, and now I’ve been on both sides.  I think both brands are awesome and I could never choose one over the other.  However, I did tons of research on the cameras other professional photographers doing lifestyle photography are using, and hands down, 99% of the ones I researched (which were lots) were using a Canon 5d Mark or the 5d Mark ii, which was actually the camera I had been pining over for many months.

I decided to go for it, finding it $500 cheaper online than I would pay at a nearby retail store for full price with tax.  It arrived last week and I am loving it!  I can’t wait to start using it professionally!  Now Mr. Converse Sneakers gets my backup Nikon D5000 to learn the basics on.

While I was upgrading my camera body, I had to also get new lenses and other camera gear since I am now starting a business.

Let’s check out my bag and its contents:

My camera bag came in this awesome box – with the same font as my blog header!


It’s the Betsy in mustard from JoTotes.



I had many requirements for a bag:

• It had to look like something other than a camera bag.  With so much expensive gear in one bag, when I am out and about I don’t want anyone knowing what’s inside at first glance.
• It had to be cute.  I figure if I am going to go the untraditional route with the bag, it might as well be adorable!
• It had to be able to expand to my growing collection of gear.
• It had to have extra pockets.
• It had to fit well as a messenger bag.

So far, Betsy has far surpassed my requirements!

She even has a pocket in the main flap which will be great when I can think of what I want to store in there!



The pocket in the back was designed for an iPad, but I will probably keep a notebook in there.



In addition to my 5D Mark ii and 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, I also keep the following in my bag:

• A case for my CF cards
• A cleaning pen and a lens blower
• Transfer cable
• Battery charger
• 85mm f/1.8 lens
• Pen and pencil

I still have a lot of ideas for things to add (like lenses), but so far, I think this is a great start.  I love it all and am thrilled to share my progress with all of these tools over time.

What’s in your camera bag?