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With my 2018 wedding season kicking off this weekend, I wanted to share what gear I’m using & loving this year!

Camera Bodies: Let’s first talk about my favorite purchase of 2017 — the Nikon D5. Matt and I sat down at the beginning of wedding season last year and took a hard look at the current camera body I was using. The D500 was an awesome starter camera that got me through my first years of pursuing photography as a career. As my business continued to move onwards and upwards, it became glaringly clear that my gear needed to move in the same direction. So after after 124235 clicks with the d500 and a few long talks about investing in a better camera, Matt surprised me with the D5 for my birthday! And let me tell you, this camera has been a game changer. Yes, it’s heavy — But the quality of images it produces, the long lasting battery, and the dual XQD slots have made my job 1000x easier. I finally feel like I am producing the quality of work I’ve wanted all along.

Lenses: Now let’s talk lenses. I wasn’t happy with the Sigma 105mm I purchased at the start of 2017 and my Sigma 20mm was washed in the waters of the Golden Coast. By the time Cyber Monday rolled around, I knew that I needed to update my lens collection. I have been using the 50 Art for a few years now and it rarely comes off my camera. In my experience, 50mm is the perfect focal length for shooting portraits and details. That being said, I still needed a few more versatile lenses. My first decision was choosing a wide angle. After talking with a few other photographers, they highly recommended the 35 Art! This lens has a lot less distortion than my 20mm and can double as a portrait lens. It is great for those big family photos and wide ceremony shots. I also needed a lens for taking close up shots during the ceremony and detail shots of the ring and the bride’s other accessories. That’s where the 80 Art comes into play. This lens has the dreamiest bokeh!

Memory Cards: If you haven’t heard about the XQD card, I can’t say enough good things about these little workhorses. 128 GB which can hold two full weddings from start to end, with full sized files. Not to mention, the incredibly fast processing at 440mb/s means I never have to worry about my shutter stopping from shooting too quickly.

Watch: The Apple Watch has been an awesome addition to my wedding day attire. I plug the entire wedding schedule into the List/Reminders app on my phone or computer and set the time and date for each event. During the wedding, my watch gives me a friendly buzz that means we need to move on to the next thing. I also receive notifications of new text messages which helps me communicate with my second shooter and my husband. Other useful tools I love are the sunrise/sunset watch face and weather notifications.

If you have questions about any of the other gear you see on here, feel free to comment or e-mail me at annakardosphoto@gmail.com.