I’m currently on the hunt for the perfect camera bag. Even though I've tried a few camera bags, I haven't been 100% happy with any of them. And I could use your help in finding the right bag. First, this is a walkthrough of all the camera bags I've owned and tried.

My first camera bag was the Lowepro Toploader, I think it’s discontinued now as I was only able to find a near replica of the one I had. I bought this really as an afterthought when I’d already decided to pick up my first DSLR. I realized, standing at the cashier, that I needed a camera bag to put it in. At the time, I didn’t realize that (1) I would be investing in more lenses and camera gear in the future (2) just how much I would end up doing with my camera. So without the wisdom of any of this hindsight, this small pack seemed as good as any for what I needed it to do. I used this bag to death and moved on to a proper camera bag the next year.

Next came several Lower backpacks which I still use occasionally to this date. I have both the Flipside Sport 15L AW in bright orange and Transit Backpack 350AW. I know some photographers like Lowepro bags and some just don't. Here’s the thing about these backpacks, they are designed to have all these pockets for various camera accessories and convenient access points. I’m not actually really drawn to those - I travel pretty compact, usually 2-3 lenses only and usually just a back up of everything and a handful of memory cards depending on how long I’m shooting for. So I don’t need all the bells and whistles of these bags, but I like how much protection and padding it offers my camera gear - even if it makes me look like I’m carrying a big turtle shell when I’m wearing a fully-packed backpack. My only complaint with the bag is how much I sweat into it when I’m on a heavy travel day (think lots of hiking or walking).

Then I found ONA Bags and for a while, was very happy with Brixton in smoke. The bag is very high quality and so stylish, it also fit everything I needed for most of my travel needs and I liked that the bag didn’t make me look like a foolish tourist when I was traveling with it but helped me blend in like a local. However, I soon realized that a camera, 2-3 lenses, and a laptop was too heavy for me to carry on one shoulder. I would get so sore after wearing it for a few hours and I definitely could’t last a day of walking around the city with it. During this time, I was traveling around Asia and Europe extensively (I’d spent 3 weeks in China followed by 5 weeks across Scandinavia) I was already experiencing a lot of neck and shoulder pain from all the traveling and backpacking, and having all my gear in a messenger bag was not helping.

So that’s it - that’s everything I’ve tried and I’m still actively looking for a camera backpack. Currently I’m eying the Langley backpacks as I’ve heard great things about it. Do you have the perfect camera bag? Let me know what I should be using!

I currently have 4 lenses in my lens setup:

• 50mm f/1.8
• 35mm f/1.4
• 24-120mm f/3.5 (my kit lens)
• 70-300mm f/1.4 

I’ve talked about my love for the 50mm and 35mm as travel photography lenses before, but I don’t always bring up the other two lenses. I’m a Nikon shooter and use Nikon lenses. I’ve never tried other third party lenses although I’m definitely open to it. I’ve owned various lenses before and have settled on these four lens for now. Although four lenses is not a lot of gear, I wanted to show the versatility of the gear that I do have, even as I build out my gear list a little further and invest in a few more pieces.


The oldest lens I have in my lens line-up is the 50mm. I've had this lens back in 2007 when I had just started shooting with my first DSLR - a Nikon D60. I spent a lot of time thinking about the right lens for me before picking up the 50mm. I was doing a lot more portrait and fashion work back then, and this lens certainly came in handy. I don’t own a 50mm f/1.4 right now and although the f/1.4 is a much improvement from the f/1.8, I don’t get enough use out of the 50mm these days to prioritize the upgrade.

My most used lens is the 35mm f/1.4 - it’s my go-to lens for everything and if I could only take one lens with me to shoot just about anything, this would be it. There are so many reasons to love the 35mm, from it’s f-stop to composition to focal length. It’s everything I’m loving.

My least used lens is the 70-300mm, believe it or not I actually use my kit lens more than I use the 70-300mm. I technically inherited this lens from Alex when he sold all his Nikon gear. I didn’t have anything close to that focal length before so I got this lens from him. At the time, I imagined myself doing a lot more nature and animal photography - I was daydreaming about a trip to Alaska and a safari ride in Africa and I knew  the lens would come in handy. But alas, neither trip has happened yet although both are on the list of trips to take in the near future. So for now, I hardly ever find myself picking up this lens.

My most versatile lens is the 24-120mm. I mean, the focal distance is versatile alone, 24mm happens to be the widest angle I own so I use it a lot for interior shots when I need something wider than a 35mm. When I’m really in a pinch, I’ll even use the 24-120mm like a 35mm prime lens and put it at the 35mm focal length.

My most coveted lens is the 14-24mm f/2.8. For a while, I was really lusting after the 85mm prime lens, but more and more I’m finding that I want something at 24mm or wider since I want to capture more context in my travel work. In addition, I find that I’m fairly well covered in the long-end of the focal lengths and the gap in my gear is at the wide angle end.

That’s it for a quick look at my current lens set-up: what’s your favorite lens?

My mantra in life is to live for experiences, not things. I moved around a lot growing up and after a while, it felt a little insensible to own a lot of things as it just made moving a lot more work. I think those childhood experiences very much set the foundation for my minimalistic lifestyle. I’m very good at limiting my shopping, but like kyrptonite to superman, I have one weakness - gadgets. I’m constantly looking at photography-related toys, lo and behold, here is the camera gear I’m checking out this month.

• Sony Alpha a7 II Mirrorless
• Moment Wide Angle Lens
• Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Lens
• Lo & Sons The Claremont
• Langly Decoy
• ONA Bags The Clarendon
• Gorilla pod Focus Camera Tripod
• Fuji film Instax Mini 7s White Film Camera
• Herringbone Heritage Leather Camera Hand Grip

The 50mm f/1.4 lens was the first lens I purchased after my kit lens. A few years later, I got the 35mm f/1.4 lens - I have not looked back since. I rarely use the 50mm lens now since the 35mm f/1.4 has become my go to lens; if I could only take 1 lens with me to go out and shoot just about anything, it’s my 35mm lens. Needless to say, I think the 35mm f/1.4 lens is better for travel photography than the 50mm f/1.4 lens. I think the choice between the 50mm lens or the 35mm lens is a common question posed by photographers. Here’s why I prefer the 35mm lens for travel photography:



Focal Length
I’ve read that the 35mm is the closest focal length to the composition of the human eye, which is why when shooting with the 35mm lens the results are more realistic. Indeed, for me, the composition with the 35mm feels much more intuitive than the 50mm. When shooting with the 3mm, I move my body naturally without having to think too much about the focal length of the camera. The intuitive feel of the focal length is really important when I’m photographing on a trip, as I’m always browsing and chatting as I am shooting.

Composition
The focal length leads, naturally, to composition. I find the 35mm much easier to compose with as the wider lens allows more context for me to work with. In travel photography, so much is said in the context and background to the subject. I don’t have to worry about losing that when shooting with the 35mm lens.

Depth of Field
It’s true that the 50mm have a larger depth of field, but given the amazing layers of context I’m constantly trying to capture when traveling, this depth makes it harder for the 50mm lens to focus on my subject when I’m using a large aperture, as compared to the 35mm lens. Similarly, if there are several layers of background to my subject, it’s easier to capture sharpness on all planes on the 35mm lens than the 50mm lens.

Distance to subject
This one is sort of a double edged sword - as I explain below. But the reason I like the distance to subject the 35mm lens provides me is that I can shoot the subject at the distance I’m usually standing at when talking to them and observing them nearby. When shooting with the 50mm, I find that I often have to take one or steps back in order to create the same composition.

This wouldn’t be a fair comparison without addressing the downsides of the 35mm as compared to the 50mm. For me, all these are worth it in order to reap the benefit of the images the 35mm produces.

Downside: weight
My 35mm is heavier than my 50mm. The 35mm f/1.4 comes in at 21.2 oz (601g). It’s a little bulky when compared to the 50mm f/1.4 which comes in at just under 10 oz (281g). Again, this is a tradeoff I can live with, especially since I’m quite content just carrying 1 lens around.

Downside: Price
You can pick up the 35mm f/1.4 for $1,696.95, the 50mm f/1.4, on the other hand, costs only $426.95. The 35mm lens comes at a hefty price point, no doubt. At this point, I have to admit I received the 35mm lens as a present from Alex, after I’d saved up my pennies to purchase the 50mm - my first lens purchase after buying my camera body. If you’re saving up for one lens, then I would still recommend the 35mm, but if the price point is a deterrence, then go for the 50mm and with the money leftover, you can probably put your savings toward some other nice camera gear.

Downside: distance to subject
Although I mention the distance to subject as reason for why I prefer the 35mm over the 50mm, I can easily see how some might find this to be a disadvantage of the 35mm. In essence, the 50mm lens allows you to shoot your subject from slightly further away (about 1-2 steps). For the shy photographer, or just those new to street photography and not yet confident approaching their subject, the distance might provide some comfort and still allow you to capture the shot you want. Although I think practicing and working up the courage to actually work with and get close to the subject is important, I concede that the 50mm might be easier to begin with for this reason.

My first pricey lens was a 50mm purchased at a local camera shop down the street. The salesperson had the foresight to sell me a UV filter - it actually didn’t do much in terms of changing shadows and and highlights, but he said I should get it in case I scratch my lens. I figured he was probably getting paid on commission but having something to protect my lens didn’t sound like a bad idea.

8 years and 2 broken lens filters later, I have that salesperson at the camera store to thank for protecting my expensive lenses.

The first time I really put my lens filter to work was on the descend of a hike in northern Ontario. It had rained the day before and leaves had started to shed in preparation for winter. As I hiked down, with Alex a good 30 yards in front of me, I suddenly grew concerned of slipping and falling. I probably jinxed myself because in the next moment, I was sitting on the ground. My lens hit the forest floor, hard. When I picked it up, the lens filter had 2 large cracks through it. I took it off immediately, not even wanting to think about what would have happened if I didn’t have the filter on.

The second time was far worse. My 35mm was attached to my camera and placed safely - or so I thought - inside my camera bag. But as I maneuvered to pick up some extra luggage from the ground, the camera bag slipped off of my shoulder and landed on the ground. When I opened the bag, I could hear shards of glass shaking. My heart sank and I prepared to uncover a broken 35mm lens that had been purchased less than 1 year old - and mentally calculated the financial set back. My lens cap was so jammed in that I had to use plyers to just get the cap off. In the process of taking the completely shattered lens filter off of my 35mm lens, I ALSO accidentally cut myself on the broken glass. But underneath the completely destroyed filter sat the 35mm, without a single scratch. Phew!

Some folks on the Internet will tell you that a filter is a completely useless thing. They will say there is Photoshop and Lightroom and you can change colors, dim highlights, lighten shadows with any of the photo editing software out there. But to those people I ask, have you ever broken a lens?

Not too long ago, I explained why the 35mm is a great lens for travel photography.  But preference vary, and the 50mm is actually perhaps a more preferred lens among travel photographers. If you can only take one lens on a trip, there are also plenty of reasons why you should take the 50mm. Here are 6 reasons why the 50mm lens is a great lens for travel photography
1. Wide aperture and great in low light

The 50mm lens comes in aperture 1.8, 1.4, and 1.2. The wider the aperture, the better your lens will hold up in low light situations. A wide aperture allows more light into the camera, which means the 50mm will fare better than lots of other lenses in low light situations such as overcast days, indoors, or evening/night-time photography.

2. Street portraits

The 50mm is the go-to lens for many street photographers and portraits in the travel environment - whether on the street or indoors, is an essential part of telling the story about a destination.  Eric Kim has written many posts about why the 50mm is great for street photography. It comes down to this - the 50mm makes for a great frame for portraits. It’s the right distance of intimacy while capturing the environment the subject is in. And as I’ll explain later, the 50mm “forces” you to take better portraits by forcing you to get close to the subject.

3. Light weight

When you’re traveling, you have to balance gear with certain travel constraints, like weight. It’s just not always possible to take the whole studio with you on the road. The 50mm is a super lightweight lens - it’s small and compact, making it easy to carry and store. Perfect for keeping your gear light when traveling.



4 & 5. Sharp images and sweet bokeh.

When you get to wide apertures like f/1.2, you get great depth in your pictures and two things happen -- you get sweet bokeh, and the subject of your focus becomes super sharp. Both are visually appealing results.

6. Forced interaction with subject

I alluded to this earlier but the 50mm, just by the nature of its distance, will force you to interact with the subject. Unlike a telephoto lens where you can get lazy, be far from the subject, and rely on your zoom the 50mm does not pity the lazy photographer. So you have to get close to the subject whether that’s striking up a conversation with a stranger, or kneeling down to the level of the subject that’s on the ground. It’s good practice for any photographer.

7. Fixed zoom makes you better

I mentioned this about the 35mm lens but I’ll reiterate it because I really believe it - using a lens with a fixed zooms makes you a better photographer. You are forced to get close to your subject. You get to learn how to see the world at that fixed distance and adapt your composition accordingly. These skills will help you throughout your photography career and make you better.

There are a lot of photo apps for the iphone, but as an Android user I’m always on the look out for quality photo apps that I can also take advantage of.  I use a few different apps as part of my mobile photography workflow. Most of these are free, although some offer in-app purchases. Here are the 5 photo apps that I can’t live without:

Instagram

Download Instagram

In the world of photo apps, Instagram still wins. These days, I no longer edit photos using Instagram or bother with their filters. But even then, there is no other photo app that’s better for getting social and sharing your phone photos.

Aviary

Download Aviary

A stellar photo editing app and my go-to for each new photograph. My most used features in Aviary are illuminate and color fix. I like having control over a photo’s composition and Aviary gives me a lot of control by providing the ability to adjust a photo’s brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. Even though I don’t always use a lot of pre-programmed filters, I do prefer the effects  in Aviary to those in Instagram. As far as filters go, I tend to default to Arizona or Sage in Aviary.

Snapseed

Download Snapseed

I discovered Snapseed after I already became a committed Aviary user, but these days I find myself using Snapseed more and more often to edit my photos. I like using the Selective Adjust feature in Snapseed because it let’s me edit just 1 part of the photo so I can correct overexposed highlights or dark shadows. Not a lot of photo editing apps offer that level of flexibility. Snapseed also has great Drama and HDR scape filters. Unlike the filters that come in Aviary and Instagram, Snapseed lets you choose the strength of the filter you want to apply.

PicLab

Download PicLab

PicLab is a recent but fond discovery of mine, allowing users to add text to an image. Adding typography to images is a growing trend. Fonts offered in PicLab is artistic and clearly curated with design in mind. The app interface is easy to use, allowing you to switch fonts, edit sizes, placements, and mix different fonts. This app is free to use and offers in-app purchase to remove the PicLab watermark and purchase additional fonts.

SquareIt

Download SquareIt

For a long time, it bothered me that Instagram photos are square. Quite simply, not all photos look good in a square frame. This not only deeply bothered me but prevented me from using Instagram to share my photos. Then I realized there are apps out there that turn an image into a square shape by adding borders. I haven’t looked back since. There a lot of apps that can help you square an image but my favorite is SquareIt. It’s super easy to use - 1 click to turn your photo into a square and share it on Instagram directly.

I celebrated a birthday last month and, to my surprise, received a precious 35mm Nikon f/1.4 lens for my present. I’ve been eyeing the 35mm lens for a few months. In fact, I had even started to use my 24-120mm lens at a 35mm fixed zoom.

The Internet sings the praise of certain lenses like the 50mm, but after just 2 weeks of shooting exclusively with the Nikon 35mm, it’s quickly become my go-to lens of choice, replacing the 50mm in my camera bag. Here are 7 reasons why I believe the 35mm f/1.4 lens is great for travel photography.

1. Versatility

A travel photographer shoots portraits, landscapes, food, and street photography. The 35mm is great for dealing with variety of situations. I’ve seen street photographers, fashion, food photographers, and wedding photographers use it alike.  It’s just wide enough to capture environmental shots like landscapes, and the have the depth of field needed for portraits. At such a versatile distance, the 35mm replaces the need for carrying many more lenses in the camera bag, and I’m always happy to have lighter gear.

2. In the action 

Unlike a telephoto that allows you the luxury of staying afar while shooting, the 35mm demands that you get into the action to capture the shot. For travel photographers shooting in cities and on streets, this is a great habit to get into. Practice getting closer to the action and getting over the fear of photographing strangers will generate better images. Why use a telephoto when you can use your able body?

3. Performance in low light situations

With a f/1.4 aperture, the 35mm lens performs well in low light while keeping the images sharp. The challenges of shooting in low light is deserving of another blog post in itself, so any lens that can hold its own in low light is high on my list.

4. Subject in the environment

Unlike the 50mm which, for me, always ends up being too tight in most situations, the 35mm is the perfect combination of capturing the subject and the environment. More and more, environmental portraits are becoming integral to my travel portfolio and I find that the 35mm delivers the environmental context without sacrificing the intimacy with the subject.

5. No distortion 

The other day, a friend was complaining that shooting with her 16-35mm distorted people’s faces around the edge of the photograph and asked me if I experienced the same with my 35mm. Unfortunately, anything wider than a 20mm will show distortion on people and she was shooting at a 16mm, but luckily for me, the 35mm gives me no problems - it’s just wide enough without being too wide.

6. Sweet bokeh

When you push the lens to anything wider that f/1.8, you get the lovely bokeh effect that most people love. At aperture f/1.4, the 35mm gives you bokeh off the hooks.

7. Better than zoom

In recent months, I’ve come to realize that prime lenses are better than zoom for crafting your photography skills. In most instances, zoom lenses just make us lazy. Just like I mentioned in #2, we no longer have to move our bodies with a zoom lens. But at one fixed distance, a prime lens  forces the photographer to be creative, to truly understand the lens, and to think about how to make great images at a set distance.

While I was in LA, I found out Just-In-Time was featured on Wordpress. That makes it my 4th appearance on Freshly Pressed since I started blogging about 19 months ago; I'm just as excited about it this time as I was the first time. Thank you all for reading and commenting - for your compliments and your support. Most of all, thank you for sharing your stories back with me and with the rest of the blogosphere.

I have been getting a lot of questions about what gear I use. In reality, it's probably a lot more basic than what some people thought. Great gear is always nice, but I do believe the photographer creates the vision behind an image.

All my photos prior to March 2011 (including all my Europe photos so far) were shot with a Nikon D40. It is now discontinued but it's similar to the Canon Rebel. I bought it in 2006; it isn't a professional camera but it did the job for me at the time. Now I shoot with the Nikon D700 and I love it - it's such a big improvement from the D40. I haven't considered upgrading my camera further since the D700 is perfect for what I need right now. I also know some professional photographers who swear by it as their main camera so it has a lot of credibility in my eyes.

As for lenses, I only have 2 - a 24-120mm that was paired up with the camera as its kit lens when I purchased the D700 body, and a 50mm that I use for portraits. I mostly shoot with the 24-120mm if I'm traveling, and will switch to the 50mm if I'm photographing portraits or find myself shooting in low light conditions.

I would love to have a telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens as well, but I'm a student and travelling is expensive, so I have to juggle the cost of every equipment with its benefits. My best advice for gear is to figure out what type of photography you'll be doing (landscape vs. fashion vs. street photography vs. other), research the best equipment for the job, and make smart investments.

Camera:

Nikon D700

Lens:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8
Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5

Last month, I made the long-overdue upgrade from my old Nikon D40 (now discontinued) to a Nikon D700. My bank account felt anorexic after the purchase; I, on the other hand, felt invincible. It was a much-needed change and I hope the new gear will accompany me through some exciting developments in the future, but I don’t want to put away my old camera without a proper goodbye.

I bought the D40 more than five years ago. I was in 16; it took me 6 months to save enough money for my first DSLR. Unfortunately, I outgrew this camera within the first 8 months but I didn’t have enough money for a new camera; for the next few years, I invested in lenses and other equipment instead. So whenever I told other photographers the model of my little camera, they were shocked that I was still using the D40, which is not considered professional grade camera. While I sometimes felt the limitations of the D40, most of the time, and especially with the right lens, it served me just fine.

In the last 5 years, the old D40 has travelled with me to 3 continents, 25 countries, and survived all sorts of poor weather conditions. It got me my first paid photography gig, my first shoot with agency-signed models, and produced my first published works. Although it’s a little scratched up and it’s shutter count has long been overshot, I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic about putting it away - some of my favorite photos were taken with the D40.

But, there is a catch here.

I'm not writing this to blog about my old camera or my new camera, because it's really not about the gear at all. A camera does not a photographer make. Nor does the lens or the lighting. The right equipment can definitely help, but there are some brilliant photographers out there who use what some people would overlook as “professional” equipment. Rosie Hardy uses Gimp instead of Photoshop to process her photos. Anna Theodora shoots with a Canon Rebel. In fact, some of you probably use more expensive equipment than these two talented ladies do, but both of them are able to work with the resources they have to produce stunning images.