Photography Gear for Social Distancing
As things start to slowly look brighter I’m getting ready & I’m getting so excited for the days I get to take my camera out & capture love, family & others again!
I’ve been doing so much prep work here at home, planning for every scenario possible for when I’m allowed to take photos for my clients again. What will it look like when I’m out doing a portrait session? What changes do I need to make to capture a wedding day? What will it now look like to work alongside my peers again as a second photographer? There are so many questions & each day I’ve been working through these questions with my clients, peers & by myself with a “dress rehearsal” mentality, practicing & preparing for all that’s to come.
With social distancing precautions still strongly advised here are a few new & old pieces of gear I will be utilizing at every session moving forward as my home state of Maryland & the DC metro area continue to take steps to open back up.
longer lenses
It’s not difficult to continue social distancing during a photo session when you have the proper lenses that allow you shoot from a distance.
My all time favorite lens has always been my 85 mm 1.4 lens which can only be used when you are able to get some distance away from your client because the lens acts like a fixed zoom lens. You better believe my 85mm will be in heavy rotation for the next few months.
And of course my 70-200mm 2.8 lens will allow me to get up close & personal shots from a distance. It’s the ultimate social distancing lens that captures portraits beautifully.
These guys are totally underrated. On a wedding day, getting the best cellphone service is not always 100% reliable & being able to literally pop a message into someone else’s ear is such a necessity during quite moments or when, let’s say your assistant photographer is directly across the field or ballroom from you in your shot. Yelling is never classy solution.
Enter the walkie-walkie (with an in ear piece to communicate discretely & continuously throughout an entire wedding day)! Even during an intimate elopement I can foresee using walkie talkies with a second photographers OR with the videography team being so helpful! You can keep the earpiece in comfortably all day & never bring out your phone (For the coming months I see my cellphone being heavily used for live streaming ceremonies for my clients).
Walkie talkies
A mask & Hand Sanitizer
Finally, although this isn’t camera gear (duh), these two things are obvious essentials for every photo session or wedding day I’ll be capturing for as long as the coronavirus remains as threat & for as long is recommended by the CDC & health officials.
Of course this is not an extensive list of all of the changes & safety precautions I’ll be making during this pandemic but I believe these tools coupled with many other safety precautions are going to allow me to safely return to what I love doing, capturing stories, of families & of love.
Stay safe & hang in their! We are all in this together & I hope to see you all out there making memories with your loved ones again, soon!
