What's in Our Camera Bag? A Food & Drink Photography Guide
This guide contains links to all of the brands we use for food and drink photography. Some of the resources may be affiliate links, meaning we receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
We get lots of questions about what kind of photography gear we use and recommend. Take a peek inside our camera bag! Since we’ve started on our journey of capturing food photos and video, we have invested in more expensive cameras, lenses and equipment, but don’t feel that you need all of these things. You can take great photos with your smartphone or an entry level camera… and we always recommend researching pre-owned options for cameras and lenses.
What's in Our Camera Bag
Camera Body
We used to shoot with a Canon but we’ve been shooting with Sony for the last few years and love it. We use the Sony A7R III as our main camera body and the Sony A7R II as our secondary camera body. Sony has great camera and sensor technology and is the best option for capturing video (which is important for us). If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly Sony, the Sony Alpha a6000 is also a great option for food & drink photography.
Camera Lenses
We love this lens for both overhead and close shots.
We love this lens for close shots, macro shots and 45 degree angle shots.
This lens is best overall and one of our favorites.
We generally don’t use this one when shooting in studio but we like to take it on the go when we’re traveling or dining out because it’s lightweight and small.
Tripods
Camera Tripod - Manfrotto
Using a tripod is really important for setting up your scene which is a big part of styling great photos. If you’re investing in high quality lenses, you want to make sure to use a quality tripod. We use the Manfrotto 405 Geared Tripod Head and Manfrotto 055 Tripod Legs.
Smartphone Tripod - Aureday Phone Tripod
Monitor
We upgraded to using a monitor screen when we shoot in studio and we’ll never turn back. This screen allows you to flip the view toward your setup so you can watch it as you’re setting up your scene and make adjustments accordingly.
Lights
We use continuous lighting as opposed to flash or strobes because we can use it to shoot both photos and video. We have the Aputure 120d Mark 2 and the Aputure 300d Mark 2. We also sometimes use a small LED Light - the Aputure Armaran Mini LED.
Softbox
A softbox diffuses your light into soft, even light, which is super important for food and drink photography. We have the Aputure Light Dome and recently got the Godox 24"x 35" 60 x 90cm Honeycomb Grid Softbox Soft Box.
Improving Your Food Photography
When it comes to food and drink photography, great gear helps but definitely isn’t everything. Understanding setup, lighting and styling are much more important than having the best or most expensive gear!
If you’re interested in learning more about taking mouthwatering food and drink photos, click here and we’ll make sure to send you all our photography-related content and let you know when we open the doors to our program Bland to On Brand Photography!
