The bag has been the same for years. Two bodies, three lenses, a light meter, spare cards and batteries. Everything in it earns its place by being used on nearly every job, and the list stops there because a session slows down the moment there is a choice to make.
The second body
The second body carries the wider lens and stays on the shoulder. Swapping bodies is faster than swapping glass, and it means a change of framing never costs a moment in front of someone who is finally relaxed. Both bodies are the same model so the files match without any thought in the edit.
The glass that covers the day
A 35mm for rooms and context, a 50mm for the way a scene looks when you walk into it, an 85mm for faces. All fast enough to work by a window on a grey afternoon. There is nothing longer in the bag, because standing closer usually makes a better picture than reaching from across the room.
The meter earns its space
A handheld meter reads the light falling on the person rather than the light bouncing back off them. Under mixed window light that difference keeps exposure steady from frame to frame, and steady exposure makes the edit far shorter.
What stays in the car
Stands, a folding reflector, one small flash and a roll of paper live in the boot and come in when a room gives us nothing. Most days they stay where they are.
Cards and batteries
Cards get formatted in the camera before every job and rotated in a fixed order. Two backups go down before we leave the location: one to a drive, one to the laptop. The routine is dull and it has never once been regretted.
