Our shiny new USB sticks from usbmemorydirect.com arrived in the post!  Ok, they’re not shiny, they’re all rustic and wooden, but we love them so we thought we’d share a few pictures of them in all their glory

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come out!

Our good friend Stewart (the genius behind Folio fine art albums) mentioned a while ago, over a pie and a pint, that he was thinking of hiring a camper van and touring the UK.  Not everyone can make the big photography conventions, and this way hopefully those who haven’t stroked their lovely pages and sniffed their delicious leather covers can have the chance.  In true Stewart style (just like the time a few years before when he said he was going to start making albums for himself), this is happening, and it’s going to be brilliant.

We’ll be at the Manchester meet on Sunday 27th May at The March Hare, come by and say hi!

It’s very classic, and extremely well made…

A nifty top handle makes it easy to lug around…

Also the padded insert is removable so you can use it as a regular bag.

It’s not huge, but I’m not planning on using this at weddings.  It’s a ‘day out taking pictures’ bag – a camera, couple of lenses and the usual handbag stuff.

I used it on our little shoot with Alex – great size for a portrait sesh!

There’s only one thing to do with a new (old) camera, and that is to go and use it.  Here are some snaps from our first roll…

I recently got my hands on a Diana F+ and related paraphernalia; it’s everything you’d expect from a toy camera – FUN!

It came with me for a night on the town, armed with the 35mm back…

Bee Crawley (half of the cgweddings duo) and Pete, separated at birth?

Love that hat. So did Neil Redfern.

The morning after the night before

I enjoyed playing with the Diana.  It’s hardly ever in focus, you forget to wind it on, the viewfinder is in no way an indication of what will be in the picture and it weighs less than my phone.  It’s fun though, and bright blue; what’s better than that?

We’ll be sharing lots of pictures from it, but for now here are a few ‘tester shots’ we did of each other in the first few days…

All images taken with Contax 645, Portra 160VC (except the pictures of the camera itself of course – that’s impossible!).

While my regular camera bag (a Think Tank Urban Disguise 50) is great for shooting with, it’s a bit on the large side for carrying around on a day to day basis.  Sometimes I want to take my camera out for the day, and I don’t need 5 lenses, a flash and a reflector.  What I particularly love about the Epiphanie range is that while they have all the inner workings of a camera bag (lots of padding, dividers and plenty of pockets) they really don’t look like camera bags at all.

Epiphanie camera bags are made in the U.S. (but thankfully ship worldwide) by photographer Maile Wilson.  There are lots of gorgeous options available, but I instantly fell in love with Lola, a big red beauty full of funky details.  I was so excited to receive this big box last week, I couldn’t wait to get it out and take it for a spin!

The dust bag (which matches the colour of the inside of Lola) is a great touch!

There’s plenty of room inside for my 5D MkII with a 50mm lens attached and a spare lens, plus general essentials such as wallet, keys, phone etc.

It also comes with a comfy shoulder strap which you can attach to the D rings, although so far I’ve opted to use it without; the two main straps are the perfect length so the bag fits perfectly on my shoulder.

I took my new purchase with me to London last weekend…

I love it.  It’s extremely well made and comfortable, and was ideal for an occasion such as this when I wanted to be a bit stealth with my camera.  I hope this new addition to my handbag collection encourages me to take my camera out to play much more often!

I am in no way an expert on every lens and camera out there, I just know what I like.  I would also like to point out that although I have lots of equipment you don’t by any means need all this – I used to obsess over Mulberry handbags and now I obsess over lenses.  Like most people I have a core of lenses I use almost all of the time, and then a few fun random lenses which pop out every now and again.  It’s also important to have spare lenses and camera bodies in your car just in case you are robbed in the street or fall into a river (neither of these has ever happened but you never know!).

So let’s start with the bag in question, a Think Tank Urban Disguise 50…

I love this bag.  It’s pretty big (which is good – I like to have everything on me at all times!) and has tons of pockets for all your bits n bobs!

Attaching a lens cloth was one of the best brainwaves I’ve ever had

There’s a section which is designed to hold a laptop, but I keep a reflector in there to whip out some extra sunshine when necessary!

Apart from equipment my bag also holds some essentials…

Moving on to cameras I use two – one around my neck and the other over my shoulder (handbag style!).  The reason behind using two is all down to the fact that I only use prime lenses, and instead of changing lenses every 4 minutes I can pick two I think will work well and run around with those for a little while capturing the action.  Camera number one is a Canon 5D…

…and camera number two is a Canon 5D Mark II.  I love both of these cameras equally.  Using two cameras is not only great for less lens swappage, it also means you have a back up with you all of the time.  Once the shutter went in camera number 1 right at the moment before the first kiss.  I managed to grab camera number 2 and still get the kiss

Now let’s talk about lenses because this is in my opinion the most important bit.  I love prime lenses because I like shallow depth of field and shooting without flash – I just think it’s prettier.  Weddings are generally dark, and you just can’t shoot a ceremony in a dark church at f2.8 without flash (and most priests/vicars/registrars would have a fit if you’re flashing away in the corner!).

When you’re starting out it can be a little overwhelming looking at all the lenses out there and considering which you ‘need’, especially considering the immense cost involved.  The key is to get all the bases covered.  At a wedding you need to be able to shoot portraits, action, details, group shots, dancing; you need to capture close up moments and wider scene setting images.  You can either get a couple of zoom lenses (easy option) or a selection of primes (heavy option).  Since us wedding ‘togs spend most of our week trapped at a computer ‘wediting’, carrying a bag full of primes the weight of a small child is also good exercise.

If I had to pick ONE lens to shoot a whole wedding it would probably be a 50mm.  You can use it for portraits, details, group shots – pretty much everything.  I have a Canon 50mm f1.2 which is fab, but the f1.4 version and the f1.8 version (bargain!) are great too.

My second favourite lens is the Canon 24mm f1.4.  Very sharp and very useful.

Next up is the canon 85mm f1.8.  I know everyone raves about the f1.2 version (including my husband!) but personally I prefer this version – it’s quicker and I trust it for walking down the aisle shots.  It’s like an old comfy pair of shoes.

Now for the fun lenses!  I have the Canon 45mm f2.8 TS-E.  I love this lens – a great addition for adding a touch of whimsy.  It’s rather tricky and fiddly to use and has manual focus only…I am slowly getting used to it!

The Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro.  Ring shots, that is all.

The Canon 15mm f2.8 Fisheye.  Love it – confetti, shots in the car, the bouquet toss, venue shots…have to try not to overuse it!

So there we have Laura’s wedding survival kit.  Apart from this stuff you need comfy shoes, water, sat nav, a phone with web access (google is very handy!) and emergency Kitkats/Pringles/flapjacks.

Here’s Stewart, the mastermind behind Folio.  We made him do this…

We were pretty excited to be there!

The inner workings of Folio are TOP SECRET so all I can share with you is a few shots of wheels and buttons

We weren’t just there to be nosy, we were also picking up samples.  They are AWESOME.

Lovely packaging…

A selection of gorgeous leathers…

LOVE the covers!

Thanks for making us such beautiful albums Stewart, and thanks also for lunch