Essential photo accessories that any photographer will need to capture a wedding. These camera additions will ensure beautiful wedding photos for a lifetime.
13 Useful Gadgets Designed to Make Shooting Weddings Go Smoothly
If you’re just getting started in wedding photography—or thinking about turning a part-time business into a full-time career—you know that you need to carefully choose gear that helps you work quickly and efficiently so you can concentrate on what’s important–getting wonderful pictures of the bride, the groom, their family, and friends on this important day. Fortunately, Adorama offers a wide array of helpful accessories and gadgets to make your wedding shoot go as smoothly as possible.
Choosing a camera is a personal, complex decision…but what about the little gadgets, gizmos and do-dads that can make your life easier in small and big ways? Remember, the good thing about shooting weddings is that you are surrounded by happy, smiling people dressed in their finest, but that anarchy is just barely below the surface (and sometimes bubbles up!) Keep smiling, no matter what–and have a bag of tricks on hand to help the day go smoothly. Here are eight clever items designed to make your job easier—our list of wedding photography essentials. (Is there an offbeat gadget that you use and love? We’d like to know about it, and possibly add it to this list. Add a comment, below!)
Product pricing and availability accurate as of May 1, 2017.
1. Conair Travel Smart 3 Step Heavy Duty Photographer’s LadderKart Combination
Adorama Price: $91.49
Get Up There
When guests are dancing around the bride and groom at the reception, a wedding photographer must have a height advantage, so ladders are a requirement. But this three-step aluminum ladder pulls double-duty as a hand truck, so you can roll in your equipment bags rather than carrying them like an ox. As a ladder, the LadderKart can hold up to 250 pounds and has large, sturdy polypropylene steps, elevating the photographer 30 inches above the floor. As a hand truck, it holds up to 175 pounds, has 4-inch diameter rubber wheels, and folds flat.
2. Spudz 10×10-inch Microfiber cloth
Adorama Price: $9.99
Keep It Clean
Another dual-use item, but this one fits in your pocket: the Alpine Innovations Spudz 10×10 Microfiber cloth is a self-storing cloth that you can whip out at a moment’s notice to wipe dust and smudges off your valuable optics. The Spudz Microfiber cloth container has a hook so it can conveniently hang from your camera bag, zipper, or keychain.
3. LowePro Magnum 650 AW Shoulder Bag
Adorama Price: $297.79
It’s In The Bag
At the typical wedding, chaos circles around the photographer; it is essential that you are organized. A good gadget bag that has a place for everything you need is indispensable. While there are many options out there, the LowePro Magnum 650 AW is the most comprehensive carry-everything bag for pros that we’ve seen. It can accommodate 8-10 lenses (including that 70-200mm f/2.8), a bunch of flashes, two camera bodies, battery packs for your flashes, and has space for filters, memory cards, chargers, and more in its pockets and pouches. The Vertebral Tech shoulder strap is said to distribute the weight well so you can actually carry the heavy load, and a trolley sleeve so you can put it on a roller. It has a rain flap lid, convenient for outdoor shoots in iffy weather, and a sleeve for a laptop up to 15 inches. With exterior dimensions of 19.3×14.2×13.2 inches, it fits in overhead airplane storage, and holds a LOT of stuff. (Sorry, chiropractor not included.)
4. Adorama Slinger Digital Memory Wallet
Adorama Price: $9.95
Thanks For The Memory
It can easily fit into your back pocket and safely store 12 memory cards and accepts all formats. A small organizational tool like this is great when you’re on the go and don’t have time to grab your equipment bag to catch up with the bride!
5. Flashpoint Rotating Camera Flip-Flash Bracket
Adorama Price: $29.95
You’re Gonna Flip
Wedding photographers need flexibility in their gear. The Flip-Flash bracket allows you to smoothly rotate almost any SLR camera 90°, even those with add-on power grips, for vertical or horizontal shots, while keeping the flash stationary above the camera, maintaining the look of your lighting.
6. Glow 42-inch 5-in-1 reflector
Adorama Price: $29.95
Light, More Filling
Sometimes you need to add some light to punch up your portrait subject’s eyes and control the lighting ratio–and sometimes, that includes adding a little warmth to the
scene. This reflector, which folds down into a disk a third of its full size, has white, black, silver, gold, and translucent surfaces. Use the translucent surface to soften harsh light (it’ll come in handy when shooting outdoor portraits in the sun), the black to block unwanted light, and the rest to add a light accent. If you want to free up your assistant from holding it, bring along a Light Stand and Portable Reflector Bracket. An Adorama exclusive!
7. Westcott Illuminator Collapsible Disc Background
Adorama Price: $165.00
Background info
Need a nice, neutral background for your portraits? If the venue doesn’t have an appropriate spot, Westcott’s disc is wide enough for very small groups (6×7). Westcott has an extensive line of backdrops, including Chroma Key backdrops which let you swap out the background for anything you want to drop in after the fact. And it folds up into a small disk for easy portability. Use the Interfit Reflector Stand to hold it up.
8. 3Pod PM3A Aluminum 3-Section Monopod
Adorama Price: $69.95
Nice Leg
Optimize your in-focus percentage by using a monopod to shoot sharp images, every time. The new 3POD PM3A is an three-section model that collapses to 26 inches and extends to 69 inches, and is topped by a 100mm ballhead that supports 4 pounds.
9. Camera Batteries
And Don’t Forget…
Carry extra batteries for your DSLR and flashes (or invest in powerpacks—see below) is always helpful! Seems like you can never have too many. Be sure to pack your charger, just in case.
And of course, you can’t shoot a wedding without a flash…or two! Here are setups for Canon and Nikon shooters.
10. Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT
Adorama Price: $549
Canon Firepower
If you’re a Canon shooter, the 600EX II-RT is a must. This flash includes a color filter holder for attaching Canon and third-party color gelatin filters. With a guide number of 196 feet at ISO 100, the 600 has power to spare, and its full 180° swivel head gives you control over the shape and direction of the lighting. You can always add more flashes as you go for more multi-light set-ups.
11. Nikon SB-700
Adorama Price: $326.95
Nikon’s Nuke
The i-TTL-optimized SB-700 offers the perfect balance of exposure, performance, and portability for any photographer on the go. Its flexible flash head provides creative lighting freedom for nearly any subject. Achieve brilliant results and seamless lighting system integration with hot shoe operation or wirelessly as a master, commander or remote light source.
12. Gary Fong Lightsphere Universal System Cloud
Adorama Price: $49.95
The Right Light
Any flash coupled with Gary Fong’s Universal Lightsphere will reduce
harsh shadows and flatter any subject by producing soft, studio-quality lighting. Now with the addition of an innovative, patent-pending mount that is guaranteed to stay on, the Lightsphere will transform the way you use your on-camera flash.
13. Flashpoint Blast Power Pack BP-960
Adorama Price: $349.00
More Flash Bang For Your Buck
When shooting a wedding, you’re going to be taking a LOT of pictures with your flash set at full power. That takes a lot of juice and will drain AA batteries in, pardon the pun, a flash. The Flashpoint Blast Power Pack is a Li-polymer battery pack system that is affordable but will give you roughly 1800 full-power pops per battery, and promotes faster recycle time. Even better: Rather than swapping out the entire power pack when its out of juice, all you have to do is exchange the battery for a freshly charged one. Extra batteries cost only $100,big savingss over bringing an entire power pack. Power Pack kits with or without extra batteries are available with appropriate cables for Canon, Metz, Nikon, Sony and of course Flashpoint Streaklight shoe-mount pro-level flash systems. An Adorama exclusive!
Continue the conversation: What wedding photography gadget is a must-have for you? Leave a comment, below!
