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What’s in My Bag: Documentary Photographer Gabriele Galimberti

What’s in My Bag: Documentary Photographer Gabriele Galimberti

Written by Gabriele Galimberti
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Published on August 16, 2022
Gabriele Galimberti
Adorama ALC

I started photography when I was 15 years old. In those days, I did it without really knowing photography. I just liked to carry my old Canon AE1 with a 35mm lens my father had given me. I would use it to photograph my friends and the adventures we had together. A few years later, I decided I wanted to be a photographer, studied at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence, and — a couple of years later — I started my career.

Since then, my passion has always been to photograph people and tell their stories. I do this with portraits and texts (stories about the subject) that I write to accompany my photos. I’ve worked all over the world. My projects always contain photographs taken in numerous countries. Along the way, I’ve adopted new equipment to help me better tell the stories of my subject.

My Cameras

Over the years, I have used many different camera bodies — including 8×10 cameras. However, considering that I am always traveling, I have come to prefer lightweight and compact equipment. This has brought me to the new Canon R5 and R6 mirrorless cameras.

Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body

I use the R5 the majority of the time. I love its speed and accuracy in detail and color. Its compactness and light weight — combined with the very high quality of its files — make it the best tool for me. I have shot with the R5 for every portrait I have taken in the last three years.

Canon EOS R6 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body

I choose the R6 in lower light situations. I find that the result it has in dark environments is slightly better to that of its older sister. I also use it when doing video interviews. I don’t have a requirement to do 8K videos, so I prefer to use the R6. It is slightly easier to use and the files are a little lighter and easier to handle. In short, this camera is perfect for the kind of videos I do — which are mainly for web and social media.

As part of my Toy Story series, I photographed Ralf Mazulis in Riga, Lettonia. Photo by Gabriele Galimberti.

My Lenses

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

The lens that is never missing from my backpack is a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. I love its versatility and compactness. I often find myself photographing my subjects in their homes, and the size of the rooms always vary. Most of the time, I use it with a focal length ranging from 24mm to 28mm. I also often find myself pushing the lens to 70mm and shooting tighter plans of my subjects. In so many cases, the fact that I don’t have to stop to change lenses greatly simplifies my workflow.

Canon RF 85MM F/1.2L USM

Another lens I really love is the Canon RF 85MM F/1.2L USM. I have been shooting a lot of studio portraits this year — something I hardly did in the past. I have come to love shooting close-ups with this lens. It creates beautiful bokeh behind subjects when I use it at very open apertures.

Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS Macro

My backpack never lacks a small Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS Macro. It’s a very fast lens, and perfect for when I need to shoot in situations of movement and unpredictability with a more reportage approach.

From one of the latests project I shot for National Geographic Magazine “THE DINOSAUR IN THE ROOM”. Photo taken at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA with Henry Kriegstein and his wife Joan in their home. Photo by Gabriele Galimberti.

My Lighting and Accessories

For my portraits, I almost always use artificial light. I combine with the lights I find in the environment. I prefer flash light because it allows me to have a lot of power in a very compact object. This is harder to achieve with continuous light. I have 6 Canon 580EX II Speedlights and — in some of my most recent shots — I have even used them all at the same time.

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Off-Camera Flash for more information on different kinds of flash lighting.

I always have at least two of them, with all the necessary triggers. I carry a couple of multipurpose umbrellas as well. The ones that can be used to reflect light or to let it filter through.

From my project GRANDMA’S RECIPES. This is Bisrat Melake in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She cooked the meal Enjara with churry and vegetables (also seen here). Photo by Gabriele Galimberti.

Glow Easy Lock Large Deep White Fiberglass Umbrella 

I also have small portable banks and some grids to filter the light through. I also bring a small kit of colored filters that I use to rebalance the color temperature of lights in a room. Last but not least, it’s important to bring a dozen SD memory cards and lots of spare batteries — especially those for the lights.

Check out more of my work in AdoramaTV’s new docuseries, THE MASTERS.

Gabriele Galimberti, born in 1977, is an Italian photographer who frequently lives on airplanes, and occasionally in Val di Chiana (Tuscany), where he was born and raised. He has spent the last few years working on long-term documentary photography projects around the world, some of which have become books, such as Toy Stories, In Her Kitchen, My Couch Is Your Couch, The Heavens and The Ameriguns.