Today I’m introducing you to my little camera bag family, and what specific purpose each one fills in my shooting/traveling life. Four bags might be a lot – I don’t honestly know how many bags other photographers have/use, but whether it’s weird or not, I love all four of these bags and they each have been perfect and needed for different functions at different times. They’ve also all been added gradually over 4+ years of business. So, it’s been a progression.

THINK TANK 

My Think Tank Airport International V 2.0 is the newest member of my collection (I got it last summer) and it has DRASTICALLY changed the ease of transporting my gear on a wedding day. I added several lenses to my collection last year and definitely needed the space that it provides for lenses, flashes, memory cards, batteries, etc. And the bonus is that it’s a rolling bag so the stress of all that heavy gear isn’t on your shoulders. It’s also PERFECT for traveling and even the few times that they forced me to check it plane side my gear came out perfectly safe. So, it’s been a game-changer and must have for me!

KELLY MOORE

My Kelly Moore Libby bag is perfect for personal travel or a shoot where I just want to take my camera and one or two lenses, as well as my laptop. Sometimes you don’t want to lug around the Think Tank, but still need a little more space than a smaller, purse-size camera bag. The real kicker of this bag for me, though, is the laptop space. It’s SO nice not to have to carry a separate laptop bag when I want to transport all of it in one fell swoop. The downside is that it IS really heavy when fully loaded up, and that makes airport travel (lugging it around on my shoulder) a little uncomfortable, but I still love this bag and the amount of space that it has for the computer and gear.

JO TOTES

My Jo Totes Betsy bag is the perfect size to use as a purse when I just want to carry my camera for personal use, but still have a cute bag, as well as for a shoot when I want to be able to carry my camera body and only a couple lenses. It’s easy to wear cross-body and I like the flap because I don’t have to zip it every time, yet can still keep any dust from my gear as I shoot. I love this little bag and use it a TON.

SHOOTSAC

And last, but not least, the first camera bag I ever bought, my ShootSac. This is still my go-to bag for carrying my lenses with me on a wedding day. I love how it conforms to my body, how many lenses and other stuff it can hold, and how comfortable it is to wear. Because it can’t carry the camera body itself, the Jo Totes wins out for portrait shoots, but I’ve not sold this because like I said, I still prefer it for wedding days. So, a wedding day involves my Think Tank and ShootSac and the Kelly Moore and Jo Totes are utilized for portrait shoots, personal use, and travel.

Like I said, I fully understand that 4 different bags might seem excessive, but it’s what works for me and I love them all. In a future post I’ll cover what lenses I use and how I pack each bag, etc. But for now, I hope you enjoyed the introduction to my little bag family. :) What are your go-to bags?