Most of the time people think photographers’ secret weapons are their high tech photography tools—which to some extent is true. But after decades in this business, we’ve learned some of the simplest tools are the most effective.
Here’s a photographer’s guide on simple things we use that make our lives a whole lot easier…
- When shooting interior photography we use a carpet rake. You can vacuum a carpet all day long and it’s still going to show lines, but a carpet rake makes it look very smooth and untouched.
- A black cloth the size of a tablecloth (8ft x 8ft). This helps with getting reflections out of appliances, windows, etc. We also bring a pop up reflector to address this issue.
- A door stop so we can shoot through open doorways. We used to bring sand bags, but they’re too heavy.
- A compact battery powered leaf blower for drying Rob’s hair (just kidding). We use this to blow the leaves off of driveways, patios, walkways, and pool areas to tidy up. Super handy, and not what you’d expect when you think of “photography tools,” right?.
- Telescoping dental mirror, when your camera is up high on a tripod you can’t see the lens opening, but this allows you to see up and over the camera and lens so you can read the settings on your camera.
- An apple box is a wooden box that’s known as an apple box in the motion picture/film industry. Sometimes you don’t need a ladder or stool if you have your apple box. It’s also useful for when you need to just get slightly higher to shoot something. They even make half apple boxes if you need to bump someone up in height. Final pro: they’re sturdy so you can sit or stand on them.
- Not very often: surgical booties so we don’t track dirt on floors. Sometimes you can wear your photography tools!
- Having a leveler device is something to stick under a table to keep it level, but this isn’t something we do all the time.
- Not anymore, but worth mentioning is we used to use a back scratcher to adjust our strobe lights. We would adjust our settings on the back of our lighting.
We’ve been in the photography and videography business for decades. From shooting on film cameras to the high tech we have today, our philosophy has always remained the same. We’re focused on the mindset of being problem solvers and keeping our work interesting and fresh.
Oh yeah and, we’ll shoot anything that won’t shoot back!
Want another practical photography tip? Click here to read our blog post on how to find the best lighting for your models.
Ready to work with us? Click here to get in touch.
