Hello lovely people of the internet! Today I’m going to answer the most popular questions surrounding my photography gear as I’m still receiving daily questions about what gear I use for my photos on the blog, photos on social media and videos on my Youtube channel. To answer as best as I can I’ve gone for the overall approach here – answering not only what gear I use (listing every single piece of equipment), but also which products I love, hate, and those I’d totally recommend. Here we go!
Photos for my blog
Lets start here on the blog because it only seems logical given that is where we are right now! For all of my photos on my blog I use my most expensive camera (both in terms of camera body and lenses I use), the Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark II (yup, its a mouthful!)
By way of lenses for this camera, I use a 12-40mm f2.8 Pro Lens for every day use, an 8mm pro fisheye lens when I’m feeling creative and an M Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 pro wideangle lens for cityscape shooting and landscapes.
Love, Hate, Recommend? I absolutely love this camera and would totally recommend it to anyone looking to take their blogging photography or travel photography more seriously. It is still a great camera for beginners who are slowly learning the ropes but also gives you plenty of room to grow as you learn more. By way of lenses, I most often use the 12-40mm pro lens but really love to play around with the fisheye lens for something a little more fun (though it is quite an investment). Thus I would most recommend the Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark II with a 12-40mm pro lens.
Photos for social media
I tend to approach social media in a very last minute, whatever-i-feel-like-at-the-time kind of way, so it probably comes at no surprise that I use a few different methods when photographing for social media. Firstly, I mostly use my iPhone for food photos as it is discreet and I always have it somewhere near by for those on the spot photos. Secondly, I use my camera (Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark II) if I’m shooting landscapes, typical travell-y type photos and especially for photos I am in (you can read how I take my solo travel photos here). To transfer my photos from my camera to my iPhone for uploading, I simply use the wi-fi function of my camera and edit within the Instagram app or if the photo requires more editing (i.e. low lighting situations), I upload the photos to my laptop, edit, and email them to my phone.
Love, Hate Recommend? iPhones are great as they are multipurpose (what don’t they do these days?) However I would totally recommend investing in a camera if you want to be more creative with your photos and try your hand at the post-editing process to really allow your photos to come to life.
Videos on Youtube
Now here’s a pocket rocket I would totally recommend to everyone and anyone looking to give vlogging (video blogging) ago. For my videos on Youtube I use only the Olympus PEN E-PL7. It is a small camera
For lenses, I nearly always use my 17mm lens.
Love, Hate, Recommend? This is by far my favourite piece of camera equipment from Olympus, even though it is the cheapest and most compact! I always always always recommend this camera to people in person (blog readers or not) and would honestly keep buying them without a second thought if mine ever became damaged (still on my first one, touch wood!)
Underwater & Action sports
For all of my underwater shots I use a GoPro Hero 3+ with an underwater housing. Perhaps the best trick I have learned with this is the simplest one – to lick the screen before you submerge the camera as it prevents water marks from appearing (and totally ruining) your shots.
Love, Hate, Recommend? If you’re a patient person and don’t mind stuffing around for quite a while before you actually get “the” shot, then I’d totally recommend purchasing a gopro and taking the time to play around with the camera to understand how it works and how to get the best shots out of the camera. If you aren’t patient, on the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend it as these cameras take a bit of practice and patience!
Happy Snaps with Friends
The last item on my camera shelf that can’t go ignored is my little Fuji Film Instax camera that I bought myself in Berlin (after falling head over heels in love with instant photos thanks to the local photomats!) I mainly take this camera to outings with friends or holidays with my boyfriend as I find it a lot more spontaneous and fun to capture moments that only we will share.
Happy Snapping!
Brooke Saward founded World of Wanderlust as a place to share inspiration from her travels and to inspire others to see our world. She now divides her time between adventures abroad and adventures in the kitchen, with a particular weakness for French pastries.