Ona Monterey Backpack

“it's such a weird time of year I just shot my last wedding two weekends ago it's a time where I I don't really have an identity as a photographer slash person around every weekend going to these weddings and capturing all the things and seeing all the people and then not doing that is an interesting pivot I am unpacking them and thought this was the perfect opportunity to do a video of what was in my bag for a typical wedding day in 2024 I'm going to do this video in two parts first part is going to be just actually what's in the bags what the gear is and then if you're interested in a part two of this same video I'm going to do exactly what gear I use with lenses for which parts of the wedding day because somebody asked about that sorry if I'm a little Melancholy and Bittersweet that's my business this business is about what was in my bag this year two bags two bags of Wonder and mystery these are both Ona bags this is the Ona U messenger backpack I think it's the brick um messenger bag like I've had this forever looks it I don't know I I love the look of it I still haven't really found a bag that does a better style for what I'm looking for so this is what I've continued to use the Ona Monterey backpack I've really put some wear and tear on this bag I like it the size is quite nice these are my two bags um own a bag number one this bag is always with me use it as like my VIP bag I'm carrying all the most important favorite gear in here as well as SD cards batteries film you'll see but this is the bag that's always on my back sometimes breaking my back because it is very heavy let's jump in the Leica M1 I obviously talk about this lens a lot it's my main camera this is a 50 mm sumalu the Vintage black chrome version this is the main setup of this camera I don't deviate too much honestly on a wedding day this is what I have the strap is uh not significant and needs to be replaced but this is what I have the M11 other camera body I keep in this bag is the Canon r 6 Mark I usually keep the 2870 uh F2 just on this body because it's very heavy I'd rather have the heaviness in on this backpack instead of in my carry-on this is my second camera body that I use and carry with me and then third body that I keep in my main bag is the Leica MP this is a vintage summicron 35 mm lens that I added to my bag this year it's kind of solved all my problems it's small compact and uh the 35mm range is really fun for my 35mm camera how do you like that I don't really changed this lens out uh definitely in the last 6 months since I bought it it tends to say on this camera I shoot film for almost all of my weddings now in some capacity even if it's just a couple rolls so this camera is traveling with me all the time and in my VIP bag that is sort of what I keep in the main compartment there I'm so sad unpacking it side compartments of this bag are pretty dumb there's no zipper that keeps it closed and safe so I don't keep too much of importance in here I have sunglasses I have hair ties and a mint I usually keep my wallet in one side and I have receipts lip trap and lipstick great all right top top pouch oh I've been trying out the Pentax 17 so I was using it the last month or so this camera wouldn't normally be in my bag but I'm I tend to like throw in a wild card shooting especially lots of film so this camera has been in my bag the last month and it's great cuz it's super small but this is a film camera and I will talk more about that in other videoos I keep the it's so heavy the 85 this is an R lens obviously for the Canon body I have used this and brought it to every wedding it's replaced my sometimes I've used the 135 millimeter lens in the past and these 7200 which is always a favorite this is just my replacement I this is as close as I get on a wedding day like having this lens so much it's probably one of my favorite Canon lenses that I own and it's uh very heavy hid inside pouch Shu in here and I keep like gum if I get nervous and then what else do I have I mean the most randomest of things Sorry probably probably not the prettiest of things but I keep some notes that people have written to me uh some business cards and then uh some you know I don't know odds and ends floss and lens wipes you know I think I'll just keep them in here for a little longer this is it that's that's all that was in the bag pretty much but this little pouch it's of no no significance I don't even like the color yellow but it works perfectly as a little Cube cubby bag for the things that I need I keep a number of just Little knickknacks goodies in here [Music] all right we got to bag two how exciting I have the sigma 24 mm lens for my Canon body I have a pro photo flash I have the Leica sf40 flash if I'm doing a lot of film I'll usually keep this on the mp uh but I've been known to put it on the M11 and I've also been known to not put it on anything at all um a case that I didn't put this in I just have random other chachkies in here I keep some business cards in the middle I keep I've had this little compact since uh probably the first wedding I ever shot I used to keep it in case like a of a bride needed to like check her makeup I don't know I just thought it was nice to have but then I started doing like cool reflection tricks with it too on the mirror I keep this as like a nostalgic momento in my bag random things oh see another battery when I'm done with batteries I kind of have a system like I'll put it in a random pocket and not in the main pocket so I'll put that one back in there like letters oh I found I found a cute toothpick that I thought was worth keeping in the side pockets I keep more lipstick sunscreen I have a random pen and then some more batteries this is the I just did a review on the like a M11 battery this is uh the pack that I keep in this bag and then I have oh it's another spare Pro Photo I told you it was in here and then um full prism in case sometimes I'll bring it out just to to play and go there but yeah random Merc seats bracelets books that's pretty much it I don't know if that's uh a normal amount I don't really keep tabs on how other people do it I I don't know if this is like a lot or not a lot did 42 mainly weddings a couple alotment City Hall weddings this year it's a a really sizable amount of full wedding days with this gear I find that I'm definitely a quality over quantity person and when I'm I'm traveling each weekend really important to me to have a great collection that served the the work well and the art well for what I was doing that gave me enough variety for any situation I was in and just allowed me to be the best photographer I could be for my couples it's interesting how we choose gear over the years what we're influenced by who we watch and follow and who inspires us to get certain pieces I've just been really happy with the gear as a whole and how I've been using it because I'm traveling so much and putting so much time and energy to each wedding day that I'm doing is really important to me to be mindful and thoughtful about each piece of gear that I bring to the day with me I want to make sure that if it's going to take the journey it's going to pull its weight in the bag some pull their weight more than others each of these pieces of my bag are pivotal and some part of my storytelling I've just been really happy with the bag this year it's a really nice feeling to just go into the bag and I know for any scenario that's thrown at me I have something that is going to work well to help me capture it [Music] this is the low down of where when each part of the wedding day what gear I'm utilizing for those parts of the day give you some insight of how to like map out your day if you're starting weddings or you know wanting a different system of gear or just uh comparing your own system of how you do things this was my ninth season of shooting weddings so there's some trial and error there's lot of just experience that goes into making these decisions as far as like this was really frustrating because I wanted to get closer to this moment or I was super close to this moment but then I wasn't wide enough in time for another moment I wasn't ready or prepared for a moment because I didn't have the right gear there's all these decisions that happen very naturally and organically if you get to shoot weddings and get to do a couple of them you learn very quickly or at least I did what makes sense for me the work that I'm doing for my couples I feel like I've figured out some things and so I'm very happy to share with you what I use and also I'm not going to do that how I use it first and foremost I should start with my this is my main camera I have other peers that have like two of the same body and use a variety of different lenses it's a little unique to use a two different camera systems I know how in my back end on the editing to just work through color profiles for each camera to make sure that everything's seamless in the end I understand that it definitely makes my work a little bit harder using two different camera systems however for me it's super worth it this is a manually focused rangefinder camera so I am literally if you're not familiar with the m system go check out a other the videos if you are interested if you don't care that's fine but this is a rangefinder camera so every single image I'm having to manually focus in at all parts of the day I'm used to it by now I've been using this a long time I keep the 50 mm this is a sumolux 1”