WPPI
What’s Inside My Camera Bag: Photography Power-Duo Phillip and Eileen Blume’s Minimalist Travel Kit
August 13, 2021
A look inside Phillip and Eileen's travel camera bag!
If you looked inside the camera bag of traveling wedding and portrait photographers, what would you see? We recently asked some professionals to give us a peek inside what they carry for our current series, What’s Inside My Camera Bag. This week, photographers Phillip Blume and Eileen Blume—a husband-wife photography duo and speakers at WPPI next week—reveal the equipment found in their minimalist travel kit, a list that they have refined over the last 14 years.
Phillip and Eileen Blume are award-winning photographers just crazy enough to believe artists can change the world. As owners of three studios that specialize in weddings and portraits, the Blume’s also focus their work on adoption advocacy and humanitarian projects. As top-rated educators for over a decade, they’ve helped thousands of photographers build balanced businesses, have shared their inspiring vision for meaningful photography on the TEDx stage, and are the founders of ComeUnity photographer groups. Phillip Blume also writes for various photographic publications. Both Blume’s will be at WPPI this year, where they will lead a Photo Walk and a session titled “Maximizing Mini Sessions: $10k In One Easy Weekend”.
Cameras
When they travel, wedding and portrait photographers Phillip and Eileen carry two main bodies, and a little something extra, in their camera bag: Sony A7iii, Sony 17riii and a pocket-sized waterproof 360 camera, the Insta360 ONE X2.
Lenses
Like their camera bodies, the Blume’s prefer Sony for their lenses:
- Sony FE 85mm f/1.8
- Sony Sonnar T FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA
- Sony FE 28mm f/2
- Macro Adapter
Lighting
“Don’t worry about the lighting!” said no photographer ever. Phillip and Eileen list Godox as their go-to lighting brand, along with the showstopping Luxli Viola 5” LED Light. With this combination, virtually any spot can be transformed into an ideal scene.
- Godox AD200Pro
- Godox XProS Flash triggers (for Sony)
- Godox VING 860IIS TTL flash (for Sony)
- Luxli Viola 5 LED light
Accessories
As wedding and portrait photographers who often travel, the Blume’s know that having the right accessories is essential to a smooth sailing shoot. You can find a Manfrotto Nanopole Light Stand, a Westcott diffusion umbrella and a JBL Clip Bluetooth speaker amongst the accessories in their camera bag.
- Manfrotto MS0490C Nanopole Light Stand
- Westcott Optical White Satin Diffusion Umbrella (43″)
- Spider SpiderLight Camera Holster
- Spider Monkey Holsters & SpiderPro Hand Strap
- MagMod Basic Kit
- Small Reflector
- Small JOBY GorillaPods
- Tile Pro Bluetooth tracker
- JBL Clip Bluetooth speaker
Miscellaneous
The miscellaneous items in the Blume’s camera bag are both practical and thoughtful. They bring sensical items for their shoot, including a white dress hanger and Ball Bungees, but also packs a couple items to keep little ones occupied—like silly putty and balloons.
- Sheet of aluminum foil
- Prism
- White dress hanger
- Multitool
- “Blume” branded balloons (for the kiddies!)
- Silly Putty
- Sewing Kit
- ComeUnity photographer bandana
- Starburst candies
- Ball Bungees
- 3M adhesive hooks
- AirPods Pro
- “Blume” branded lip balm
- Anker Power Core portable charger
- ComeUnity photographer Moleskine journal
- “Blume” branded Hydro Flask
Audio
It’s always a good idea to keep audio in mind. Here’s the audio gear the Blumes carry with them while traveling:
- Rode WirelessGO II
- Rode SmartLav+
- Zoom H1n Recorder
We hope you enjoyed our eighth installment of the What’s Inside My Camera Bag 2021 series featuring husband-wife photography duo Phillip and Eileen Blume.
What’s inside your camera bag? Shoot us a tweet and let us know!
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