What’s in Your Bag, Ben Shirk?

I’m pretty tough on my equipment and expect a lot out of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if my name has a red flag on it at the Canon Clean & Check department. I haven’t yet accidentally thrown all of my equipment out of my case, although I’m not saying it won’t happen.

If I’m on location and it’s a good session, then I am getting muddy, wet and dirty, so I carry my camera equipment in a Pelican 1510 Case with TrekPak Inserts. It fits the overhead compartment of any airplane and it is wheeled, waterproof and very hard to crush (I’ve backed my truck over it once or twice).

Everything pictured here easily fits inside my case, except for the travel tripod. If I have my truck, the back gets filled with light stands, reflectors, strobes, chairs, boats, chandeliers and more, depending on the session.

My favorite lenses are my wide angle 16-24mm and my 200mm prime. The wide angle allows me to capture whole scenes and find leading lines easily; my prime simplifies the scene and allows me to concentrate just on the subject.

BEN’S GEAR:

• Canon 1D X

• Canon 200mm f/2

• Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro

• Canon 80mm f/1.2

• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8

• Canon 24-70mm f/2.8

• Canon 16-24mm f/2.8

• Canon Fisheye lens

• BlackRapid camera strap

• Manfrotto BeFree Travel Tripod

• Two Canon Speedlite 580EX IIs

• B+W ND filters

• Colored gels for strobes

• Flash gels

• RadioPopper Jr2

• Sync cords and trigger cable

• Extra camera battery

• AA PowerEX Rechargeable Batteries

• Camera cards

• Extra socks (because I can’t resist a puddle)

• Pocket saw  (I like to go off the beaten path)

• Smoke bomb (because why not?)

Ben Shirk is an international award-winning photographer and portrait artist. He’s the owner of Shirk Photography, a studio based out of his hometown of Wilton, Iowa.

Related: Member of the Month: Ben Shirk