Deanne Fitzmaurice is a Pulitzer Prize-winning documentary photographer and multimedia storyteller. She has received the Mark Twain Award, the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, and in 2008 Time magazine named one of Deanne’s photographs a “Photograph That Mattered” in their “Pictures of the Year” issue. Her work has been published in major magazines including Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, and she has created multimedia videos for MSNBC as well as for foundations and non-profit organizations. In 2011, her documentary work was a finalist for the Alexia Foundation Grant for World Peace. Deanne is a co-founder of Think Tank Photo, a camera bag company, with her husband, photographer Kurt Rogers.
When I was asked to write a “What’s in My Bag” post I thought “which bag”? You can probably imagine I have a lot of bags since I am one of the founders of Think Tank Photo. Seriously, I have a ridiculous amount of camera bags; shoulder bags, belt bags, modular belt systems, backpacks, and rollers. No matter what bag I will work out of when I arrive on location, I almost always roll with my Think Tank Airport Security. It fits overhead on most domestic flights, except CRJ commuter jets. If I’m not flying, I work out of it in my car trunk. I also spend a lot of time thinking about bags and watching how photographers carry their gear, always trying to come up with better solutions.
Below is a photo of my bag packed for a still and multimedia shoot. This is the most amount of gear I would carry, unless I need longer glass such as a 300mm f2.8 or 400mm f2.8. If there is no video or audio needed on the shoot I can lighten this bag up considerably.
Think Tank Airport Security v2.0
- Canon 1D MKIV
- Canon 5D MKII with BG-E6 battery grip
- Canon 35mm 1.4L – my go-to lens
- Canon 85mm 1.2L – love this lens
- Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS – heavy but can’t live without it
- Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rocket
- Lexar Professional 16gb 300x compact flash x2
- Lexar Professional 16gb 600x compact flash
- Lexar Professional 32gb 400x compact flash x2
- Canon 580EX II x2
- Canon compact battery pack E x2
- Think Tank Cable Management 10 – organizes and protects small items
- Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 x2
- Pocket Wizard MiniTT1 x2
- G-Tech 500GB 7200RPM 2.5” hard drive – to back up my shoot
- Manfrotto tripod plate and tools
- Canon LP-E6 battery x2
- Canon BGM-E6 battery magazine
- Think Tank battery holders x3 for AA batteries
- Reporter’s Notebook
- Cork Screw – you never know when someone will show up with a bottle of wine
- Canon flash stand
- Heliopan 72mm variable ND filter – for shallow depth of field outdoors, video
- Canon LC-E6 battery charger
- X-rite Color Checker Passport – for color balance
Multimedia Stuff:
- Zacuto Z-Finder – 1st camera focusing
- Zoom H4n audio recorder
- Rode VideoMic –on camera mic
- Lite Panels MicroPro LED light
- Think Tank Multimedia Wireless bag
- Sennheiser Wireless Lavalier microphone kit
- Hoodman LCD loupe – 2nd camera focusing
- Sony headphones – to monitor audio
- Think Tank Cable Management 20 – organize cables
- XLR converter cables
Think Tank Logistics Manager
- Manfrotto 701HDV video head
- Think Tank Pinestone Retrospective 10 – one of my favorites
- Manfrotto Justin Clamp x2 – can attach a speedlite to anything
- Think Tank Cable Management 20 – organizer bag
- Westscott light stand hot shoe mount x2
- Manfrotto 562B-1 video monopod – has stability but allows mobility
- 3 Legged Thing X2 Eddie tripod – lightweight but sturdy carbon fiber
- Westcott light stand
- Manfrotto 5001B light stand
- Westcott Halo Umbrella
- Phottix white shoot through umbrella
