A Guide to Choosing Photo and Lighting Gear

NOTE: If you are just starting out and looking for "Strobist Gear," you should head over to the detailed information on building your first lighting kit in Lighting 101.
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The Gear Guide, indexed below, is meant to be a roadmap for photographers who want to plan their overall photo gear needs — and especially as it pertains to lighting. It is designed to help you avoid costly mistakes.

That said, the gear you choose is a very personal decision and no one can make that call for you. But what I can do is to show you what choices I have made for myself, and why.

Your choices may well be different. Perhaps way different. And that's cool. For myself, the choices listed below were hard-won by the experience of 35 years as a photographer, with 20+ years as a staff newspaper shooter.

Translation: Grad degree from the School of Hard Knocks. My choices may or may not be exactly yours, you'll likely not go hugely wrong having been guided by them:


1. Cameras
2. Lenses
3. Speedlights
4. Big Lights
5. Triggers
5. Light Stands
6. Soft Modifiers
7. Hard and Specialty Modifiers
8. Tripods
9. Cases and Carts
10. Books and More