Get to know your CMteam! We are so often asked what we shoot with, what’s “in our bag”, what bag we carry and so on and so forth. So we’re giving you all a little peek behind the scenes to get to know your CMteam better. A couple of times a month throughout this year and into 2013 we’ll feature a different CMteam member and give you “a peek inside” – a peek inside their bag, their workspace and a peek into their personality with five little things you may not know about them – so FUN!
First up is CMmentor, Monica Wilkinson. A member of CM since we first started, many of you know Monica because of her sweet personality, great sense of humor and helpful nature (after all, she IS a teaching assistant in many of our CMworkshops!). Without further ado, I give you my dear friend and an amazing artist, Monica Wilkinson.
a peek inside | monica wilkinson
1. Epiphanie “Clover” camera bag. This bag is comfortable to wear while still looking stylish. I love that it doesn’t scream “camera bag!!” In fact I get compliments on it all the time from people thinking it is a purse! I use this bag when I go on shoots and when I travel. It can hold my D700, my four lenses, my speed light, everything else pictured plus it has a spot for my laptop or my iPad.
2.Kelly Moore “Classic” camera bag. This bag is also very stylish and I use this when I just want to carry a few lenses and my camera. There is not an area for a laptop and it is a bit smaller in size.
3. Nikon D700. This is my main camera. I adore this thing. I am in love with it for it’s great focus and high ISO capabilities. I also really like that it is full frame. I also have a D90 (not pictured) for a backup. It doesn’t not get used much, but it is nice to have just in case something was to happen to my D700.
4. Nikon 50mm/1.4 D. This is by far my most used lens, my “power horse”, my “bread and butter”. It is fast and sharp. I use this for all of my newborn shots and mostly all of my indoor shots for clients and of my own kids.
5. Nikon 85mm/1.8 D. This is the lens I choose when shooting portraits outdoors of kids and seniors. I will also use my 50mm, but this is used probably 95% of the time! It produces that beautiful, creamy bokeh that everyone loves.
6. Nikon 105mm/2.8. This is my second “love” after my husband. I use this lens for all of my macro work. I love taking macro shots of candy, food, flowers, pretty much anything. I also use it in my newborn sessions for close ups on those babies. It is great for getting those toes, fingers and cute lip
shots! When second shooting weddings I use it for all of those detail shots and I also love this lens because I can use it for portraits outside!
7. Tamron 28-75mm/2.8. This is my most versatile lens, however, it is my least used lens. I am more of a prime girl. I keep it around for the times that I want more of a wide angle. I usually shoot this at 28mm and find it useful for close up shots all the way to landscape shots.
8. Nikon SB-600. I am more of a natural light shooter, so this does not get brought out much.
9. My cell phone.
10. Keys
11. Business cards printed at WHCC.
12. Pen
13. Rocket Fish Circular Polarizer. This is great for taking images that have reflections. It helps remove those reflections from non-metallic surfaces like glass or water. It also helps with keeping your blue skies blue and not white!
14. Lens cloth. I use this for cleaning my lenses while shooting.
15. Nikon Li-on Battery Pack EN-EL3e. These are my back up batteries that I always carry with me. I always charge my battery before a shoot, but it is nice to have a back up. Especially when shooting a
wedding!
16. SanDisk Ultra CF card 8GB. I always carry extra CF cards. You never know when one is going to go bad.
17. MAC Lip Gloss. I always keep a lip gloss in my bag.
18. Kirkland Baby Wipes. These are a must if you are a child photographer. I always wipe down kids faces before we start shooting. This will shave loads of time of your post processing. It
is never fun to get a perfect shot and then see that the child had boogies or food around their mouth that will need to be edited out.
19. Chapstick. Just because I love to have smooth lips.
20. Aquaphor. This is used on my clients. Another great item to have when photographing children. Lots of kids have chapped lips. This just makes them look better. I use Aquaphor because I can squeeze
a small dab of it on the child’s finger for them to use, instead of buying new chapsticks all the time.
21. Goody Rubberbands. I love these no slip bands and they are a must for me. I have long hair that needs to be tied back or it will fall in front of my camera when shooting from above.’
22. SMARTIES. This is a great bribe to use with children when they are losing stem. It perks them back up and is not messy like a lot of other candies.
23. Gum.It never hurts to have fresh breath for your clients!
LENSBABY Composer: I did not have this lens included in the picture because a fellow CM is borrowing it. This lens is more of a fun lens for me. It is manual focus, which can be a challenge, but it gives a great tilt shift effect without breaking the bank! I also just bought the sweet optic 35 and fisheye
optic. These are special adapters that give you some creative looks.
Ever wonder what other people’s work spaces look like? I do. I love looking at pullbacks and seeing how other photographers set up! It is fascinating to see how different people do things. Some people have big, beautiful studios and others make it work in small spaces. Today I will show you how I do it and what works for me!
I am a natural light photographer who specializes in photographing children in the Seattle area and most of my sessions are done on location. However, most of my newborn clients are done in my home. I have a bonus room upstairs that I turn into a “makeshift” studio when needed. Luckily I have nice, big windows that let in lots of light…even on those rainy, gray days. :) I like to set up my backdrop at a 45 degree angle to the window, this gives off nice shadows when photographing the newborn. I find if I angle it straight on to the window I get flat lighting. I usually do all the blanket shots on the beanbag with the baby first. It is a little cozier for the baby and easier to get them in that deep slumber. I will layer a bunch of blankets and put a pee pad (those kind you use for pets) in between each blanket. That way if the baby pees I can just strip off the top blanket and the pee pad and move onto the next. When all the bean bag shots are finished, the baby is usually in a deeper sleep and I move on to props. I will remove the beanbag and blankets and then pull down a seamless paper. My most used backdrops are seamless papers in bone, brown or gray from Adorama. Once the background is set up with the bamboo mat, I can easily get some shots of the baby in various bowls and baskets, if the parent prefers! I always save these shots for last as I like to get the more natural shots first. The small heater on the right side serves two purposes. It keeps the room toasty warm and also acts as a white noise machine!
My desk area is where I handle all my business, check in on CM and post process my images! I work on a 27inch iMac and use both Lightroom 3 and CS5. I like to use LR3 for storing, culling and basic editing of WB, exposure etc. if needed. I will then move onto CS5 for any skin healing, cloning etc. I recently started using the Wacom tablet and the jury is still out on that. I am going to give it a few more weeks before I give up! I know people seem to either love it or hate it and I am hoping to be one that loves it! On camera right, I have a white board that has four sections for an easy look at what is coming up or needs to be done. I label them BOOKED, EDITING, ORDERING and NEEDS BLOGGED. Once a client is booked, I add their name in the BOOKED row and I just erase their name and move it to the next row as I complete the task. I also hang all my upcoming client’s contracts along the bottom for easy access. Once the client has received their order, been blogged and is complete, I remove their contract, burn a disk of their edited images and put any other pertinent information into a 3 ring binder under their name. This keeps everything backed up and makes it easy to find important information come tax time!
So there you have it. A peek into my bag, a look at my desk and a small glimpse of where I work!
Happy shooting!
-Monica
Monica Wilkinson
CM Mentor
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Mentoring
Armed with a Nikon D700, several Nikkor primes and the Tamron 28-75, Monica focuses on children and newborn portraiture in the Seattle, Washington area, despite her disdain for the rain. And although Monica is a Mac girl, she is madly in love with her Microsoft employed husband, their two young daughters and the family’s Maltipoo, Scout. She enjoys kickboxing, knitting and DIY crafts but would much rather spend her day off “laying on a hot, sunny beach reading a magazine while sipping a fruity beverage.” When Monica stops by Starbucks, her OCD nature tends to surface and her resulting order is a Venti Passion Fruit Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade with 2 pumps classic syrup.
Love this new series!
LOVE this!!!!!
Love this series. Monica, great getting to know more about you!
Thanks for sharing, Monica! :) How can you not be a chocolate girl? Lol! :)
loved getting to know you a little better, Monica!
This series is FANTASTIC and I love your article Monica!
So super cool to see inside your life as a photog. Love your bags and your nb setup.
Nice…thanks for sharing.
Love this. What a great idea :)
I love to see how other people live/work! This is great! I have a dumb question… what is on the front of your 50? Is that just a hood?
Monica, I love Robert Downey, Jr. too. How is that we’ve never talked about him together before? Loved this. Thanks for sharing.
Fabulous! I love to see what’s in the bag. It’s great to see you keep it simple. Thanks for letting us get a peek behind the scenes!
oh I love this Monica!! Just got to know you a little better :D I need to start carry my polarized filters too…forgot about those things ;)
This is awesome!!
I LOVE these types of posts. Thanks for the little peek inside your bag and your shooting space!
Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your world Monica!!
Thank you so much everyone! <3 Lisa..we will chat about Robert Downey Jr….rofl. Oh and Melissa, yes, that is just a metal lens hood on my 50mm. I am kind of wishing I had the rubber one that pops down though. I use it mostly just for protection since I do not use lens filters.
Great idea for this series!!! I just love seeing the studio set-up and work station — it gives so much insight to the whole process — very helpful, thanks for sharing, Monica!!! It was great!
That’s my daughter! Isn’t she just awesome! So very, very proud of her and her talents.Love ya’ Monica XOXO
Loved the peek! Thanks!
Love this, Monica!
Love this!! :)
I am going to love these sneak peeks!!!!!!!!!! Is that the polarizer lens filter that you used in Greenlake? That totally changed the sky color, it was awesome!
This was awesome! Thanks for sharing. I can hardly wait for the next edition! Great series idea!
This is so cool! Love it!
I love pull back shots too, thank you!
This was great, I loved all the details in your bag – and your workspace. Thanks!!
Thanks so much for this AWESOME new series CM!!!! lovin it!!
This is so fun! Sorry for hogging your Lensbaby! Haha!
Thanks so much for sharing. Love looking at getting ideas! Love the pocketbook and anxious to readjust back drop on 45 degree angle
Thanks for the post! I love pull back shots and looking other peoples set ups. I was wondering where you got your blanket from? I’ve been looking for one lately and I love the look of yours!