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. An "In-Between" Light
6. Triggers
7. Light Stands
8. Soft Modifiers
9. Hard and Specialty Modifiers
10. Tripods
11. Cases and Carts
12. Books and More