Our Photography Gear List
If you've ever looked through the images we share on our website, social media, or email newsletters and wondered what gear we used to bring a photo to life, then this blog post was written for you.
We wanted to use this post to pull back the curtain on EXACTLY what we use to create all the photography for Chez Núñez, along with some handy advice to help you refine and enhance your imagery in the process of setting up shoots for your brand.
Because we like to keep things as effortless as possible, you might be surprised to find that our list of essential photography tools is actually pretty brief. It can be fun to nerd out about camera bodies, lenses, and editing software, but if you're trying to shoot as nice of an image with as little tech-savviness as possible, let us be proof that good photos are possible with minimal equipment.
Here’s a list of what we use to create content for Chez Núñez:
Gear:
Fujifilm x-Pro2 Camera
23mm f/1.4 lens (preferred for portraits)
35mm f/1.4 lens (preferred for flat-lays)
Optical Glass Triangular Prism for adding interesting effects in-camera (like in the image above).
iPhone 11
For lighting, we use natural light 99% of the time.
For that other 1%, we use these.
Editing Tools:
Chez Núñez Lightroom Presets, of course! ;)
Lightroom for Mobile and Desktop (the mobile app is FREE)
Procreate App + Apple Pencil (if I want to add any drawings over images after editing)
Flatlay Surfaces:
Foam-core or masonite board to use as a mobile surface. I’ve created flat-lays from my bed to my sofa, kitchen table, and even my living room floor when the light’s been right! Having a hard surface/board to style on just makes my flat-lay work more mobile and accessible to the best lighting in the house.
Colored papers. I love using large pieces of poster board or my vintage colored papers as backgrounds. French Paper Co. is my current favorite for pretty new colored papers, but you can also find lots of papers options at any local craft store.
Bedsheets to drape as a backdrop for a styled still life scene.
A wooden table, floor, deck, or wooden board that you’ve built yourself!
Painted particle board! Particleboard is a super affordable surface that you can buy in a large size at Lowes or Home Depot and ask to be cut down for you. This would be an awesome alternative to a paper background if you needed a bigger, exact size or tougher surface.
Photo Props:
This blog post and this blog post make a ton of suggestions to help get your inspiring rolling!
Styling Advice:
Before setting up a styled shoot for your brand, try making a mood board with a collection of some inspiring shots and vibes to help you hone your vision. This blog post offers advice for making effective mood boards!
Establishing a brand color palette before styling a shoot can help keep creative direction focused and lead to content that feels super on-brand.
We love to get really intentional with art direction, mood boards, etc. BUT we also love being spontaneous. Always be on the lookout for sweet moments that align with your style to capture while you’re shooting or running around town - no need to make things overly complicated. The advice here: try to have some fun above all!
We hope you found this information helpful! If you have any follow-up questions to this post, let us know in the comments.
Cheers!
-Anna + Jesús
