What’s In My Bag: 2 Zooms & 2 Primes For Travel, Adventure & Portraiture

Reading Time 2 min.

Author Rachel Jones

Date 2023.03.20

Rachel Jones (@wanderwithrae) is a landscape and portrait photographer based out of California. “Over the years, I have combined my love for adventure and the outdoors with my love for portrait photography,” she says. “Traveling, spending time in nature and photographing some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes is what inspires me the most. Bringing other people with me on these adventures and capturing them immersed in the experience alongside me is a new favorite of mine." Rachel started her journey in 2019 with a Sony Alpha 7R III and she hasn't looked back. Keep reading below as she gives us a look at what’s inside her bag for landscape and portrait photography and a glimpse at how she keeps working to take her work to the next level, and then the one after that.

Rachel Jones' gear for travel, landscape and portrait photography

"I started my journey with Sony in 2019 and I will never look back. Sony gear has helped me take my work to the next level.” – Photographer Rachel Jones

Cameras

Sony Alpha 7R III: My Sony Alpha 7R III is the first Sony camera I purchased, and it has been my go-to ever since. This camera has incredible image quality, high dynamic range, large file sizes, amazing autofocus and low light capabilities. It's also relatively compact and lightweight making it very easy for me to travel with it. I find the menus and controls to be very user friendly and the camera is extremely customizable.

Photo by Rachel Jones. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/640-sec., f/2.8, ISO 100

Lenses

Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master: If I had to choose my go-to lens, without hesitation it would be this one. The 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master lens is versatile and provides the basic focal lengths that I use for most of my photography. From landscapes to portraits, you cannot go wrong with this lens.

Photo by Rachel Jones. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/250-sec., f/8, ISO 400

Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master: Another favorite lens of mine is my 70-200 f/2.8 GM. I am big on capturing little details and different compositions or perspectives that wouldn’t normally be seen in a wide angle shot. The compression this lens provides also allows me to capture unique portraits by really pushing my subjects into the landscape.

Photo by Rachel Jones. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/400-sec., f/9, ISO 100

Sony 35mm f/1.4 G Master: I have come to love zoom lenses for their versatility but can’t forget about my tried-and-true prime lenses! This lens is very lightweight, fast, always nails focus and captures extremely high-quality images with that beautiful 1.4 background blur. This is my go-to prime lens for portraits. From farther away, to tighter shots, this is the ideal focal length for portraits, when I'm doing client-work, this lens hardly leaves my camera.

Photo by Rachel Jones. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 35mm f/1.4 G Master. 1/250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 80

Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master: Although my 24-70mm GM covers this focal length, sometimes I need a bit more light that comes with a faster f-stop. The 24mm f/1.4 GM is perfect for nightscapes and low light photography as I can shoot at f/1.4 without having to crank up my ISO.

Photo by Rachel Jones. Sony Alpha 7R III. Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master. 1/200-sec., f/2, ISO 100

Accessories

Garmin In Reach: Since I travel alone often, this satellite device gives me peace of mind that I am able to stay connected in areas I don’t get cell reception. It also has an SOS button for cases of emergency.

Peak Design Carbon Travel Tripod: This tripod is extremely sturdy, lightweight and compact making it perfect to travel with.

See more of Rachel Jones’ work on Instagram @wanderwithrae.

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