I’m Bobbi Barbarich, a documentary photographer focusing on the joy of human connection for unbridled spirits.
I’ve been photographing weddings and families for nearly fifteen years!
I remember wanting to be a photojournalist but not knowing what that was as an elementary school kid living in Canada’s remote north, obsessed with reading National Geographic magazines and the worlds that seemed so far away.
I wasn’t allowed to go to photography school, tho, so while I worked toward a master’s in nutrition and metabolism, I took some photography night classes and started a freelance writing gig for an adventure magazine in Edmonton, Alberta.
They asked me to photograph the trips I was writing about, and all I had was my Pentax K1000. I found a wedding photographer to buy a digital camera from and shoot with, and I instantly fell in love with it!
I quit my academic job and moved to a little city in the mountains of British Columbia, and I haven’t looked back.
I now coach documentary wedding and family photographers on how to tell impactful stories and build an outstanding brand based on the foundation of our innate perspectives.
I don’t overthink gear at all. I just learned to use whatever I have, hence the many brands in my kit.
I firmly believe the best camera is the one you have in your hand, and I have many. I don’t get too fussy about any of them.
Plus, it’s fun to learn new rigs!
I used to shoot Nikon because that’s what the person who sold it to me was using, but when the mirrorless came out, I wanted to try it to lighten my load.
I switched to Sony not because of their tech but because they were actually making visible efforts to include diversity in their ambassadors.
So I sold everything and got a Sony A7 III, then when I got used to it, I bought the Sony A7 IV. Their focus tracking system is incredible, so I must admit I do love the IV more than any other camera I’ve had.
I will die with my 35mm lens. Again, I don’t care what brand it is I just want that dimension. I never shoot wide open, so the aperture doesn’t matter to me.
The one I have now is the Sony 35mm f/1.8, always at least f/4.5 or higher.
I shoot ninety percent of my work with a 35mm lens. All of my family photography is with the 35mm, save for a few frames with a 24-105mm if we’re doing something sporty.
For weddings, I shoot the dance floor with a Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 so I can get good and close and have fun with the distortion (rarely more open than f/8), and sometimes I use the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di for portraits.
I will open that baby up, but I so rarely shoot portraits it doesn’t feel on brand for me. It’s nice to have, tho.
To switch things up, I have a few manual film cameras, including the Pentax K1000, which has been in my kit for twenty-five years. There’s a Pentax 28mm f/2.8 lens on that one that never comes off.
I put whatever Ilford film I can get my hands on into that camera, and I know exactly how every image will look. It’s calming to have a camera, which I know so intimately.
I also use a Fujifilm 645 with a 60mm lens, usually with Porta or Ilford film. Focusing is a bit of a challenge, so I tend to zone focus a lot.
For fun and unpredictability, I have a Holga 120n with something like 400 ISO in there, and I just picked up an Olympus XA2 that will have Porta or Gold.
Godox V860II-S with X-Pro Trigger – this combination has rarely failed me, and the price point was easy, so I have four.
For the dance floor, I usually set up two or three of these on light stands and use one camera for that setup and my other camera with direct flash, so I make a variety of vibes depending on the mood.
I have three Peak Design Bags in various sizes. It’s all such good quality and durable. I’m very hard on my gear, so that’s important.
I also do a lot of personal work in the backcountry, so having waterproofed is a good feature.
The Peak Design Everyday Backpack is for travel and weddings, and the Peak Design Everyday Sling is for moving around weddings. I keep batteries, the ninety-millimeter lens, and extra film in there.
I also have a field pouch with a film camera, a 35mm point-and-shoot, my journal, and my phone for family sessions, personal projects, and wandering about.
I have a small Manfrotto tripod for chasing Milky Way shots, but otherwise don’t use it often.
I spend a lot of time in Adobe Lightroom as it’s such a powerful tool. I’ve built my own presets where the color is something roughly inspired by Porta, but any Porta fans would likely disagree, ha!
I also use Aftershoot to cull and edit, just to do the first pass, which I call the “insurance” pass. I let AI do the bulk of the work, study and tweak those images, and then go back to the original files to check what’s missed.
It’s a lot more efficient than doing all the culling myself, and having AI do the heavy lifting and then me doing the perfection pass made my workflow so much more efficient.
I used to spend four hours at the computer for every hour of shooting. Now, it’s more like 1:1.
I also switched to an external monitor system on my laptop, and it’s done wonders for my quality of life!
I can take the laptop anywhere, of course, but if I’m editing, I have the BenQ SW321 to look at instead of the small laptop.
I always carry a Hornby bar as they’re so nutty, super satisfying bars from a small company in British Columbia. Plus I always have Benadryl in case I get stung by a wasp, some Tylenol, emergency tampons, and eye drops!
As creatives, we came into this world with a gift, and our art is what we’re here to give away.
It’s easy to get caught up in our ego and compare ourselves to others, but when we do the work to find out what truly, deeply makes us tick, when we actually consciously understand our why as it relates to helping others, being a photographer becomes flowy and fulfilling in all dimensions.
We’re so incredibly lucky to be invited into people’s lives to make art that gratitude is never lost on me, and the longer I do this job, the more meaningful it becomes.
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