One question I get asked a lot is why I shoot with two identical cameras.

There are several reasons of course. The most obvious being that I have an instant backup should a mechanical issue ever arise. Another one that’s high on my list is the fact that I can keep different focal length lenses on each body.  It’s way faster to just pick up the other camera than it is to swap lenses in clutch situations.

A third, less obvious reason, is because the second camera is a great storage device for a second flash! I shoot with two Nikon D3 bodies, each mounted with a Nikon SB-900. So when I find myself stuck in a museum, photographing the bride and her wedding party getting ready, with no windows for natural light, horrible orange incandescent spot lights pointed straight down, and a black ceiling preventing me from bouncing my flash…I have options! Sure I could just say “it is what it is” and just use my on-camera flash to take “adequate” photos. Or, I could use my second camera as a mini-tripod, flip the switch on that SB-900 to Remote mode, and introduce some depth and dimension into my images with a little “kicker” light to compliment my on-camera flash.