This page doesn’t change often. When it does, it’s because something got kicked out or something better took its place.
I don’t carry backups. I carry what works. Everything in this lineup is here because it’s earned its keep. No room for maybes, no tolerance for gear that gets in the way. If it’s in my hands, it’s because it’s never let me down.
I shoot with discipline, not distraction. That means no bloated kit, no unnecessary glass, no hoarding. What you see here is the real deal—tested on back roads, in ruined places, under bad light and worse circumstances. This is what I trust when the moment won’t come again.
Leica SL3-S
This is my main body. It’s solid, weather-sealed, and built like it expects to be used by someone who doesn’t treat cameras like fragile jewelry. The files are rich. The controls make sense. It doesn’t second-guess me, and I don’t have to fight it to get what I want. I can shoot all day and never once feel like it’s in my way. It just works—and I don’t need more than that.
Leica Q3
Fixed 28mm. Full-frame. f/1.7. No lens swaps, no bullshit. It’s the camera I grab when I don’t want to think about gear. It’s small enough to go anywhere, sharp enough to shoot anything, and fast enough for whatever walks in front of me. I’ve shot things with this camera that felt more like memory than photographs. That’s what it’s good for—moments that don’t wait.
Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24–90mm f/2.8–4 ASPH
This is the one that lives on the SL3-S most of the time. Covers everything I usually see. It’s wide enough to get the shot, long enough to stay out of the way, and sharp from edge to edge. Doesn’t need babysitting. I trust it to handle whatever’s out there without making a scene.
Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4
My go-to when I want to strip everything else away. It’s fast, it’s brutally sharp, and it renders skin and sky the way I remember them. This one’s not for lazy shooting—it makes you commit to your frame. If I’m photographing someone and I want them to feel like they were really seen, this is the lens.
Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100–400mm f/5–6.3
This one’s for distance. When I want to stay invisible but still get the shot, this is what I use. It’s clean, sharp, and steadier than it has any right to be. I’ve shot wildlife, rural street work, and long-lens portraits with it. If you know what you’re doing, the aperture doesn’t matter. This lens gets you the moment without getting in its way.
What I Edit On
I use a MacBook Pro because it doesn’t argue with me. Big RAW files, high-res output, and multitasking across programs—it keeps up. I need a machine that can handle Leica RAWs without breaking a sweat, and I don’t have time for lag, crashes, or excuses. This one works. That’s the only reason it’s here.
What I Write On
Most of my writing gets done on a custom-built Windows desktop. I don’t need sleek—I need stable. No distractions. No updates interrupting me mid-paragraph. Just keys, screen, and silence. I write long-form, so I need the horsepower to back it.
When I’m on the move or off-grid, I jot everything down by hand. Always Moleskine notebooks, always blue Bic ballpoint pens. Not for show—because they work. The Bic ink bleeds just enough to feel like it means what it says. I’ve written some of my clearest thoughts with a pen half out of ink. That’s how I know they were real.
I don’t chase gear. I build systems I can trust—then I go shoot the things that matter. The world doesn’t wait, and the light doesn’t always come back around. If it’s not good enough to take now, it’s not going to be good enough later.
This is what I shoot with. This is how I write. That’s the whole list.
—Emily
