I have been shooting Caribbean carnival since 2017, and in that time I have broken a camera screen, shot a whole parade one-handed under an umbrella, and been turned away at a gate for carrying the wrong bag. I shoot alone. There is no crew holding lights, no assistant carrying the second body. It is me, my gear and whatever the road gives me that day.
People ask me about the gear all the time, so here is the honest version of what carnival photography actually takes: what I carry, what I do to keep it alive at J’ouvert, and the things I wish somebody had told me nine years ago.
The Cameras I Actually Carry
I am a Lumix shooter first. I started out filming on an iPhone 4, moved to a Panasonic GH5, and when I outgrew that I switched to a GH7 with a 12-35mm f/2.8 for video. Then I added the Lumix S5IIX with a 24mm f/1.8, and that became my main video camera. It is the one I built my rig around: a 5.5-inch external monitor, V-mount batteries, the whole setup. If I am shooting in daylight and I want to move light, the GH7 comes out instead.
For photos it is the Nikon D850. That is my main stills body. It has been paired with a 50mm f/1.8 for years, but I am switching to the 85mm f/1.8G, because what I want from carnival now is portraits — one masquerader, their costume, and the road falling away behind them.
Two bodies means two focal lengths and no lens changes on a dusty road. It also means two cameras swinging off you in a crowd, and that is its own problem. More on that in a minute.
J’ouvert Will Destroy Your Gear If You Let It
J’ouvert is the most popular event in carnival and by far the messiest. Paint, powder, foam, mud. It is the only time of the whole weekend I genuinely worry about my equipment.
Here is what I do:
A rain cover, even a bad one. I bought a camera cover on Amazon, and because my S5IIX is a full rig with the monitor and the V-mount batteries on it, the cover does not fit properly. It is too small. I make it work as best I can, covering the body and the lens and leaving the rest exposed. An imperfect cover beats no cover.
Let the filter take the hits. I rely on the ND filter on the front of the lens to catch the paint and the powder. A filter is cheaper to replace than a front element, and at carnival it is going to get hit.
Microfiber cloths, and more than one. I carry several large ones and I am wiping the lens constantly through the morning. Not once an hour. Constantly.
An umbrella lives in my bag now. At St. Thomas Carnival in 2025 it rained non-stop through the entire parade. I got through it by holding a large umbrella over the camera and shooting anyway. Since that day I have never gone to a carnival without one in the bag.
And the mistake that cost me real money: J’ouvert 2021, I was carrying two cameras at once with different focal lengths, pushing through the crowd, and the Nikon D800 slammed straight into the back of the D850 and shattered its screen. If you carry two bodies, think hard about how they hang and what happens when the crowd closes in on you. They will find each other.
Carnival Photography Settings: Simple, and Always RAW
Every photo I shoot is RAW. I want the flexibility afterwards, and carnival is a nightmare of mixed light — hard Florida sun, shade under the trees, coloured stage light, powder in the air. RAW gives me room to fix what the road threw at me.
I shoot full manual or aperture priority, depending on how fast the light is changing. Nothing exotic.
Video is different. The S5IIX is mostly in V-Log, sometimes in a natural colour profile when I know I want a quicker turnaround.
If you are new, do not get lost in settings. Get the exposure roughly right, shoot RAW, and spend your attention on the people in front of you instead.
Asking Beats Not Asking
I do both candid and posed, but most of the time I let the masquerader know I am taking the photo.
There is a reason for that, and it is not politeness. When somebody knows the camera is on them, they pose, they adjust themselves, they move the phone out of frame, they hide the drink, they fix the costume. That costume took months and cost real money. Give them the two seconds to present it the way they want to be seen, and you both get a better photograph.
The candids are for moments you could never ask for. Which brings me to my two favourite shots.
The Two Photos I Would Keep
The first is Miami Carnival 2021, just as we were coming out of COVID. It is a candid, shot on the D850 with a 60mm f/2.8, and it is pure timing: the band was passing and I caught it. To me that single frame holds the whole of that carnival — the feathers, the joy, and the mask still on her face.
The second is J’ouvert 2025. The foam was coming down and I saw her through all of it. I did not rush. I waited for the right moment, waited until she saw me, and when she did she gave me a little pose. I took two photos. The foam falling around her makes it look like snow.
That is the whole method, honestly. See it, wait for it, take two. Nine years of doing that is what fills the event archive — 121 carnivals across Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Tampa and Baltimore.
Check the Rules Before You Travel
One year at Orlando Carnival I could not get press credentials, so I bought a regular J’ouvert ticket and went anyway. I got to the gate and found out that nobody without a press pass was being allowed in with professional equipment or camera bags that year.
I talked my way in, and I came home with some great photos and video. But it very nearly ended my whole day before it started.
So: check ahead. Every event, every year. Rules on cameras, bags, lenses and credentials change from one carnival to the next, and the person at the gate is not going to bend them for you because you flew in for this.
The Line
Carnival gets wild. I have seen and filmed things that would go straight to the top of X if I posted them.
There is a line, and I try not to cross it. If a photo captures way too much of somebody enjoying themselves, I delete it. These are real people, having the best day of their year, and most of them will be back on the road next year with their families watching. Getting a viral post is not worth being the photographer people have to watch out for.
Shoot the mas. Shoot the joy. Leave the rest.
See You on the Road
Miami Carnival 2026 lands on Sunday, October 11 at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, with J’ouvert the Saturday morning before. I will be out there with the rig, the umbrella and a pocket full of microfiber cloths. If you are still sorting out flights and hotels, our countdown post covers that side of it.
If you want to see the photos that come out of these weekends, the archive is in the photo shop, and there is a full rundown of this year’s schedule in our Carnival Voices update.
Shooting carnival this year? Tell me what is in your bag in the comments.
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