GAME CHANGER
“The best camera is the one you have” - an old adage in the photography community. Essentially it boils down to the same thing as anything else in life - having something is better than nothing. At least you have a camera to capture the image.
Gear has never been a huge deal for me - I started shooting and posting from a smartphone after all, although hardly smart anymore in comparison to today’s models. Since then I have shot all mirrorless : first a Samsung without a viewfinder, equipped with an LCD screen only - similar to a smartphone. Then a few upgrades in that line, eventually to an NX30 that I had stolen off the roof of my car while was putting something in my trunk (!?)
I was fortunate enough to be blessed a new one by my friends at Need Pizza, which came from the new-ish at the time Sony Alpha line. I got comfortable with those and after smashing through a few (I am not easy on my gear - until now, that is) I ultimately ended up with an a6100 that met face to face with some ocean water. That knocked out the LCD capability (cameras don’t swim) and left me shooting through the viewfinder only for the last couple years, old school; the way it always was before cameras even had screens. Things had come… full circle? Half cirlce? Back to the beginning? I don’t know, but there’s some irony to that journey.
I say all that to say this: the addage is only a half truth. In all honesty, there is a better camera out there. Much better. And someone who may or may not be as talented as you is shooting with it, right now.
You just have to get it, the hurdle usually being a knee-high stack of money, which took me far too long to make the leap over. It was honestly more mental than anything. You just have to do it.
So, as this year marks a decade for me as a photographer, for the first time I’m finally shooting with a 'professional' setup. A full-frame camera, in the same category as anything the big boys use. And I realize that I have been missing out on some serious power.
I have shown my first week of photos to a handful of people and they all used the exact same phrase:
"This is a game changer."
Ready to spread my wings this year.
My first two portraits on the new unit! My besties Daisy & Sadie <3
This lil buddy was not much bigger than my thumbnail. My ability to shoot macro and to crop very small portions of larger images without losing any quality has increased tenfold with the new setup.
“Look on the bright side”
Happy Holidays!