The next chapter in my journey, as a photographer/creative, has begun.
During the past 3 years I have witnessed a coming of age to the tools that, for the most past, we as photographers, use to capture and tell our stories.
We have seen enormous leaps and bounds to both the medium to which we use to capture our images as well as the output to which we use to share our capture.
Let me share with you the latter, most of you know that I teach photography and I throughly enjoy sharing what I know and or have learned in my 25+ years as a professional photographer. But, I am also a student of my chosen medium. My philosophy is this: “it is not what you hold in your hands that determine the quality of your capture, but what you hold in your heart that shapes an image to be THAT perfect capture.” To this I would like to add something very significant “…the tool you choose to capture your images should be an extension of your (he)art.”
The tools that I have chosen, throughout my career, has had a significant impact to my art. Being apart of the Digital Revolution, I co-pioneered the use of QTVR at The Walt Disney Company by shooting with a 6MP KODAK/CANON Pro DCS 520, one of the FIRST 6MP DSLR’s, 6MP KODAK/NIKON DCS 760 and then the 13.9MP KODAK 14n. Kodak folded and NIKON and CANON went “head2head” from that point. For me, that is.
I had a cabinet full of NIKON lenses that helped justify what BODY I was going to use to continue my journey. I settled on the 12.4MP NIKON D2X and the 12MP NIKON D300. Used both of these camera for a good while until the 12MP NIKON D3 came out and changed my photography with such a wonderful ISO range that I could “shoot from the hip” and capture, what is now, my lifestyle candids. Not tied down with flash and or “perfect light” I was capturing some really beautiful images thanks to this “game changer”.
My photography grew because of my philosophy …“Be uncomfortable in one’s knowledge and equipment and stick your neck out there to be greater today than you were yesterday.” This causes me to always push myself, both technically and creatively. Never fall into a rut and or be complacent.
The 16MP NIKON D4 was released and had my attention…UNTIL the price knocked me right back down to reality. In my research to better equip myself with a HIGH ISO RANGE, low noise, QUIET (the D3 was like banging two trash can lids together when I pressed the shutter in an intimate, private moment, on set or on location), and FAST LENSES. Enter the 22.3MP CANON 5DMiii, 30MP CANON 5DMiv , the CANON 600 EX RT with its built in “Pocket Wizard” Radio Controlled Speedlite and my “Butter Lens” the CANON EF 85mm f1.2 LII.
I sold everything and “converted”. I was now a CANON PCPS (Platinum Canon Professional Services) Member. I had over 88 points of registered equipment. Put into perspective, you only needed 10points to be a CPS Member. I was COMMITTED (some say I should have been committed due to converting over from NIKON to CANON), but I was committed to both the tools of my chosen medium and my clients. I separated myself from the “Uncle Bob’s” and most Professionals.
I have seen a good amount of my fellow photographers minimize their photography bags by incorporating MIRRORLESS into their workflow. So, needless to say I flirted with mirrorless my trying out the 4:3 16MP OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 and the 24.2MP SONY a6300. But, still, I found it not meeting my needs.
You see, I really try to PUSH myself to meet and or exceed my creativity both TECHNICALLY AND VISUALLY. This leads me to today. I have watched from the sidelines and have participated in the GROWTH of DIGITAL Photography and have made an enormous leap into the future of (my)Photography.
I am now a LEICA CAPTURE ARTIST. I have converted all my CANON gear and hold, in my bag a tool that makes photography EXCITING! The INCREDIBLY Versatile Full Frame Mirrorless Leica SL.
Mind you, I have watched the progression of LEICA in DIGITAL for YEARS now. Since 2001 to be exact. Feeling that it was “not where I needed it to be” to make the jump I never crossed over. That was until 2015. Enter the 24MP LEICA SL (Typ 601) MIRRORLESS CAMERA. This camera peaked my interest and “put MIRRORLESS” cameras on its ear with it 11fps, FULL FRAME, 50K ISO, 529 Focus Point, 4.4MP EyeRes Viewfinder that shoot 4K Video. The clincher… the NEWLY ANNOUNCED/RELEASED, as of June 2018, the Leica SF 60 and SF C1 Remote Control Unit. This was the tipping of the scale for me. I have grown increasingly adaptive to be mobile and carrying LESS gear. That includes remotes, speedlites, stands and such. I was bursting at the seems thinking of the possibilities that this camera would uncover and present.
So, as of AUGUST 2018 LEICA has found its way into my heart and into my hands and I can not wait to share images that this INCREDIBLE tool renders!
