Ah, yes. We all remember those dark days, don't we? It was the height of the pandemic, and our days were spent stuck in our houses, doom scrolling on Facebook or our news app of choice, and doing our best to stay healthy.
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| Outer Banks, NC |
In 2020, I – like many others – turned to photography to escape the madness that was swirling around us during that time. Some were discovering photography for the first time, in part due to the TikTok craze that cameras like the vintage-styled Fujifilm X100V. Others, on the other hand, saw their old interest in photography rekindled. I found myself in the latter category.My reentry into the photography world was a humble one you might say. My profession afforded me a decent budget, and so in late 2020 I purchased a Sony A7R II with a 24-70mm kit lens. I had been away from photography for so long that I really had no expectations regarding performance. My previous digital camera, a Nikon D3200, was my only point of reference in the digital age. I grew up with film photography, and as my interest waned during the mid-2000s as I negotiated my way through undergrad, I completely missed the digital takeover. The Sony proved to be a remarkable step forward from the Nikon, in both speed and resolution, and certainly was light years ahead of any film camera I had. Even though it was 5 year old tech at the time, it was revolutionary compared to anything I had used before.
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| Charlotte, NC |
Sadly, I was bitten by the bug. You all know the one I’m talking about: the one that is fueled by gear reviews, Youtube influencers, and the like. GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome – that urge to buy the next new thing, that fuels the irrational belief that X camera body or Y lens will really take your photography to the next level.
It won’t, of course, but we buy buy buy anyway.
My affliction started fairly innocuous at first. “I’d really like to get back into film photography,” I told myself. And off I went buying film cameras. I even caught the Leica bug and tried several M cameras, both film and digital. I dabbled in Fujifilm as well. I won’t regale you with a list of all the different cameras I purchased and subsequently either returned or sold, but I will tell you what united all of these cameras: not a single one improved my photography in any meaningful way. Over the past few years I’ve spent more time looking at cameras than I have taking photos.
And that, my friends, is why I’ve decided to start this blog. As they say, the first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one. Won’t you join me as I get back to what is actually important in photography?
Let’s go take some photos.-CK
