Good evening, photographer friends, and I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!
I wanted to share my NEW gear that just arrived today, because I'm genuinely so excited, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!
Introducing: my new Nikon D850! 😍
Here, I have it paired with my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 art lens and let me tell you, it is beautiful. I went through an extended period of debating whether I was ready to upgrade to a Z (mirrorless) Nikon body, and for a variety of reasons (such as already being significantly invested in F glass, not wanting to deal with a clunky adapter, limited selection of Z lenses on the market, and wanting to wait until I can afford the Z9), I decided to stick with the DSLR, for now. And this is arguably one of the best on the market.
From left to right, my new Nikon D850 with Sigma 35mm f/1.4, Nikon D780 with Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3, and Nikon D810 with Rokinon 14mm f/2.8.
I am normally not immensely focused on gear, but for me, this is a setup that I have been dreaming of for years. It feels very surreal to finally have it.
I am a storm photographer, and I have found that having multiple cameras at your disposal for multiple purposes while photographing storms is extremely handy. For example, I could have one camera on a tripod with my attached lightning trigger to capture lightning, while I have another camera on another tripod shooting a timelapse of the storm, and the 3rd camera is handheld, offering me the freedom to maneuver and compose as I please.
Storms are constantly in motion, and some move awfully fast, so I may not always have time to set up all of that gear in the field. But other times, storms can remain nearly stationary for an hour or more, and offer all the time in the world to capture a wide range of incredible imagery and video.
It is a challenge though. For this particular storm, I made sure to bring my workshop guests a good distance ahead of the storm to allow a little more time for tripoded images. But it just isn't always possible; you're at the mercy of the storm, trying to capture the best quality shots of it while not letting it race away from you (or on top of you!)
It will be interesting to see what opportunities having multiple cameras provides in the field this spring, when storm chase season ramps into full swing. I am curious if it may feel like too much of a hassle to deal with so many cameras in the high-stress, high-pressure environments that exist around storms. But I am hopeful that it will only serve to expand my reach of what I'm able to capture and create.
We'll see what the season offers! The possibilities are truly endless now that I have finally acquired my dream equipment setup!
It would mean a lot if you'll consider following my journey!
Cheers! JessMy Links
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