Going light

Dove and Three Windows #3. Boulder, Colorado, 2014 (with Nikon D90)

Much of the time, in Barcelona, I was schlepping around my fairly brick-like D800, three lenses, and a tripod–especially on the morning sunrise shoots. That is a hunk of weight even though my Think Tank waist bag (2019 note: no longer produced?) does a journeyperson’s job handling it all. Once I was at work making pictures I loved having all that capability with me, but the Sherpa work to get to the summit I didn’t enjoy.

Now that my D800 is on its way back to Nikon for repairs, I get to downsize and in some ways it is a huge relief. I am now walking around with my old, 12mp, Nikon D90 and a 35mm f/1.8 fixed lens (50mm equivalent). What a massive difference–the thing feels like a toy!–and I am never wasting brain cells on focal length decisions. As many other photographers have said, simplicity like this can be very liberating and force you to think more about “seeing”, which is what it’s all about anyway (along with the hokey-pokey).

It’s nice to know that one of the big trends in camera technology today is packing ever more capability into ever smaller packages. One interesting example is the new Sony A7R with 36 megapixels in a box WAY smaller than a D800. My post-D800 life (in a few years) will likely include one of these new, lighter wonder machines (54 megapixels, ISO 12,800 in an iPhone-sized body? Maybe!).

Anyway, back to the smaller, lighter, older, and (as some would say) nearly worthless D90. Here are a few examples of what can happen in 15 minutes with this “outdated” photo tool at the local mall… the late afternoon winter shadows got me thinking about doing this short essay: