A Photographer's Kit, Part 1

"I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation. I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges."

- William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay."

I first noticed it while I was in Paris. My shutter was sluggish, the lens rotation was sticky. I tried to deny it, then ignore it, then compensate for it. But when I got home and 'developed' my 'film' I could no longer do either. The photos were washed out, still beautiful, but not what I've become used to. I had to face the moment of truth - my beloved Nikon D50 was on it's last leg...

Nikon D50

You've got to understand, my D50 was my first big girl camera. It allowed me to give color, depth, and shape to the world around me. It allowed me to release my artist. Countless photos of my beloved three, Temple Designs, this blog, my magazine publications - all of that would not have happened without my D50. And my camera and I have been through a lot, traveled a lot, have seen and recorded so much fantabulosity! I just could not imagine a life without her - yes, my D50 is a She; aren't all wonderful things?

  

Well I took Her to a, now very rare, old fashion camera shop, where she had a full check-up. The good news? She's salvageable. The bad news? She's past her prime and can no longer be my primary camera. The silver lining? After 7+ years, time for an upgrade! But more about that later...

Nikon D50

Another happy result of having to get a new camera, was the realization that I wanted to get serious about my kit. I use my camera(s) every day, take at least one of them with me wherever and whenever I go. It's no longer acceptable for me to wrap my camera and lenses in a towel or Coco's old sweaters. I got serious about my craft years ago. Now it's time for me to get serious about my kit. So, for the past few weeks, I've been building my photographer's kit. I'm nearly finished. But as I was searching for the perfect Gary Fong Diffuser (more about that later), I realized that I wanted to blog about this - a mini-series about what's in my photography kit. I'm hoping to inspire you to build your own.

This post is Part 1 of a 4 part series, which I combined: A Photographer's Kit

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple