CHADBEE'S BLOG

Over the past few months I have became very frustrated with my photography. I have progressed so fast over the last year or so and I felt like I had hit a brick wall….Im not sure if this is even a real term but it was like I had “photographers block”. I didnt feel creative and I had no desire to even shoot. I spoke with some local photographers and even made a thread about what I was going through on mycanikon.com and everybody told me the same thing. They said to just chill out, dont accept any shoots, paid or not, and let the camera gear sit for a few weeks then go out and shoot something different than static automotive shots. They said I needed a break and then I needed to do something different. It made sense, I did need a break…I was VERY VERY frustrated. One thing about me is I over do everything lol if you see or hear of me doing something you can believe Im doing it full speed and all out. To me, in my head the best way for me to “take a break from photography” was to sell all my gear and use the money to help me get back into a “fast” car by the summer, I havent owned a 12 second car for waaaaaay to long. In my head I said that I would buy more camera gear in a few months and start shooting again. So, I updated my facebook status that I was selling my gear and made for sale threads on local forums. Within 2 days everything was gone except for my tripod/ballhead and bag. I never listed my strobes, they are 1980’s Novatron strobes that my grandfather used so they have sentimental value. Everything else was gone though. So I sat here, with no camera, no lens, no rig, thinking….was this a good decision? I had mixed feelings on the situation. I looked at a few cars online, talked to the owners and realized I just wasnt going to be able to get what I wanted with the money I had. I was a few grand short. Not good at all. At this point I started to really regret selling my camera gear. No matter how frustrated I have got I still love photography so much, Im addicted to it. These past couple weeks I just keep seeing cool spots for car shoots and seeing things that made me go “that would be a cool shot”. After thinking it over a few days I decided that I should get a camera and a lens or two. This is where my habit of over doing things come in, instead of buying another D90 and a couple cheap lens then saving the rest of my money to help go toward a nice car I decided to say F it and get the photography gear that I want not worry about a car. I knew I couldnt NOT have camera gear…..it just wasnt going to work lol I never thought I would have gear like this…and Im very happy about it. I feel refreshed and defiantly have that strong urge to shoot again!!! I feel like Im taking on another version of my photography, Im changing things up and stepping things up so look out for big things this summer!!!!!

Here is a basic run down of what I have been using compared to what I just got.

OLD PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR
-Nikon D90
-Nikon 18-55(kit lens from my old D50)
-Nikon 50mm f1.8
-Nikon 35mm f1.8
-Sigma 10-20mm
-Rig…12 ft mild steel emt pole(one piece), Avenger cups and Manfrotto super clamps

NEW PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR
-Nikon D700
-Nikon 18-35mm f3.5-4.5(full frame ultra wide angle)
-Nikon 50mm f1.8
-Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF-S
-Rig…14 ft aluminum pole(threaded to break down into three 4.5ft pieces), Avenger cups and Manfrotto super clamps
-Got my 3rd strobe fixed(has been broke for over a year do’h)
-New watermark too(lol)

In the next few days I will make another post with some high ISO tests of this beast known as the D700 and my over all opinion of the camera and if its worth its price tag or not….so make sure to check back for that!