Canon M50 mk ii

I’ve been a photographer for 13 years now, but over the last few years, the amount of shoots I’ve done annually has dwindled into the single digits. It’s true that my work has evolved and expanded into other mediums, but the sad reality is that what once filled whole weekends, and most weekdays, has now become a rare occurrence for me.

 

A year after I got my first DSLR in 2009, I decided I would take it out with me every single day on my daily walks and photograph anything I found interesting. I trained myself to look for interesting shapes, patterns and light variations, practised the fundamentals of shooting and editing. I got to know my camera inside out and I progressed quickly. Over the next year or so, my passion for photography grew, and I improved exponentially.

 

Over time, as I got more serious about my craft, I upgraded my equipment a few times until I had a beautiful Canon 5d mk 3, and a small collection of L series lenses. 

 

But then something happened.

The fancier my gear got, the less I photographed. 

 

I only shot when I needed to. With purpose. With intention. For a reason. Only when the situation warranted it.

I stopped shooting for the joy of it. 

 

The 5D was heavy, expensive and too big to carry with me. So it was never around when I saw the beautiful reflections on buildings in the city as a storm approached, or when I caught the last moments of dusk on the beach in the summer.

 

And even on the rare occasions I had it with me, like at the Great Otways National Park last year, it was too cumbersome to pull out of my backpack and the situation didn’t feel ‘special enough’ to warrant using the 5D. 

 

I’ve missed so many moments and memories like this over the last few years.

 

And no, I can't just use my cellphone. As I mentioned in my last post, I have actively been trying to minimise my iphone use as much as possible and don't want to have it with me 24/7.

And so a couple of weeks ago, I bought myself a discontinued Canon M50 - a wholesale downgrade from the Canon 5D mk3 - and I couldn't be more excited about it. 

 

Beach at Mornington Peninsula a couple of weekends ago - shot on the M50

Photography has been such a gift in my life, and even though I worked really hard at my craft, I don’t think I ever treated it with the gratitude and reverence it deserved. 

 

Photography has given my life so much purpose and beauty. It was the gateway to a kind of profound growth (both personally and professionally) that I never could have predicted while taking my first 'proper' camera out for a spin the day I got it.

 

I know that the M50 will never match the image quality of the 5D, but I’m excited about the freedom and accessibility that a small, affordable camera will provide me with again. I’m excited to shoot every day again, without any kind of purpose, other than to joyfully capture things that catch my eye, and to have the privilege of calling myself a photographer again. I will keep the 5D for my portrait work, but use the M50 for everything else.

Are your tools helping or hindering your creativity?

Sometimes, less really is more.